Just Plain Robots... coming soon to a battlefield near you.

[Kirkhill]

http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=6613

This is more on the story about weapons on the EOD crawler.  Complete with pictures.

Mounts M16, M249, M240, HMG or 4 barrel 66mm rocket launcher.

To be deployed with the Stryker Brigade next year.

 

[Kirkhill]

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996573

And then there is this one......

It takes 25,000 Rat Brain Cells in a Petri Dish to Fly an F22.

What does that do for job security for Zoomie and Inch, let alone the need for the man in the turret in a DFSV? ;D :dontpanic:

 

[GENOMS Soilder]

Doesn't seem to be all that. That Crawler looks like a hobby robot, the kind you see on that TV show 'Robot Wars'.
But I would want to see some specs before I make any more comments.
And don't get me wrong about this idea. I find this kind of stuff interesting.
But it will never remove the solider.

 

[chrisf]

You know, I don't think the way to look at this is as a replacement for the soldier, rather, as a tool for soldiers... a new self-propelled weapons platform... mount a .50 cal on top of it, and give it to a light infantry platoon... the weapon can be fired remotely, so the weapon can be exposed, while the troops are under covered....

Further, makes a good recce platform for high risk areas... the robot goes around a corner, relays images back to the troops...

Looks like the robot in the picture has some variation of the mnimi mounted on it, not the M16 that the article claims ((Note particularly the gas-selector, and the barrel change handle)...I would think that if possible, it would also be wise to engineer it such that any weapon mounted on the platform is removable and usable by the troops in the event that the robot fails...

 

[Kirkhill]

Sig Op:

Seems you have it right.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4199935.stm

'Robot soldiers' bound for Iraq 

Soldering on: A private firm helped the military make the robo-soldier
The US military is planning to deploy robots armed with machine-guns to wage war against insurgents in Iraq.
Eighteen of the 1m-high robots, equipped with cameras and operated by remote control, are going to Iraq this spring, the Associated Press reports.

The machine is based on a robot already used by the military to disable bombs.

Officials say the robot warrior is fast, accurate and will track and attack the enemy with relatively little risk to the lives of US soldiers.

Unlike its human counterparts, the armed robot does not require food, clothing, training, motivation or a pension.

When not needed in war, it can be mothballed in a warehouse.

However, the robot will rely on its human operator, remotely studying footage from its cameras, for the order to open fire.

According to Bob Quinn, a manager with Foster-Miller, the US-based company which worked with the military to develop the robot, the only difference for a soldier is that "his weapon is not at his shoulder, it's up to half a mile away".

Test of metal


The robot fighter has been christened Swords, after the acronym for Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection Systems.

Robot soldier

Can be fitted with standard-issue M249 or M240 rifle
Has four cameras, night-vision and zoom lenses
Can travel over rocks and barbed wire
Batteries run for up to 4 hours at a time
Remote control unit has two joysticks and video screen
Costs $200,000 ( £106,757) per unit 

It is based on the Talon robot, which is widely used by the military to disarm bombs.

A US officer who helped test the robot said it was a more accurate shot than the average soldier because it is mounted on a stable platform and takes aim electronically.

"It eliminates the majority of shooting errors you have," said Staff Sgt Santiago Tordillos.

Mr Quinn says there are plans to replace the computer screen, joysticks and keypad in the remote-control unit with a Gameboy-style controller and virtual-reality goggles.

The Foster-Miller company is owned by the QinetiQ Group, a joint venture between the UK's Ministry of Defence and US-based holding company, Carlyle Group.

OK, lets see now.

LAV with crew of 3.  Driver, Commander, Wpns Op.  Observation Array and 2 SWORD robots (attach weapons to suit) -  Operate in support of infantry in urban setting (taking on another role of the MBT)  or Operate in Recce setting - mixed troop with 8 Vehicles (4 of these, a pair of Coyotes and a pair of LAVs with 8-16 dismounts)  Maybe add a pair of LAVs with Gill-Spike ER -

For those of you paying attention, I just read the article on the Spike in the current CDQ.  If the Spike is all that it is cracked up to be in the article I can actually see the merits of the Spike over the Javelin.  Particularly the ability to see the target from the missile and use it as a recce tool as well as an offensive tool - fire and forget OR update in flight according to real time info.  Meanwhile the Spike (2000m) Spike-LR (4000m) Spike-ER (8000m) results in commonality of training and parts.

I am a fickle b****r at times.

 

[jmackenzie_15]

uhmmm.... I may be overreacting but, does anyone else remember the movie terminator?  :-\

Is it such a far fetched idea that eventually; inevitably, our creations and machines will become smarter than we are?

 

[youravatar]

uhmmm.... I may be overreacting but, does anyone else remember the movie terminator?   :-\

Is it such a far fetched idea that eventually; inevitably, our creations and machines will become smarter than we are?

amen to that

 

[goodform]

and how well does it handle IAs and stoppages?

 

[jmackenzie_15]

I am very very strongly opposed to inventing machines to think and work for us.
On one hand, its incredibly lazy, and as a people, humans get lazier and lazier and lazier as time goes on.
On the other hand, it would eventually be our demise.

It is not our enemies abroad whom we should fear, but ourselves....

 

[mainerjohnthomas]

I like it.
Why expose an infantryman to fire as point man, when a robot can do the job better, not only to draw fire, but provide better tactical data for return/suppressive fire.  This isn't a tool to replace a soldier, this is a tool to augment a mechanized infantry platoon.  Drones have been used for years for aerial recon, now they come to ground warfare, with the additional benefit of acting as a weapons platform, excellent for support weapons.

 

[jmackenzie_15]

It all has to start somewhere doesn't it.

 

[Kirkhill]

One other advantage that I think I see is the impact of a steady platform on accuracy and thus the ability to be effective at increased standoff ranges.

Consider a C6 mounted on an SF tripod, with a CLASS type sighting system and no hard-breathing gunner leaning on the weapon.  The gunner is forced to take more time to line up the cross-hairs but the CLASS predicts fall of shot and updates point-of-aim.  At that point is it not unreasonable to suggest that the C6 will be extremely effective at its maximum range (1800m), or at least moreso.  How difficult will it be for the enemy target to detect the point of origin of the fire given the size of the platform and the range?  Also how difficult will it be for the unit to be countered given difficulty to detect, ability to move and relocate even under fire, especially when the gunner is located up to half a mile from the weapon.

Other weapons that might be mounted on such a system? Could they not include the Barret 50,  2-4 70mm rockets (new variants have guidance systems), ALAWS.....? Virtually anything that is man-portable.

As to stoppages, that is a valid concern.  In fact that is one of the reasons that MGs and other systems were always "sighted in pairs".  "The Rise of the Emma Gees."  But the trade off is against a man in the open, seriously concerned about his personal well-being while trying to do his job and protect his mates.

 

[Kirkhill]

More robots....

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele.pl?session=dae.4308111.1089903978.QPadasOa9dUAAESlMZk&modele=jdc_34

 

[Kirkhill]

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele.pl?session=dae.4308111.1089903978.QPadasOa9dUAAESlMZk&modele=jdc_34

More on TUGVs - Tactical Unmanned Ground Vehicles - not robots but Tele-operated by troops.

Contract awarded to develop and produce.

Congressional intent to have 1/3 of Ground Vehicles "UNMANNED"  by 2015.

 

[Kirkhill]

More on robots - maybe not so plain


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,1-1491543,00.html

 

[Kirkhill]

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele.pl?session=dae.4308111.1089903978.QPadasOa9dUAAESlMZk&modele=jdc_34

Large order placed for Talon "robots" by US forces.  These are NOT thinking robots.  They are remote controlled robots.

Foster-Miller Awarded $96 Million Contract for Additional TALON Robots
 
 
(Source: Foster-Miller, Inc.; issued Sept. 9, 2005)
 
 
WALTHAM, Mass. --- Foster-Miller, Inc., announced today that it has received its largest US military order to date for ground robots. The multi-year contract increased from $27.5 million for 250 robots to $124 million for up to 1200 TALON Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) robots. 

This order falls under the Man Transportable Robotic System program (MTRS) that is managed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Indian Head, MD. TALON(TM) robots will be delivered to Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy EOD units around the world. 

TALON robots are powerful, durable, lightweight tracked vehicles that are widely used for explosive ordnance disposal, reconnaissance, communications, sensing, security, defense and rescue. They are man-portable and have all-weather, day/night and amphibious capabilities and can navigate virtually any terrain. 

Foster-Miller is the largest provider of robots for EOD work in Iraq and Afghanistan with more than 250 TALON robots deployed in theater. These TALON robots have successfully completed more than 50,000 EOD missions, and have rendered safe thousands of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), increasing security and safety in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

"Foster-Miller is honored that TALON robots continue to be the soldier's choice for EOD operations," said Dr. William Ribich, president and CEO. "Every robot we can put in harm's way helps to protect soldiers and civilians and reduces the threats posed on the battlefield. Foster-Miller remains committed to constant innovation to ensure that we provide our warfighters with the strategic advantages they need to complete their missions." 

TALON robots have been in continuous, active military service since 2000 when they were successfully used in Bosnia to move and dispose of live grenades. They were used extensively at Ground Zero in search and recovery efforts after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center and were the first robots taken into Afghanistan by Special Forces during action against the Taliban in 2002. TALON robots entered Iraq with US forces in March, 2003. 


Foster-Miller, Inc. is an engineering, development and manufacturing company located in suburban Boston, MA, with additional offices in Albany, NY and Washington, DC. It became an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of QinetiQ North America Inc., in November, 2004. 

-ends- 

 

[Kirkhill]

Dismountable Remote Weapons System in a Pick-Up Truck

This system has been married with the Thales Remote Weapons System.
It also looks like the wheeled variant has been accepted over the tracked version.


Military machine: Defense robot developed at CMU makes its debut
Friday, August 05, 2005

By Corilyn Shropshire, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It could have been the Iraqi desert with the burning sun and dusty blue sky.

 
V.W.H. Campbell Jr., Post-Gazette
The "Gladiator," an unmanned remote-controlled vehicle, makes its way over a dirt obstacle yesterday as a crowd observes. Carnegie Mellon and BAE Systems held a public demonstration of the robot, developed for the Marine Corps.
Click photo for larger image.



But instead of sand, it was a tidy asphalt surface in Uniontown yesterday, where a military-green robot resembling a large all-terrain vehicle climbed and tumbled over makeshift stacks of wood planks and piles of stone-filled dirt, preening before a crowd uttering "ohs" and "ahs".

Known as the Gladiator Tactical Unmanned Ground Vehicle (TUGV), the six-wheeled combat robot spun around in circles displaying its strength and durability at what could have been its coming-out party-- the first public demonstration of the prototype designed and developed at Carnegie Mellon University and set to be built and manufactured at BAE Systems' Ground Vehicle Unit plant in Fayette County.

In February, CMU beat out defense giant Lockheed Martin for a $26.4 million Defense Department contract to produce a line of six Gladiator TUGV prototypes.

The goal is to build big remote-controlled reconnaissance robots capable of carrying out search-and-discovery missions in potentially hostile areas, to warn soldiers of the dangers ahead, and to protect them from mine fields, craters, trenches, hidden enemies or even greater threats such as chemical, biological or nuclear traps.

Eventually, the military hopes to arm the remote-controlled TUGVs with machine guns and other weapons, giving them the capacity to destroy enemy targets.

 


V.W.H. Campbell Jr., Post-Gazette
Rep. John Murtha checks out the launchers on the "Gladiator" yesterday.
Click photo for larger image.







Marine Corps Col. Terry Griffin, the project manager for the Department of Defense Robotic Systems Joint Project Office, called the Gladiator "the future of war-fighting.

"Remote combat task is to accomplish the mission and save friendly lives," Griffen told a crowd of BAE employees, politicians, CMU researchers, staff and reporters on hand for yesterday's demonstration. "We're going to do that with the Gladiator."

Although the vehicle, weighing nearly 3 tons, is large enough for combat, it appears remarkably friendly, looking and acting like an oversized remote-controlled toy.

Designed to fit into a military Humvee for transport, the Gladiator will be driven remotely by a soldier using a Sony PlayStation-like joystick. The soldier will wear a special helmet fitted with an eyepiece that serves as a camera, allowing the soldier to see what the robot sees, even though it could be miles away.

The latest Gladiator prototype has containers for hand grenades that can be used for clearing obstacles and creating a footpath on difficult terrain for soldiers following behind. It also features what looks like organ pipes to produce smoke, and it has a mount on top for a medium-size machine gun or multipurpose assault weapon.

The six prototypes, which will be tested under a variety of conditions before the Department of Defense orders up to 200 Gladiators, are the third stage of the robot's development process. A joint team of CMU researchers, consultants with military-experience and BAE engineers are now tweaking the Gladiator to a "bible-like" set of military requirements and expect to deliver the six prototypes to the Marine Corps by May 2007.

"The Marines are a tough customer. They have continually pushed them to make it easier to use," said Randy Bryant, dean of CMU's School of Computer Science.

Researchers at CMU's Robotics Institute and the National Robotics Engineering Consortium have been developing and fine-tuning the Gladiator since 2002, when several research teams and defense contractors began competing to present the Department of Defense with a specialized robotic vehicle to venture into unknown territory on battlefields and deliver real-time pictures to soldiers.

CMU began working with BAE in the most recent phase of the project -- needing an experienced defense contractor to build and manufacture the Gladiator.

Yesterday's demonstration was to showcase not just the the first unmanned ground vehicle used for reconnaissance, but also to highlight the region's economic-development success in winning a big military contract.

"We wanted to show the public what we were doing," said BAE spokesman Herb Muktarian, who noted that most of the 150 employees in the company's Fayette County plant are not yet working on the Gladiator but refurbishing Bradley combat vehicles.

Muktarian added that BAE is in "hiring mode," with plans to hire up to 50 more employees by the end of the year. The plant will start building the Gladiator prototypes sometime next year.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05217/548931.stm
http://www.thales-optronics.com/dos/products/land/details/swarm.shtml

 

[Kirkhill]

http://www.onr.navy.mil/fncs/auto_ops/docs/concept_of_employment.pdf

This is the US Marine Corps concept of how they might use their Gladiator TUGV.

 

[winchable]

At 200,000 a pop that doesn't seem like a bad price at all (I'm not being sarcastic) considering the advantage it could give as well as being the first rung on the ladder towards similar, better weapons/robots.

 

[Kirkhill]

Out flaming rageous  ;D