Archive for the 'Military' Category

iRobot’s new military robot cleans land mines and barbwire obstacles using the Mk7 Anti-personnel Obstacle Breaching System. And it is effective.

Here’s how it works. The soldiers remotely drive the robot close to the field that needs to be crossed. Then, Warrior fires the APOBS, a rocket that tows a line of fragmentation grenade 45 meters long across the air. Once the line is deployed on the ground, the grenades explode, taking with them any hidden land mines or improvised explosive devices. The result is a clear, secure path for infantry and vehicles to cross.

[Gizmodo]

It is uncertain if they will take over our lives or help us, but either way these planes are scary. In general, there are thousands of these drones (UAVs) roaming in and around our world, but only nearly half of them are known. These anonymous planes such as the X-47B can carry up to 45,000 pounds of explosives! Some planes aren’t as scary, but eerie to look at. For example there is the Micro Air Vehicle (from Honeywell) that looks like a “flying beer keg” or to some people, a UFO. More remarkably there are planes that are able to be launched and then fly for 20-30 hours straight.

Though the idea can be creepy, they are also a very good thing for our troops. It sacrifices a lot of money, but that is better than sacrificing the lives of our soldiers. The robots don’t need people controlling them internally. They’re mainly used for surveillance of enemy territory and surveillance in general. Depending on the plane, it could send off one of its thousand pound missiles if it spotted a target. In conclusion, These robots are now our allies, but in the near future these robots are going to be completely autonomous to the point where it makes its own missions. Once it starts doing that, lets hope that the robot isn’t programmed with enough logic to blow us up. Four other UAVs are highlighted on the Dvice link below.

[Dvice]

When we last saw LittleDog, the smaller version of BigDog, he wasn’t quite ready for prime time yet.

Well, we have some bad news. The LittleDog, which is under development at USC as part of Darpa’s robot locomotion initiative, is now better equipped to track you down and hunt you across all kinds of terrain while looking creepy as all hell with no head. The latest version of LittleDog is programmed to teach itself to be more efficient as well. It now has the ability to evaluate the difference between a good foothold and a bad one and will adjust its steps to continue onward.

You won’t get far. It will get you eventually.

[Gizmodo]

Researchers presented the MuCar-3 at the European Land Robot Trial this week in Germany. To the observer, it looks like a normal SUV, but the prototype “autonomous robot car” is outfitted with sensors and scanners, multifocal camera systems and of course powerful computers. They hope that one day it will help to avoid military fatalities from bombings and ambushes.

The MuCar-3 can independently follow a lead car in a military convoy situation, and even stop or back up when the lead car does so. Thus it could keep troops out of harm’s way whenever possible, by reacting in tandem to the lead vehicle and letting troops worry about other things. Let the MuCar-3 move supplies and do other important but mundane tasks that are stressful.

[LA Times]

Due to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israeli military researchers have been experimenting with robots that can disable make shift explosives. The result of these experiments is the Pincher robot. The miniature robot is mostly remote controlled, however it uses sensors as well as a camera to detect IED’s (Improvised Explosive Devices.) It is also accessorized with aiming devices and dozens of loaded rockets. The rockets are 8-inches long and look like an arrow.

The missiles are shaped like an arrow so that it has a piercing effect, hence its name “Pincher”. The arrows are made of a unique pyrophoric material that cause it to burn the target (and itself) so there is less chance of an explosion and flying debris. Making sure that it does not explode is crucial to the Israeli’s because many harmless citizens have become victims due to flying debris from the battles fought on the border. The distance it has to be from its target is short, but several tens of meters are pretty generous for having dead accurate shots.

[Gizmowatch]

The Sounding Oceanographic Lagrangrian Observer Thermal Recharging (SOLO-TREC) is more than just a mouth full to say, it is NASA’s newest autonomous submarine robot. What looks to be a buoy, is actually a 183 pound submarine that is able to generate its own energy. According to Engadget, when the machine dives, “cooler water temperature causes a liquid wax-like substance inside to solidify, squeezing out oil that drives a hydraulic generator. When it surfaces, the wax softens once again, ready for another round”.

Every time it goes through that cycle, it produces 1.7 watts per hour, which is enough to power the buoy and other instruments used. Since the power of this robot is basically infinite, long term goals can easily be accomplished with it. Things like making a map of the sea world, but since the US Navy has a say in this project, it might just be used as an autonomous torpedo launcher.

[Engadget]

The cats! It is the cats who will be our saviors when all the bots go rogue. It makes perfect sense as evidenced by this story from The Register. Apparently, about a year ago, control over armed US war robots fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan was lost. What happened? A cat climbed into some machinery at an American command base and “fried everything”.

Colonel Grant Webb describes some technical problems at Creech Air Force Base, the location from which US Air Force “Predator” and “Reaper” robot aircraft are controlled during missions overseas.

“A cat climbed into one of the electronic nodes and fried everything.”

It should be noted no one was hurt. When the satellite link to a Predator or Reaper is lost, the roboplane doesn’t dive bomb the Earth or go crazy. The plane just circles where it is, awaiting further orders. The good part is at the end of the video.

Was this cat sent from the future? Did it arrive naked? So many questions.

[The Register]

Generally snipers use boring non-moving targets for practice. They need robotic moving targets to really stay on their game. And so the Australian Defense Force and Marathon Robotics took a bunch of two-wheeled RMP 200 Segway robots, placed hoodie wearing dummies on them, armored the bottoms, and then programmed them to wander around randomly.

When the sniper picks off his target, the remaining robots all scatter automatically. Now that’s a fun game. Some days it’s good to be a sniper.

[Engadget]

Britain is finally catching onto the idea of using robots for dangerous life-threatening missions. The British Ministry of Defense has unveiled a new remote controlled robot that simply defuses bombs. In more depth though, Dragon Runner, the robot, can do a multiple amount of things.

Having the ability to move at an average speed of 5mph, the robot can complete difficult tasks (for a robot) for the British army. For example, while using its forward extending manipulator arm, DR can open doors, move debris out of the way, and even dig up explosives (though it can only lift up to 10 pounds in weight.) Dragon Runner can also be used as a surveillance robot since it is equipped with four video cameras. Based on a six wheel design, it can even climb up stairs. Not many robots are capable of that. About one hundred of these bomb squad robots have been made by QinetiQ UK.

(more…)

The US Defense Threat Reduction Agency wants a robot that can navigate underground. You know, drill through soil and rock to deliver an explosive load. A “one-time use, air-delivered, highly mobile vehicle having certain characteristics similar to an unmanned ground vehicle”

It’s called a Robotic Underground Munition (RUM). The robot would be delivered by air, land softly, then drill into the ground and navigate under the Earth until it reaches its target. Once it arrives to its destination, say an underground man-made structure, the robot would explode inside.

I hope it doesn’t miss and enter my home from beneath before blowing me up.

[Gizmodo]