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Military And Civilian Robotics
It seems like new robots are coming out everyday and everyday they get more advanced. I was wondering how seriously they are taken until I came across a press release from Carnegie Mellon. Here was the headline "Carnegie Mellon Announces Creation of The Robot Hall of Fame; Assembles a Panel of Renowned Judges to Select the First Inductees" I think that we all know that Carnegie Mellon University is a very prestigious institution and if they are taking the new robotics very seriously than we should be. I have always said that if we are making a lot of progress in some area in the private sector than I bet we are making even more in the military sector. The difference between these two sectors is that we never seem to really know what is going on with the military as far as the progress they are making until we see, if ever, in a new weapon that is being used that employs the new technology. Another difference is that the military seems to have a much larger budget for these things. Contrary to common belief there will be no autonomous mining robots in the near future. It seems that the cost of research is just too great to make this a worth while investment at this time. The end result would have to be something that was cheaper to do than the technology that is used today. An announcement was made by Fatronik Technological Centre that it now has a robot that can build air planes. Supposedly it works on the fuselage and wings. It is a robot that is capable of climbing on the plane's structure and does precision drilling then subsequent riveting and assembly. The 'feet' of the bot have suction cups affixed to them.
Fatronik Technological Centre Robot There seem to be more and more flying robots, who's general purpose is spying and even destroying targets without endangering a human pilot. One of the spy type is the MSSMP, which stands for Multipurpose Security and Surveillance Mission Platform. It is a very easy robot to control and gives an excellent view in areas where you would be in danger if you went yourself. An example of this is its ability to peek through windows and doorways as it glides down streets and alleys. It is simple to control because all that is needed is a properly equipped laptop. It is able to stay in the air for long periods of time and is relatively small. One person can control several of these robots at once.
The above videos are MPGs and are both under 2 Megs.
Sometimes it is interesting to see the forerunners of a robotic system and Greenman was such a robot. Greenman first came into being in 1983. It was the first anthropomorphic manipulator developed at SSC San Diego. It was called the Remote Presence Demonstration System. Since this system was one of the first ever made, it had no fingers, force or tactile feedback but could still show some dexterity. Even its vision was supplied by two simple tv cameras of 535 lines and 35 degree fields.
Photos are courtesy SPAWAR and the U.S. Navy One of the things that the military would love to have is a remote controlled vehicle capable of defensive and offensive actions. They have been experimenting to this end for years and have achieved some success. The TOV was worked on in the middle and late 1980s. TOV stands for TeleOperated Vehicle. In a test, this system scored a perfect hit record with 8 direct hits using Hellfire missiles and four direct hits with laser guided Copperhead projectiles. The vehicles could be equipped with different modules such as the surveillance module or the weapons module. The TOV's basic job was to paint the target with the laser so other vehicles or aircraft could home in with their missiles.
Photos are courtesy SPAWAR and the U.S. Navy Today there are many small flying robots that are capable of carrying tiny cameras and broadcasting images back to base. There are many stories that have been printed about them but I think that the most interesting facts are those that you hardly ever seen. I am talking about our ability to build robots the size of small insects and install cameras on them as well as use insects themselves as camera platforms. It is well documented that roaches have been fitted with cameras. I have no idea of the range that these cameras have but what could be stealthier? Here you are, an enemy. You think that just you and your companions are in the house aline and you begin to discuss secret plans. What you don't realize is that a roach is not only displaying the image of you and your friends on a monitor at the CIA but they can also hear your conversation which is also being broadcast through a tiny mike. |
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