Father develops unmanned ground bots in memory of son's death in Iraq

When Brian Hart's 20 year old son was killed in Iraq in 2003, the grief-stricken parent turned his anguish to engineering, founding Black-I Robotics to build unmanned ground vehicles for recon, explosives and hazard work, and most of the other stuff you see land-bots doing in dangerous situations. Of course, what makes Hart's story so powerful is also what gives it a certain irony -- after taking the government to task for leading the nation's under-equipped military into unnecessarily dangerous situations, he began taking on work as a defense contractor to develop a cheaper, more robust machine in the hopes of getting more soldiers out of harm's way. Last week Black-I secured another $800,000 contract from the gov's Technical Support Working Group, and has also been field-trialing their latest version of the Land Shark UGV for the past few months.

[Via Physorg]

[Abhishek @ Jul 6th 2008 11:34PM]

Good stuff!!

[Flashpoint @ Jul 7th 2008 12:19AM]

My condolensces to the father and the family.

I find it so remarkable that America hasn't impeached the entire exucutive branch.
This isn't WW2. This isn't a movement to stop a mad dictator from taking over the world and incinerating millions.
We shouldn't be in Iraq at all bringing hell to those people's lives and sacrificing our finest soldiers so some corporate scumbag in an oil/defense contractor can get filthy rich.

And what's sad is that nobody is smart enough to realize America IS NEVER LEAVING IRAQ. There will always be some bullsh*T reason why we shouldn't leave or why we can't leave.

We actually will be in Iraq for 50 or even 100 years...hell, we are still in SKorea and Germany. We have set up PERMANENT military bases there.

The intent ISN'T to win. Its to sustain the war as long as possible. The Federal Reserve and its unelected, unnacountable members will get their $ and we will still be running in circles debating gay marriage and abortion.

The headmasters really have Americans so F*&%&%.

[Ty1361 @ Jul 7th 2008 12:26AM]

If you have such lack of faith in your government, then run for office. Remember you elect your leaders. So really everyone has them selves to blame.

[David @ Jul 7th 2008 12:28AM]

Dude, get a blog.

[Ty1361 @ Jul 7th 2008 12:31AM]

"find it so remarkable that America hasn't impeached the entire exucutive branch."

This is the United States, North America consist of Canada, United States of America (abbreviated would be USA and not America) and Mexico. I'm glad the education system didn't fail me too much. Sorry but it really bugs me when people consider us America.

[jason @ Jul 7th 2008 12:37AM]

Yeah, because what Saddam was doing by horrifically killing soccer players who performed poorly (among other horrific things) is entirely OK and shouldnt have had anything done to stop it.

Saddam used horrible torture techniques to kill and cause harm to innocent people.

Saddam was an evil dictator and needed to be stopped.

[daliminator2000 @ Jul 7th 2008 1:01AM]

@Flashpoint
Um...we never invaded South Korea. The permanent bases there were set up by agreement with the South Korean government after the war.

[Kamokazi @ Jul 7th 2008 1:41AM]

If you guys keep feeding flashpoint like this, he's going to hit max Troll level in no time.

But seriously, look at his post history...it's pretty much impossible to have any sort of reasonable discussion with this tool.

[jakem @ Jul 7th 2008 8:22AM]

I love the idea that American soldiers are under-equipped. Has it occurred to anyone here that the citizens of the countries that America invades (illegally I might add) don't have access to the body armour, intelligence, firepower and air support that US troops have. And then this guy has the cheek to try and get more money spent to ensure that murderers like his son can kill without any risk of being harmed in return.

Perhaps he should consider devoting his time to asking what his son was doing in Iraq in the first place and doing what he can to save the millions of innocent Iraqi and Afghani lives that his family are helping to destroy just so he can have some petrol to fill the obscenely large car in the background of the picture above.

He needs to learn that his son got what he deserved and move on.

[jakem @ Jul 7th 2008 8:24AM]

I love the idea that American soldiers are under-equipped. Has it occurred to anyone here that the citizens of the countries that America invades (illegally I might add) don't have access to the body armour, intelligence, firepower and air support that US troops have. And then this guy has the cheek to try and get more money spent to ensure that murderers like his son can kill without any risk of being harmed in return.

Perhaps he should consider devoting his time to asking what his son was doing in Iraq in the first place and doing what he can to save the millions of innocent Iraqi and Afghani lives that his family are helping to destroy just so he can have some petrol to fill the obscenely large car in the background of the picture above.

He needs to learn that his son got what he deserved and move on.

[David @ Jul 7th 2008 8:31AM]

Jakem you make me sick, I mean how hard is it not to double-post.

[OneLove @ Jul 7th 2008 10:19AM]

Its this sort of thing that gives the military a black-i.

[Zach @ Jul 7th 2008 10:21AM]

Wow jakem. You are an idiot.

[Ty1361 @ Jul 7th 2008 4:12PM]

@jakem

it's sad that you feel that way. Hate the war but please do not hate the men and women that chose to defend your freedoms.

Stand with our troops or stand in front of them, make your chose man.

[Flashpoint @ Jul 7th 2008 5:16PM]

I agree with you Jakem...even though I wouldn't have phrased it so bluntly.

America illegaly invades other countries sovereignity and then acts indignant when our best soldiers get killed (to paraphrase Rev Jeremiah Wright).

This country has a sense of entitlement that can only be broken by going up against countries who WE CAN'T BULLY...like Russia, China and North Korea. Then, suddenly, when we can't so easily invade them we are forced to negotiate and use true diplomacy.

[Cassini @ Jul 7th 2008 10:39PM]

@Jakem

Got what he deserved? What's your malfunction, anyway? So if you went over there and died, could we say the same thing about you with the same degree of insensitivity, disregard, and lack of insight as you did with your comments? How would that make you feel? I realize you're broken inside, which is why you're so angry in general and cold toward a man you never knew, but if you're going to make such idiotic commentary like that, do it elsewhere. You've shown your comments on these matters possess no value, whatsoever.


And you guys who think you understand foreign policy and how everything should work and sit in judgment about things and people you neither understand, nor have any authority over, nor would ever have the capability to judge, need to keep quiet and move on. We're not living in a utopia. You trying to speak authoritatively about what you believe is best in foreign and military matters you've never understood or had to deal with a day in your life, is about as useless as you trying to feed a country of people with a single loaf of bread.

Stick to technology and keep your unqualified and boring opinions on foreign policy to yourself.

(Abhishek - this isn't directed to you).

[Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Jul 6th 2008 11:36PM]

Its nice to see some good coming out the father's personal tragedy. Lets hope more fathers won't have to go through what this poor man had to. Keep the boys over there as safe as possible, let them return home to their anxious families.

[Silvio Sisto @ Jul 7th 2008 3:33AM]

You can see names of all Americans who died here: http://icasualties.org/oif/USDeaths.aspx
Or the casualties as they happen here: http://icasualties.org/oif/Details.aspx
There's been a US Army officer casualty already in what's gone of this month.
I'm not from the US but we had an American exchange student in our house who died in Iraq. He was 21 years old and his name was Eric.

[Squishy @ Jul 6th 2008 11:40PM]

If people should be replaced with machines, it should be in the army.

[waiownsyou @ Jul 6th 2008 11:42PM]

Why do I think from that picture that he got the spare parts from the Toyota Highlander behind him?

[TrafficGeek @ Jul 7th 2008 3:31AM]

Yes, that's Rumsfeld's Highlander. Bet you didn't know he had a non-domestic car did ya!

[MEAT! @ Jul 6th 2008 11:45PM]

"Of course, what makes Hart's story so powerful is also what gives it a certain irony -- after taking the government to task for leading the nation's under-equipped military into unnecessarily dangerous situations, he began taking on work as a defense contractor..."

That's not irony. That's a critic doing something commendable: setting out to fix the problems that he is complaining about.

[Jeff @ Jul 7th 2008 12:03AM]

Right. Because we all know that the military was under equipped due to the defense contractors' actions. The shortage had nothing to do with the incompetence of the Bush administration. There was just a shortage of inventors and developers in the industry. [/snark].

[Chaosmaster @ Jul 7th 2008 1:10AM]

Too big, It'll never work for Iraq/Afghanistan

[Ethan @ Jul 7th 2008 8:03AM]

Irony doesn't always have to be funny.

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Jul 6th 2008 11:47PM]

In the words of Dwight:
Take that Saddam!

[01 @ Jul 7th 2008 2:07PM]

He;s been dead for a while in case you didn't notice...

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Jul 10th 2008 2:38PM]

Oh right. I was so engrossed in learning about using proper punctuation, that I missed the entire week of news when he died. That was probably the same week I learned that semicolons do not have the same function or application as apostrophes.

In case you didn't notice.

[DAokkd @ Jul 6th 2008 11:53PM]

Good on this man.

Lets hope this saves another life, another tragedy from happening again.

[sweeney @ Jul 6th 2008 11:59PM]

how the fuck is that gonna save a life? its going to kill people. thats neocon thinking at best. are you dumb, or do you just play one on tv?

[David Landrum @ Jul 7th 2008 12:08AM]

It is amazing to think that people who are so savvy about electronic gadgets are so mentally inept to speak about politics, foreign policy, and war.

[Zelatio @ Jul 7th 2008 12:10AM]

Is it that hard to figure out? Robot goes into field, real person stays at home. If robot blows up, oh well. If person dies, to put it simply, sucks.

[Carlyle Group @ Jul 7th 2008 12:13AM]

It's amazing that you are attacking the messenger instead of proving these facts wrong. You're a typical drone. It must be sad being you. What makes you so qualified to think that you know anything about foreign policy? I bet you watch Fox News, don't you? lol

[sweeny @ Jul 7th 2008 12:16AM]

yo david and what's his face. you too are dumber than a bag of hammers.
the point is, we're killing innocent iraqis by the dozen every day. too bad that went over your heads. hear that wooosh?

[John @ Jul 7th 2008 12:25AM]

A) this robot is meant for "recon, explosives and hazard work". Since the explosives would be 'finding and disarming', this would not involve killing people
B) Under the assumption people are going to be killed, having fewer than them in the field means fewer people die

No matter your views on war in general or specific, using robots instead of people puts fewer people in harm's way. Now sod off.

[CaptCaveman @ Jul 7th 2008 1:00AM]

@John

But do you know how much robots cost?! Humans are much cheaper and people can have fun making them. Heck, one woman can churn out one human every nine months! Multiply that by the number of woman that can reproduce and then do the math.

Just kidding. This is a great idea. Our military is supposed to be about using ideas that don't put as many people in harms way. This is a great step towards doing just that.
Then again, we could always go that extra step and, um, not have any wars. But I understand, Baby steps. Baby steps.

[Nohone @ Jul 7th 2008 1:23AM]

@Carlyle Group and the others

Isn't it interesting that liberal groups say that they want to bring all people together, but the moment you disagree with them then you are immediately labeled a neocon, want to kill Iraqi children, a drone, they are beneath you, and a loyal Fox News viewer? But being a MSNBC (particularly Olberman) fan is OK - the same person who labels people who do not agree with him as Hitler and routinely gives the Nazi salute. Being a Fox News watcher is bad, because that network is so biased, but a MSNBC viewer is great because they tell the honest truth all the time, and open to all people. "Don't question my patriotism, you Nazi facist."

And for the record, I used to watch all of them, now I watch none - they are all not worthy of my time. If you want others to open their eyes, start with yourself, because you are no better than those you hate.

BTW, great name, Carlisle Group. Obviously you know very little about the politics you condemn.

[Kamokazi @ Jul 7th 2008 1:44AM]

I like how liberals attack Fox all the time. Most conservatives consider them about as liberally biased as CNN, NBC, etc.

[Remember Fallujah @ Jul 6th 2008 11:55PM]

Way to treat the symptom instead of treating the problem. Instead of asking
why his son was killed in an illegal war, he's inventing a machine that'll kill more people, many of whom are simply defending their homeland. Low Rank me all you want.

[agenovese01 @ Jul 7th 2008 12:01AM]

an illegal war i never heard that before wow that is an amazing comment that machine will save lives of our army incase you didnt read it right and yes take lives of our enemies

[Remember Fallujah @ Jul 7th 2008 12:09AM]

It's not amazing that you've never heard that. There are uninformed, ignorant people all over the planet. What your little pretty head couldn't fathom though is that Iraqis were never OUR enemy, they never attacked the U.S.. In fact, Bush's friends in Saudi Arabia had way more to do with 9/11 than Iraqis ever have. Now you can go back to your Grand Theft Auto game. You wouldn't want reality messing with your head.

[Ty1361 @ Jul 7th 2008 12:15AM]

seriously man, really? How happy does it make you to have the freedom to say something like that. Because that is what the men in uniform do every day. It's not because the asked to go fight in a war its because the chose to defend the constitution and everything it stands for. Feel free to hate the United States for being in this war, its your right. We are blessed to have such freedoms, but let me ask you besides riding on our president what have you done for this country. Because you seem so quick to crucify someone else for trying to do some good but what have you done to fix this war. You have a voice and instead of using it to complain why don't you try to change the world. I enlisted to protect this great country and the first thing they tell you in basic is, welcome to the elite part of the United States the 1% that decided to do something. So please respect the troops.

[Robert @ Jul 7th 2008 12:18AM]

wow so you can call so many illegal wars. you know little of what goes on there and you should be quiet with your comments because you being a civilian means nothing to being someone over there fighting ok rem fallujah it should be rem all our fallen brethren who have died over there and in all wars just rem that before you speak

[Robert @ Jul 7th 2008 12:19AM]

thx u ty1361 well stated

[A.C.E.R. @ Jul 7th 2008 1:17AM]

@ Ty1361: Yeah we invaded Iraq and murder civilians to defend our Constitution. That makes sense. Plenty of peaceful nations have the same freedoms we do and they don't find it necessary to be imperialistic assholes like we do.

[Mel @ Jul 8th 2008 1:56AM]

Unfortunately I can't low rank you all I want. Engadget only lets me do it once D:

[Tubalcain @ Jul 7th 2008 12:01AM]

How the fuck does the greatest military power on the planet have an under equipped military?--Unless that is also smoke & mirrors? This militarization of everything is sickening. I agree with Remember Fallujah's post.

[Dillon @ Jul 7th 2008 12:48AM]

You do understand the concept of money, don't you?

[Robert @ Jul 7th 2008 12:04AM]

all these remarks of peoples comments who are pitiful

[sinjinn @ Jul 7th 2008 7:28AM]

all these bases are belong to us