MilitaryRobot
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New military robots showcased at DARPATech 2007
While both the Navy and Air Force have recently warmed up to a new robotic friend, a number of military bots-to-be showed their stuff at DARPATech 2007. Among the standouts were a camera-guided Little Dog, the resilient Big Dog, a backpack-portable, fully autonomous Micro Air Vehicle, and a beefed-up version of the MAV (dubbed the Organic Air Vehicle) that can reportedly hover around for two hours. The latter creation was designed to "designate ground targets from the sky and paint targets up to 15-kilometers away with its laser designator," while the MAV can monitor a 10-kilometer radius "with infrared or visible cameras in hover-and-stare mode." The aforementioned canines seem to be terrain navigators, which could potentially be studied to improve the locomotion of walking machines in general. Go on, click through for a few glimpses of these friendly fellows -- they aren't armed, yet.
Elbit Systems unveils VIPeR "hunter-killer" robot
Israeli defense firm Elbit System looks to be gunning squarely at iRobot's battle-hardened territory, today unveiling its less-than-originally-named VIPeR bot which, as you can see, boasts some serious firepower. In addition to that imposing Uzi machine-pistol (aimed via video camera, not autonomously), Reuters reports that the bot can also plant grenades, and be equipped with the necessary tools to sniff out bombs and dispose of them appropriately. While the bot will apparently be deployed with Israeli forces initially, the company also appears to be hoping to attract the interest of the United States military, as well as foreign police forces. No word if the the testing process included showdowns with other robots, although it's hard to imagine them being able to resist.
