10-10-2009, 02:30 AM
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#51 |
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Location: Victoria, Australia.
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13-10-2009, 11:04 PM
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#52 |
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Location: Victoria, Australia.
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http://www.popsci.com.au/technology/...uld-save-lives
US General Demands Robot Army, Counts 122 Lives That Bots Could Have Saved By Stuart Fox Posted 14.10.2009  Robo-grunt There was something unnerving about how it kept asking about John Connor... via California Science and Technology News Like most Army commanders, Lt. General Rick Lynch says that he needed more troops in Iraq, and that they would have saved the lives of men lost under his command. Unlike most commanders though, Lynch isn't demanding flesh and blood soldiers, but steel and rubber robotic infantrymen. Speaking at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International conference, Lynch said that robot systems already in place could have saved 122 of the 155 men who died during his time in Iraq. Lynch's concerns hold particular weight, as he has both the combat experience of leading the Army's Third Infantry Division in Iraq, and the academic experience of earning a Master's Degree in robotics from MIT. Echoing similar statements he made in August, Lynch claims that deploying remotely, or autonomously, navigated ground vehicles could have lowered casualties as a result of IEDs, and that robotic infantry could have replaced humans on dangerous surveillance missions. Some robot infantry had been deployed to Iraq, specifically the SWORD gun platform, but the Army severely restricted their use over safety concerns. Lynch went even farther than most in his talk, demanding the implementation of autonomous, armed robot systems. He countered other Army critics, saying that he believed the current level of technology was advanced enough to overcome problems with autonomous robots shooting the wrong people. "There's a resistance saying that armed ground robots are not ready for the battlefield. I'm not of that camp," Lynch said. [via Wired's Danger Room] |
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14-10-2009, 01:14 AM
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#53 |
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http://www.popsci.com.au/technology/...durance-record
Hydrogen-Powered Navy UAV Shatters Flight Endurance Record By Stuart Fox Posted 14.10.2009  Ion Tiger courtesy of the Naval Research Laboratory While most research directed at improving UAVs focuses on upgrading their weapons or sensor packages, the Naval Research Laboratory is also working to ensure that the next generation of killer drones are as fuel-efficient as they are deadly. And a recent test of their hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered Ion Tiger UAV proves how successful they have been: it staid aloft for just shy of 24 hours on a single fuel load. Flying out of the Aberdeen Proving Ground, the Ion Tiger UAV set a new record for hydrogen-powered flight by staying aloft for 23 hours and 17 minutes. This places close to the 30-36 hour endurance of the Tiger's gas guzzling Predator and Reaper cousins. Unlike its larger relatives, Ion Tiger only weighs 37 pounds, thus requiring only .75 horsepower to fly around for the better part of a day. However, the hydrogen powered motor did prove four times more efficient than similarly powerful combustion engines and seven times more powerful than a comparably sized battery. So far, the Ion Tiger exists only as a proof of concept, and has not been deployed on land or at sea. [via Science Daily] |
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15-10-2009, 12:03 AM
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#54 |
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Victoria, Australia.
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http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/blog/ro...g-blob-chembot
Video: iRobot's Shape-Shifting Blob 'Bot Takes Its First Steps POSTED BY: Anne-Marie Corley // Tue, October 13, 2009 This is by far one of the coolest and weirdest robot prototypes we at IEEE Spectrum have ever seen. Meet iRobot's soft, shape-shifting robot blob. It rolls around and changes shape, and it will be able to squeeze through tiny cracks in a wall when the project is finished. (Skip the first 1:50 minutes of the video above to see the blob in action.) Researchers from iRobot and the University of Chicago discussed their palm-sized soft robot, known as a chemical robot, or chembot, at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems yesterday. It's "the first demonstration of a completely soft, mobile robot using jamming as an enabling technology," they write in a paper presented at the conference. The concept of "jamming skin enabled locomotion" is explained quite nicely in the video. The polymer used for the bot’s stretchy skin is off-the-shelf silicon two-part rubber. By controlling the parts of the blob that "inflate," the researchers can make it roll.          The video shows the project as it was about a year ago. The current stage has a bit different design and is moving toward the ability to include sensors or even connect different blobs together, but those details are sketchy. When asked about the usefulness of such a bot, iRobot researcher Annan Mozeika promptly answered, "to squeeze into small holes." And who wants to do that? DARPA, of course. End of questions. Video: iRobot HTML Code:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbqHERKdlK8 |
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15-10-2009, 10:03 PM
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#55 |
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Location: Victoria, Australia.
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http://www.popsci.com.au/technology/...t-plasma-knife
US Special Forces Field-Testing Plasma Knife By Stuart Fox Posted 16.10.2009  May the Schwartz Be With You via DVD.net.au Emergency medical care for soldiers wounded on the battlefield has come a long way since Hawkeye and Hot Lips. But for Special Forces troopers operating deep behind enemy lines, that care often remains out of reach. Blood loss in particular makes seconds count, and imperils commandos operating far away from friendly bases. To help with the problem of blood loss from traumatic wounds, the military has started field-testing a device more Mandalorian than M.A.S.H.: a plasma knife. The knife, whose blade consists of heated, ionized gas, cuts through flesh just as easily a steel scalpel, but also cauterizes the wound. By sealing off the damaged flesh, the plasma knife protects against infection, and stops the bleeding that imperils the wounded soldier. Think the crispy stump of Luke's severed hand, and you'll get the picture. For now, the plasma blade remains a life-saving device, not a weapon. But I think it goes without saying that we all look forward to the day when the military converts this technology into a more elegant weapon, for a more civilized time. [via Wired's Danger Room] |
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15-10-2009, 10:09 PM
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#56 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Victoria, Australia.
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http://www.popsci.com.au/technology/...tealth-fighter
China Designs Indigenous UAV Stealth Fighter, and Bootlegs Some US Models By Stuart Fox Posted 16.10.2009  China's Dark Sword UAV Stealth Fighter via Defense Professionals When I hear the phrase "knock-off Chinese products", I usually think of either the bootleg DVDs I get on the subway or the cheap electronics I get in Midtown. But a new report in Defense Professionals notes that the Chinese military has channeled that same skill for replication towards closing their UAV technology gap. By simply copying US technology, China has created a stock of advanced drones, and gained the technical knowledge to create some interesting native UAVs as well. The story lists most of China's major UAV programs, most of which simply knock off successful American UAVs like oh so many cheap copies of Crank 2 or Louis Vuitton handbags. They claim that the Yi-long reconnaissance drone is nothing more than a xerox of our Predator, with the Xiang-long and WuZhen-2000 drones copying the Global Hawk. However, the article also notes that despite the pervasive replication of US technology, the Chinese military has also developed some interesting indigenous drone technology. In particular, the Dark Sword drone seems unlike anything the American military fields today. The Chinese describe it as the "future of Chinese unmanned combat aviation," and emphasize the high maneuverability, stealth features, and air-to-air combat specialization. Considering how badass that Dark Sword UAV sounds, maybe the US should think about copying it. Turnabout is fair play, after all. [via Wired's Danger Room] |
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15-10-2009, 11:46 PM
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#57 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 726
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cool...where do i get myself one of those?
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15-10-2009, 11:50 PM
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#58 | |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 5,297
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Quote:
 .that was a short thread but it just about says it all.....one day they will fed on us......OMG
__________________
The opposite of bravery is not cowardice but conformity. ALL forums are either elite con-TROLLED or heavily infiltrated. |
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16-10-2009, 12:12 AM
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#59 | |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
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Quote:
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22-10-2009, 01:13 AM
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#60 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Victoria, Australia.
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http://www.popsci.com.au/technology/...nes-buddy-list
Google's Android Allows Soldiers to Put Drones on Buddy List Defense giant Raytheon has turned Google's mobile operating system into a military application By Jeremy Hsu Posted 22.10.2009  Phones for Warfighters U.S. Army/Tech. Sgt. Cohen A. Young Google's Android operating system for cell phones could allow soldiers to track fellow squad members and even unmanned drones in real time on a map -- as long as the humans and robots are on their buddy list. That's just one use of an Android-based application developed by defense giant Raytheon. The Raytheon Android Tactical System (RATS) costs just a few hundred dollars per user, as opposed to thousands for other systems, and allows anyone familiar with a smart phone to immediately start using it. For instance, warfighters can watch their little drone buddy's flight patterns on a map, or even get streaming video from the overhead aerial view. RATS also enables soldiers to send snapshots of suspects to the Department of Defense's private data network for immediate identification, and could even include biometric scanners to capture fingerprints in the near future. Raytheon plans to deploy RATS within the next month or so, after two years of development, according to Forbes. We're looking forward to the future editions where users can control their robot swarms using basic body language. [via Forbes] |
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