September 19th, 2008 by
Filed under: Robots
We haven’t heard a whole lot about Singapore’s DARPA-esque TechX robot challenge since it first kicked off early last year, but with the final round getting underway on Sunday, Popular Mechanics has now thankfully offered up a preview of what’s in store. Among those set to compete is the so-called Uni-Seeker bot (pictured above) from Nanyang Technological University, which is a heavily modded incarnation of iRobot’s ATRV Junior robot, and one of only six bots that managed to make it through all the qualifying rounds. Others include the considerably more intimidating AZROBOWAR Sharp Shooter, built completely from scratch, and a pair of robots built on iRobot’s popular PackBot platform. From the looks of it, they’ll each have their work cut out for them in the big event, with them required to start outside and navigate their way inside a building, then climb a flight of stairs, travel up an elevator, touch a few targets, and then exit the building again — without any human intervention, and in less than an hour. That $700,000 prize should provide plenty of motivation, though.
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Posted in irobot, packbot, atrv junior, AtrvJunior, signapore, techx, uni-seeker | No Comments »
July 15th, 2008 by
Filed under: Robots
It’s not the first time a robot has been given fresh life with a new career, but it’s always nice to see bots saved from the scrap heap, which is just what the Army’s 95th Chemical Company has done with some PackBot-based bots that were once busy disposing of bombs in Iraq. Apparently, the bot was starting to show its shortcomings, so the Company decided to outfit it with some chemical-sniffing gear that lets it detect ammonia, chlorine, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and all other sorts of bad things. Now, after some extensive testing, it seems that the robot (dubbed CUGV, for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Unmanned Ground Vehicle) is nearly ready to see some action, with it set to begin field testing in both Iraq and Afghanistan this fall.
[Via Danger Room]
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Posted in army, packbot, chemical, chemical-sniffing robot, Chemical-sniffingRobot | No Comments »
June 20th, 2008 by
Filed under: Cellphones, Robots
Sure, you love your iPhone, but did you ever feel like there was just one application missing from the home screen… besides MMS, IM, or a video recorder? If you’re like us, that missing application was a full-featured Packbot control program replete with streaming POV video and a standalone, direct WiFi connection that doesn’t require a proxy machine to pass along commands. Rodrigo Guiterrez and Jeff Craighead — the brains behind this operation — claim that next up they plan to utilize the phone’s accelerometers and a fullscreen video display to deliver a “you are there” experience for bot-steering. Engadget and its team of armed Packbots can hardly wait. Check the video after the break to see it in action.
Continue reading Native iPhone app controls Packbot via WiFi, delivers streaming POV video
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Posted in iPhone, Apple, wifi, irobot, packbot, pov, control, ocu, point of view, PointOfView | No Comments »
March 3rd, 2008 by
Filed under: Robots
Get ready, battlefields, as yet another iRobot is gearing up to take you all by storm. Announced today, the aforementioned outfit has received an award under DARPA’s LANdroids program which will enable it to “develop a new portable communications relay robot that is small, inexpensive, intelligent and robust.” The resulting creature will reportedly be used in “dense urban environments to rapidly deploy and maintain a vital communications infrastructure,” and better still, they’ll be tough enough to be thrown into position and intelligent enough to “autonomously detect and avoid obstacles while navigating.” Unfortunately, it seems the conclusion of said project is still a few years out, but we can already envision soldiers getting antsy to never be forced to utter “can you hear me now?” again.
[Via InformationWeek]
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Posted in irobot, contract, War, military, packbot, DARPA, battle, defense, combat, LANdroids | No Comments »
January 4th, 2008 by
Filed under: Robots
As Danger Room reports, iRobot’s currently working hard to churn out the bots that’ll form the so-called “robot surge” the Army has planned, but the company did recently take the time to show off the robot at the center of it all, an updated version of its standard PackBot dubbed the “PackBot 510 with FasTac Kit.” This one’s apparently smaller and lighter than the company’s other battle-tested bots and, as you can see above, it’s capable of performing some fairly impressive contortions (more pics are available at the read link below). That light weight and agility apparently make the bot ideal for infantry use, with it also able to identify roadside bombs and other IEDs and dispose of them accordingly. Still no home version though, although we’re suppose a similar iRobot Create mod isn’t entirely out of the question for the particularly skilled bot-builders out there.
[Photo courtesy of Danger Room]
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Posted in irobot, army, packbot | No Comments »
December 12th, 2007 by
Filed under: Robots
iRobot has unleashed yet another semi-autonomous robot ready to take on whatever the battlefield throws at it, but this one’s got a much better feel of where it’s headed. The PackBot with Mapping Kit ups the ante by “creating a real-time two-dimensional structural map for the soldier while on the move in theater,” essentially enabling the operator (and his / her squad) to see what’s just ahead without having to slip into potentially dangerous scenarios to find out. Apparently, the kit utilizes an array of sensors and artificial intelligence to relay the structural map while “simultaneously detecting and avoiding obstacles in its path.” Heck, let’s just strap a railgun on this thing and let the soldier kick back at the base.
[Thanks, Jonas]
Read - Press release
Read - PackBot with Mapping Kit homepage
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Posted in irobot, War, military, packbot, artificial intelligence, ArtificialIntelligence, soldier, aware, mapping | No Comments »
October 8th, 2007 by
Filed under: Robots
While it’s always bittersweet to report on the latest advancements in autonomous military killbots, the one upside to Foster-Miller’s latest heavily-armed robotic platform is that it possesses enhanced safeguards to minimize incidences of friendly fire or civilian casualties. That being said, QinetiQ’s SWORDS-smith is still touting the improved “lethality” of its new MAARS chassis (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System), a 350-pound PackBot-type unit that, unlike its predecessor, was built from the ground up with murder in its heart. Its M240B Medium Machine Gun is more powerful than SWORDS’ M249, although redesigned software and a mechanical range fan are said to bolster safety by delineating live fire zones and keeping barrels pointed away from allied positions, respectively. A final precaution precludes the bots from firing directly at their control units — a feature that will provide little solace to the MAARS controller whose charge has just pulled a 180 after being hacked by enemy forces. For a short video of the new bot still under friendly control, keep reading after the break…
[Via Danger Room and The Raw Feed]
Continue reading Next-gen killbots boast enhanced friendly fire avoidance
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Posted in foster-miller, killbot, maars, military, packbot, qiniteq, swords | No Comments »
