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Armed robots not pulled from Iraq after all
Well, as has been the case before, it seems that reports of armed robots gone mad have been slightly exaggerated. This latest instance concerns the SWORDS robots made by Foster-Miller and currently deployed in Iraq, which were reportedly pulled from duty after some "control issues" that supposedly involved the bot's gun swinging around when it wasn't supposed to. Now according to Danger Room, however, that is apparently not the case after all, with the very same Army manager quoted in the original Popular Mechanics article telling the site that, "SWORD is still deployed," and that "we continue to learn from it and will continue to expand the use of armed robots." A Foster-Miller spokesperson further adds that, "the whole thing is an urban legend," and that the only instances of uncommanded movements happened prior to the robot's 2006 safety certification, each of which prompted further safety measures that are now in place on the robot.[Via Slashdot]Update: Popular Mechanics has posted a further explanation and clarification of this whole situation, including word that while the robots haven't officially been pulled from Iraq, they apparently aren't exactly seeing any action either.
Army brings armed robots home from Iraq over control issues
Although other countries have deployed gun-toting robots and there's no shortage of companies trying to develop weaponized bots for Uncle Sam, it looks like the first test of actual killer robots in battle has ended in a whimper: the Army's TALON SWORD gunbots, are headed home, after being plagued with control issues. Yeah, that's right -- control issues. Apparently it was too hard to prevent the Army's gun-equipped robot from moving its gun "when it was not intended to move." Reassuring, no? The Army doesn't sound too enthused about another go-round, saying, "once you've done something that's really bad, it can take 10 or 20 years to try it again." Ouch. On the plus side, at least that's 20 more years before we're all put to work in the mines, no?
