Gun-Toting Robots May Fight in Future !! American soldiers may soon be joined on the battlefield by machine gun-toting robots on wheels, according to U.S. Army officials. Earlier this month, military leaders attended a technology demonstration at Fort Benning, Ga., where robotics companies exhibited their most advanced weaponized creations, reported ComputerWorld. The display was designed to show the potential ways robots could support troops in combat. Army leaders watched a human controller command a wheeled robot, positioned more than 490 feet (150 meters) away, open fire with an M240 machine gun. The robot, which also uses thermal-imaging technology to spot concealed enemies, could protect soldiers from potentially dangerous assaults. Humanoid robots fighting alongside troops on the battlefield may be some time off, the current wheel-bound creations already show strong promise, according to the Army. The robots, which can be operated through satellite communications, ensure that human soldiers can remain safely out of harms way, in some cases hundreds of miles away from the battlefield. Executives from the robotics companies say the robots can be air-dropped into a war zone from a helicopter or plane, or may rove alongside the troops on patrol, reported ComputerWorld. Still, dont expect these mechanized warriors to take over completely for human soldiers. At least not yet, said Tollie Strode Jr., a senior project officer with the Maneuver Battle Lab at Fort Benning. The robot may acquire an enemy target, but it will still always ask a human for permission to fire, Strode told ComputerWorld. I think the ability for a robot to acquire and assess a target and ID it as a threat and fire is probably five or 10 years out. However, even if that capability exists … well have a human in the process of deciding what to do.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 05:58:21 +0000
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