this is worth it.
link in first comment.
The army mule—revived. You may have to suffer through the commercial, but…
by CJ | Feb 9, 2012 | Journal | 13 comments
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http://www.hlntv.com/video/2012/02/08/military-experiment-robot-mule?hpt=hp_bn13
Military armor suits like those in your Union-Alliance universe are also fast becoming a reality.
Just look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hkCcoenLW4
What they’ve got to do next: gyrostabilizers controllable at a chin press in the helmet, that if on won’t let you fall down or if knocked down will stand you up again; autorun if the operator is unconscious—the suit takes you ‘home.’ A heads-up display with a discrimination re friend-foe through beeper signal, a ‘seek’ capacity into which you can plug search parameters, ie, looking for target five foot two abt 95 lbs; and a plug-in rifle that if given fire-at-foe command will auto-target the non-beeping type with see-in-the-dark sensors and laser accuracy—not to mention a headlamp that would blind and reveal any questionable target. Instant download-to-base re condition of unit and collected data, your friendly autospy, and of course projectile-resistant and capable of autopilot movement if you’ve got headwork to do. Adding flame decals and other personalizations is frowned upon.
They’ve got ’em! You need to go to the Boston Dynamics site and check out their other bots especially “petman”.
That’s not body armor; that’s a wearable robot! All the operator is there for is to make the kill/no-kill decision. If you trust the AI enough, you can eliminate the operator for big savings is size and speed.
What’s really scarey is that the first attempts at this will be programs written in C and running under a Microsoft operating system.
We have a story about visiting a friend of ours on one of the amphibious assault carriers, the U.S.S. Boxer. DH was talking to one of the techies in the radar room:
“What are you running on this?” (DH indicates one of the newfangled displays)
“Windows.”
“I bet it crashes a lot.”
“All the time,” with a rueful grin.
“Got any UNIX boxes? When was the last time you had to reboot?”
The tech points to a dusty computer in the corner. “Maybe 2 years ago. Pretty bulletproof.”
Sounds more like the US Navy need training on how to configure Windows 😀
My home server (http://www.fit-pc.com/web/) runs Windows 7 and has been great for over two years. Then two weeks ago it started misbehaving. The solution was funny once I knew it:
http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/general/t/4088323-re-email-hosting.html?page=1&o=21
Oh and a quick ‘thank you’ to CJ. Not just for the books but for the suggestion to change my laptop keyboard. Took all of ten minutes and didn’t even need a screwdriver. So far it seems to have fixed the problem so it was a dodgy shift key not operator error 🙂
😉
One or two guys in armor and a platoon of bots half of which are short and skittery like spiders and a few of which fly.
Don’t forget the med suite in the armor — uppers, downers, tranqs, painkillers (or maybe pain bazookas), and knock-outs. Some designer stuff to enhance focus, reaction time, and to dampen emotional reactions. Maybe those knock-outs include some amnesiac meds…
I’m having ‘Starship Trooper’ flashbacks… and not the terrible movie adaptation.
I’ve resisted long enough! I have to wonder what FRANCIS would say?
Actually, the headless look creeped me out, but the concept is fascinating. I wonder what the carrying weight limit is? It looked like it was ready to carry a wounded soldier over rough terrain.
400 lbs. Pretty impressive! Check out the Boston Dynamics site.
That mobile suit of armor? Why were my first two thoughts, “Heckuva thing if the grunt falls unconscious and gets back to ‘home base,’ only to find his side moved home base while he was out of range, and now he’s a ‘guest’ of the other side. …Or some side, at least;” or… “Uh-huh, guy gets KIA and that blasted suit is still doing a zombie stroll, very nice (not).” …Yes, my pessimistic sense of the macabre seems to be out in force today. Gee….
That, and… an insect is pretty much a good robot A.I. drone as it is. Add in actual tiny robots, and the guys and girls out in the field are going to be *very* careful about ants, ticks, fleas, spiders, roaches, etc. (but then they already would be).
Where’s my sense of unflagging optimism? Dang fatalism. :taps-foot: …Well, that’s why there’s sheer dogged cussedness, orneriness, and stubborn determination, I s’pose.
Yes, I still remember waking to hear military cadets marching by my dorm room in the wee hours *before* dawn. (Me, I was a non-reg, that is, a civvy student.) (No, there’s nothing quite like seeing a bunch of freshman cadets tapping by and a senior female cadet clomping by in senior boots. Heheheh!) (Gods and thunders, if I’d only known back then what I know now….)
I don’t know if it’s my Circadian rhythm or some other blasted thing messed up, but I’m running on very little actual sleep in the past 48 to 72 hours. No reason not to sleep, but I’m still wakeful. Hoping to hit the sack tonight and sleep like a baby.