[Styxx]

So, you thought it was all fiction, huh?



http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001246.html

[q]ARMED DRONES ROLLING TO IRAQ

Hunting for guerillas, handling roadside bombs, crawling across the caves and crumbling towns of Afghanistan and Iraq -- all of that was just a start.

Now, the U.S. Army's squad of robotic vehicles is being prepped for a new set of assignments. And this time, they'll be carrying guns.

As soon as March or April, eighteen Talon robots armed with automatic weapons are scheduled to report for duty in Iraq, as part of the Army's Stryker Brigade.

talon_asc.JPGAround the same time, the first prototypes of a new, unmanned ambulance should be ready for the Army to start testing. In a warren of hangar-sized hotel ballrooms in Orlando, Florida, military engineers this week at the Army Science Conference showed off their next generation of robots, as they got the machines ready for the warzone.

"Putting something like this into the field, we're about to start something that's never been done before," said Staff Sergeant Santiago Tordillos, waving to the black, two-and-a-half foot tall robot rolling around the carpeted floor on twin treads, an M249 machine gun cradled into its mechanical grip.[/q]

[an0n]

Gimme a shotgun and a chainsaw over that **** any day.

[Fineus]

Did they not learn anything from the film? Granted self-intelligence from a lightning bolt is unlikely - but I hardly trust these things to be rolling around...

[JR2000Z]

Great. I'd love to be killed by a robot.

[MatthewPapa]

I think itwould be a good way to save a lot of lives from ambushes by sending those things into a hostile areas first. I wonder if its remote controlled? If not lets just hope they dont get too smart. We wouldnt want robot rebelllions like in the terminator now would we?

[Clave]

Bet they are running Windows CE - Hack anyone?

[Jetmech Jr.]

Wouldn't be surprising.

[Vertigo1]

Originally posted by MatthewPapa
I think itwould be a good way to save a lot of lives from ambushes by sending those things into a hostile areas first. I wonder if its remote controlled? If not lets just hope they dont get too smart. We wouldnt want robot rebelllions like in the terminator now would we?

Yeah, I'm sure the locals would make a big deal about the 'bots killing someone that was surrendering.

[Flipside]

Why do I get vision of scores of robot refugees rolling across the Iraqi deserts shouting 'No Disassemble!'.

I doubt they would work on AI alone, software that could identify threats from friendlies would be so complex it would be slow and buggy. It's probably using a camera and an RC unit, which means as soon as you know where the camera is, you can steal one with nothing more than a piece of cloth

[Gank]

Doomed to fail

[Flipside]

As bomb disposal and sniper-sniffing, these things are useful, but putting a huge gun on them seems pointless to me, I mean, what's the range of an FFAR pod? Is it going to make any difference at that range whether it is a human or a Robot firing, they're going to be out of the range of most small arms fire anyway.

Edit : And more importantly, when in the hell did the entire world start spelling 'Striker' wrong?

[aldo_14]

What happens if a rebel sneaks up behind it and nicks the gun?

[Liberator]

This is some kind of telepresence right?  This is cool.

[Gloriano]

And so future begins, it's interesting see where military Robot technology is going in future

[Flipside]

Originally posted by aldo_14
What happens if a rebel sneaks up behind it and nicks the gun?

Exactly Aldo, even heat sensitive equipment can be blinded by a blanket. That's one of the reasons the Sandstorm delayed the advance in the first place. What seems to me to be the sensible move would be to, rather than spend $2m on something with a huge gun and tracks, spend $0.4m on something with a heat-camera and 'Stairwalker' tracks. You could send those into buildings with suspected snipers, if someone attacks it or blinds it, you know you've found your man, most likely, and if it does get destroyed, it's much less money lost

[Vertigo1]

You could always have it rigged to self-destruct if you try to blind it.  Have it set off a bunch of claymores in a hemispherical arc.

[Flipside]

LOL I thought of that myself, but the second thought that came along was 'and if this guy is using a family with a couple of babies as shields?'. I'd rather not be the person who had to press that button

But yes, some kind of 'self destruct' device would work, but would still render the device as useless to the US forces as to those trying to steal it, this still costing money

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Flipside


Exactly Aldo, even heat sensitive equipment can be blinded by a blanket. That's one of the reasons the Sandstorm delayed the advance in the first place. What seems to me to be the sensible move would be to, rather than spend $2m on something with a huge gun and tracks, spend $0.4m on something with a heat-camera and 'Stairwalker' tracks. You could send those into buildings with suspected snipers, if someone attacks it or blinds it, you know you've found your man, most likely, and if it does get destroyed, it's much less money lost

That's another thing that occured to me - how's that thing going to handle stairs?  Have these people never seen the Daleks?

[Liberator]

more likely have a rather potent electrical charge running through the weapon so that anybody that tries to grab it wiil be mildly electrocuted and give the operator the time to determine IFF status and fire if necessary.

[Flipside]

The thing is though, look at the guns on those things, if they fired at something close enough to touch them they'd blow themselves to pieces. These things look designed to roll out and sit in the middle of sniper zones, they probably scan the windows for heat sources before the soldiers move across. However, those weapons look a little ummm. 'indiscriminate' for that job.