Military robots

[tombofsoldier]

These (http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/03/2023217) type of stories always make me wonder: if the U.S. spends all these billions on the military and R&D every year, where are the giant mechs already? Seriously, spending $30 billion on a mech, assuming it works, would be hugely cost efficient. Are any militants armed with AK's and RPG's really going to try and attack a three story tall armored tank bristling with guided rockets, machine guns, and lasers? I don't think so! They'll probably just surrender out of sheer terror after the biggest car bomb they can build doesn't even dent it.

[National Kato]

They'll probably just surrender out of sheer terror after the biggest car bomb they can build doesn't even dent it.

What would it need to be made out of in order to not be dented/destroyed by a large explosive?

[hunterx280]

It would be armored similarly to a tank I would assume. Those can be damaged just like any other piece of machinery. Sure they are armored but they aren't invincible. A giant bi-pedal robot is not very practical. First off it has to be able to move down streets so i can't be any wider than a road and if it's 3 stories tall it's going to be a sitting duck. You think that a giant robot would scare the piss out of someone but I'd bet they shoot at it just to see if they could damage it. Sure it's cool in movies and anime but it just doesn't make a lot of sense in real life.

[Urizen]

It would be armored similarly to a tank I would assume. Those can be damaged just like any other piece of machinery. Sure they are armored but they aren't invincible. A giant bi-pedal robot is not very practical. First off it has to be able to move down streets so i can't be any wider than a road and if it's 3 stories tall it's going to be a sitting duck. You think that a giant robot would scare the piss out of someone but I'd bet they shoot at it just to see if they could damage it. Sure it's cool in movies and anime but it just doesn't make a lot of sense in real life.

Wait a second! The OP was serious?!!?

[National Kato]

That was my point, hunterx. To spend that much money on some giant mech would be wasteful. A few RPGs or an anti-tank round and the damned thing would topple.

Besides, if you don't think the military has already examined and proposed this idea before trashing it? Well... :D

[Wraith]

My guess is that, besides the immense technical challenge to develop such a thing, it's probably not all that practical.

You're putting a huge amount of cost and technology into a single unit.
As Kato said, it's probably going to be far from invulnerable.
A bipedal design is probably not the most mobile.


If anything, I'd expect a lot more investments in smart tank AI and personal exoskeleton-type equipment before we see anything resembling the general idea of multi-story mecha.

(Think more tachikoma, less gundam.)

[hunterx280]

That was my point, hunterx. To spend that much money on some giant mech would be wasteful. A few RPGs or an anti-tank round and the damned thing would topple.

Besides, if you don't think the military has already examined and proposed this idea before trashing it? Well... :D

Yeah, sorry, forgot to put in a statement agreeing with you. As much as I would love to see a giant mech I would much rather have some Iron Man armor. :D sadly that's probably not going to happen in my life time if ever. It just not realisitic. <cries a little while popping in Iron Man DVD>

[Bingley Joe]

This thing is only the size of a small mule, but it freaks me right the fuck out to think what a non-prototype version might be able to do

3ta-2n_Xp84

Especially the parts where it's walking on ice.. that's just ... :eek:

[Esquilax1138]

I'd like to see some of those basic Terminators from T3, think it was the T-1 or something, just a couple big chain guns on a chassis with treads. Simple, effective, and probably pretty cheap once mass production starts. Use those for patrols and guard duty instead of soldiers. Would be great for frontal assaults too, or air drop some behind enemy lines and set them to kill anything moving.

Mechs look cool but as was said, are not very practical.

[Wraith]

It looks like some kind of headless push-me-pull-you.

[hunterx280]

This thing is only the size of a small mule, but it freaks me right the fuck out to think what a non-prototype version might be able to do

Especially the parts where it's walking on ice.. that's just ... :eek:

That reminds me of the Metal Gear things I saw in the MGS4 trailers. The ones that are jumping all over the place.

[ClannerDelta]

Joints are a bitch.

[Esquilax1138]

This thing is only the size of a small mule, but it freaks me right the fuck out to think what a non-prototype version might be able to do

3ta-2n_Xp84

Especially the parts where it's walking on ice.. that's just ... :eek:

Yes I've seen it on ice, and with a guy kicking it to try to get it to fall over, was creepy how well it could keep it's balance. Slap some guns and grenade launchers on that thing and it would scare the shit out of most people. Would be even better to have them make a loud, screaming noise as they advanced, for a nice psychological effect like a Stuka used in WWII.

Damn I'd love to have an army of robots, if I had Bill Gates money I'd be living in a old hollow volcanic island making legions of those things... muahahahahah :D

[BigJonno]

Come on people, this is the military we're talking about. The same people who think that spending a few grand per vehicle to stop them being blown up by their own aircraft is a waste of money.

[National Kato]

When I see that Big Dog video and then think about HL2: Episode 2's Hunters, well...

I'm scared the fuck out of my mind.

[tombofsoldier]

That was my point, hunterx. To spend that much money on some giant mech would be wasteful. A few RPGs or an anti-tank round and the damned thing would topple.

Besides, if you don't think the military has already examined and proposed this idea before trashing it? Well... :D

Well just armor it with two meter thick carbon nanotubes obviously. And diamond viewports :D

[Bingley Joe]

Or how about something like this?

hvYyFnG3PHc

why oh why didn't they let Blomkamp finish the Halo movie??

[National Kato]

Well just armor it with two meter thick carbon nanotubes obviously. And diamond viewports :D

You throw in a heated cupholder and you got yourself a deal!

[ClannerDelta]

Well just armor it with two meter thick carbon nanotubes obviously. And diamond viewports :D

Viewports are weaknesses. Have all of its sensory data transmitted to it from a network of satellites and UAV's. Use a computer to contextualize the information into something a pilot could use.

[Ox]

Viewports are weaknesses. Have all of its sensory data transmitted to it from a network of satellites and UAV's. Use a computer to contextualize the information into something a pilot could use.
Radio transmissions can be jammed. It's much better just to have all the pilots be psychic/empaths.

[ClannerDelta]

Radio transmissions can be jammed. It's much better just to have all the pilots be psychic/empaths.

This is correct. However I planned on making it one giant walking fortress. So, even if it did get jammed and shut down. When all the enemies climbed on it to celebrate their victory. You'd drop some napalm on them. You know, like "Hello!" but in military speak.

It's like a trojan horse, but made of awesome and win.

[Ox]

It's like a trojan horse, but made of awesome and win.
And hopefully with slightly less butt-sex going on inside. DADT is still in force.

[ClannerDelta]

And hopefully with slightly less butt-sex going on inside. DADT is still in force.
Note: Add chastity belts.

[Ox]

Note: Add chastity belts.
I really hope the NSA is monitoring this thread. I can't wait for my phat DARPA check.

[Kenturion]

As awesome as 3-story war machines are, I think that successful future combat robotics would probably lean toward smaller, more agile systems. After all, smaller (say 4 feet tall or under) units would hopefully move faster, and certainly be harder to target than a General Dynamics Doom-Fort 7000, if less physically imposing.

Actually, I think the idea of a small, fast, hard to see military robot would actually lead to more in the way of sheer pants-wetting fear and uncertainty; after all, one can only hide a three-story robot in a limited number of places - a rather small one could be hiding anywhere (perhaps lurking in the shadows outside your headquarters right now, o enemies of America >.>).

Add an effective propaganda campaign (say a few public demonstrations of their capabilities or deliberately leaked tapes of military tests, at least) and the effectiveness of these robots (or their threatened use) would be even greater.

/I might be thinking about this too much, but robots are awesome.
edit: also, sorry if I'm taking the idea too literally =/

[ClannerDelta]

I might be thinking about this too much, but robots are awesome.
edit: also, sorry if I'm taking the idea too literally =/[/SIZE]

I'm sure military robots are going to lean towards the small, at least land based ones.

Though the problem with robots being used in a psychological role... is they would scare the Jesus out of our own people. The second someone heard about a robot designed to kill a man, then flay his skin off and wear it while hunting more people. They might decide the government has become a bit too scary. (Not saying that's what you meant, just hyperbole.)

Imagine that Big Dog walking out of a dark alleyway covered in the flesh of its last victim. Who the fuck would want to fight that?

[Kenturion]

Imagine that Big Dog walking out of a dark alleyway covered in the flesh of its last victim. Who the fuck would want to fight that?
Nobody that I know, though a couple might be crazy enough to try :D

By the way, are the skin-wearing robots a plot point in a film or book or something? It sounds vaguely familiar.
If not, go make some money off that idea!

[Codicier]

@Ox and Clanner exchange

I love you guys. (But in totally hetero way, not in a land-based trojan robot fortress butt-sex way)

[Sandman]

If movies and video games have taught us anything....it's that any machine no matter the size, weaponry or armor can be brought down by a one man army with the patience to figure out it's firing pattern and/or weak spot.

[LongStepMantis]

If movies and video games have taught us anything....it's that any machine no matter the size, weaponry or armor can be brought down by a one man army with the patience to figure out it's firing pattern and/or weak spot.

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/gimages/legoat-at.jpg

I remember seeing a video a few years back of a small two-sectioned robot with tank treads. It could essentially climb up very sheer or uneven surfaces because the two treaded sections could move independently. It showed some footage of one navigating a rough rocky area with relative ease. Then they just stuck a minigun on top of it and controlled it by remote.

I thought that one would be a winner, and it was only a couple feet tall and maybe 5 or 6 long.

[Pale Ale]

That reminds me of the Metal Gear things I saw in the MGS4 trailers. The ones that are jumping all over the place.

Gekkos? Gekkos (http://metalgear.wikia.com/wiki/Metal_Gear_Gekko) No wonder I haven't played though that game since I beat it. Stupid devil cow screaming death machines...

Nobody that I know, though a couple might be crazy enough to try :D

By the way, are the skin-wearing robots a plot point in a film or book or something? It sounds vaguely familiar.

If not, go make some money off that idea!http://wiki.reliccommunity.com/images/9/91/Flayed_One_2.jpg

Flayed Ones say hi :D

[ClannerDelta]

By the way, are the skin-wearing robots a plot point in a film or book or something? It sounds vaguely familiar.
If not, go make some money off that idea!

Flayed Ones (http://wiki.reliccommunity.com/Flayed_Ones) are the ones I first learned about when I was little.

Though "Virus (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120458/)" with Jamie Lee Curtis also had flesh wearing robot... cyborg... things.

[Kenturion]

Flayed Ones say hi :D

Unfamiliar to me until I googled them, but yep! they are indeed robots wearing people's skins (http://i.pbase.com/u16/dannec/upload/5134231.Flayed_b.jpg).
It did seem like too good an idea to not have been already used :)

Edit: ..."Virus (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120458/)" with Jamie Lee Curtis also had flesh wearing robot... cyborg... things.

How have I missed all these things? It seems weird that I hadn't heard of either...

[Rock Bandit]

http://i43.tinypic.com/fxuusg.jpg

[Kenturion]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/Kenturion/Forums/CoG/fxuusg-hijacked.jpg

[mesh]

No matter how big, tough, near-invincible, whatever you make your next weapon. It's inevitable that the enemy side will get it eventually or make something bigger, tougher, invincibler (yes, I did just make up a word).

War is hell, no matter how you slice it.

[darkbase]

Oh God, I was so afraid of the ED-209 as a child. I always loved climbing up staircases, though. (http://ed-209.ytmnd.com/) :)

[Rock Bandit]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/Kenturion/Forums/CoG/fxuusg-hijacked.jpg

Subtle. _

[ClannerDelta]

Subtle. _

And awesome.

[Vulture]

that's a lot of R&D cash.

it doesn't seem necessary. according to Civilization 4 we are probably 12 or so techs more advanced than our enemies. clearly our country should be lowering our science bar and raising our espionage bar, or perhaps going all out for alpha centuri. clearly our leaders do not know how to metagame.

on implements of destruction, i would think that some sort of armored variant of a monster truck would be feasible, effective and intimidating.

[ClannerDelta]

on implements of destruction, i would think that some sort of armored variant of a monster truck would be feasible, effective and intimidating.

SILENCE, SIR! That much redneck in one location would spawn a Hoot 'nanny of apocalyptic scale.

What do you think that much Toby Keith music in one spot would do the fabric of existence?

[Vandabo]

The best military robots would be microscopic... Not even necessarily robotic, but a cloud of nanoparticles that could be dusted over an area, that consisted only of a couple molecules of an explosive and some kind of tuned molecular antenna that would generate just enough energy when exposed to a high powered signal at a very specific frequency to detonate the explosive.

You just disperse the cloud over the desired area, these nanobombs would be inhaled by the inhabitants, and when they start getting uppity, you broadcast the signal. Perhaps only in a specific, targeted direction, or omnidirectionally with just enough power to reach a certain radius. Either way, thousands of inhaled nanobombs detonate, shredding the lungs of whomever was exposed to them. The individual explosives would be so small that they would cause almost no damage to anything else, so all you get are a bunch of people that suddenly have what appears to be end stage TB, who are either dead or incapacitated. Good times.

[Raen]

The best military robots would be microscopic... Not even necessarily robotic, but a cloud of nanoparticles that could be dusted over an area, that consisted only of a couple molecules of an explosive and some kind of tuned molecular antenna that would generate just enough energy when exposed to a high powered signal at a very specific frequency to detonate the explosive.

You just disperse the cloud over the desired area, these nanobombs would be inhaled by the inhabitants, and when they start getting uppity, you broadcast the signal. Perhaps only in a specific, targeted direction, or omnidirectionally with just enough power to reach a certain radius. Either way, thousands of inhaled nanobombs detonate, shredding the lungs of whomever was exposed to them. The individual explosives would be so small that they would cause almost no damage to anything else, so all you get are a bunch of people that suddenly have what appears to be end stage TB, who are either dead or incapacitated. Good times.

Good god that's evil. Seriously genius, but pretty fucking evil.

The Big Dog looked awesome. I think adding a head, but one that has no purpose other than to look scary as fuck, would make it a lot more terrifying. Especially when you take the obvious head shot and nothing happens.

[boratika]

The best military robots would be microscopic... Not even necessarily robotic, but a cloud of nanoparticles that could be dusted over an area, that consisted only of a couple molecules of an explosive and some kind of tuned molecular antenna that would generate just enough energy when exposed to a high powered signal at a very specific frequency to detonate the explosive.

You just disperse the cloud over the desired area, these nanobombs would be inhaled by the inhabitants, and when they start getting uppity, you broadcast the signal. Perhaps only in a specific, targeted direction, or omnidirectionally with just enough power to reach a certain radius. Either way, thousands of inhaled nanobombs detonate, shredding the lungs of whomever was exposed to them. The individual explosives would be so small that they would cause almost no damage to anything else, so all you get are a bunch of people that suddenly have what appears to be end stage TB, who are either dead or incapacitated. Good times.

You should really read The Diamond Age.

[National Kato]

The best military robots would be microscopic...

Like a weaponized, nano-accelerated Ebola. Terrifying. Targets would just start bleeding from all orifices as their organs liquified. No conflict at all.

[Bingley Joe]

on implements of destruction, i would think that some sort of armored variant of a monster truck would be feasible, effective and intimidating.

You mean like the awe inspiring and ferocious power of Truckasaurus Rex!?!?

http://improviser.fr/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/truckasaurus.jpg

FUCK YEAH!!

[NSFW]

where are the giant mechs already?

They're coming. Bide your time well. Peace.

[pronounconnoun]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/Kenturion/Forums/CoG/fxuusg-hijacked.jpg

I wish I could make this my wallpaper at work.

[Wraith]

iRobot's Warrior:

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/20090414/iRobot_Warrior_PackBot_540x405.jpg
Warrior in back, PackBot in front.

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/20090414/iRobot_Warrior_profile_540x720.jpg

Q&A: iRobot taps into its Warrior spirit (http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10219426-76.html) (CNet)What about a humanoid robot?
Angle: Why would you want to make a humanoid robot? I mean, I guess for making movies, they're good. If you want to have a robot companion, maybe it should be humanoid. But other than that, most tasks are best tackled by designs that are not constrained by trying to look like a person. I mean, balance and walking are incredibly hard things to do. If you look at some of the Japanese walking robots, because they're very focused on solving this problem, and then compare it to Warrior, our large, dual-track system, and say, OK, which one makes more sense?

The Asimo (from Honda) requires a team of 10 or 15 people to maintain it, it can walk about, maybe, half a meter per second and in some situations climb stairs over the course of a few minutes, and if it ever falls down, it's a paperweight. I think it has something like 40 or 50 motors in order to make it work. Then take the Warrior, and the Warrior can take a 10-foot drop onto concrete, drive 20 miles an hour, drive up stairs without stopping at full speed, carry 200 pounds of payload and has, maybe, five motors. So it's stronger, it's faster, it's more durable, it has more efficiency, and it can go nearly everywhere a human can. So you look at these things and say, which one of these is a robot human? The answer is, Warrior. Warrior is designed to operate in environments that we have designed for ourselves, as efficiently and capably...

Roadways, buildings...
Angle: Right, so if a person can do it, chances are Warrior can do it. And we're developing arms and all sorts of payloads to allow it to take on some of the most dangerous tasks that we currently are forced to give to ourselves to perform. That robot is going to change the world, and change the perception of what practical robots are all about. We're pretty passionate about that.iRobot Warrior: Casualty Extraction Prototype (http://botropolis.com/2009/03/irobot-warrior-casualty-extraction-prototype/) (Botropolis)The iRobot Warrior 700 is gearing up to be a nice upgrade to iRobot’s PackBot. What you get is basically a whole new bot that weighs 285 pounds with 60 pounds of batteries. Oh and it can handle a payload up to 150 pounds. The Warrior is designed for many heavy duty tasks, but the interesting thing is that it can drag humans to safety.

Whether they will ever be seen again is another thing entirely.iRobot unveils larger Warrior, eyes 4-minute mile (http://www.armytimes.com/news/ausa/story.php?F=3101901) (Defense News)Configured with tracks similar to its smaller predecessor, the iRobot PackBot, the heavier Warrior can carry a 500-pound payload and use its robotic arm to lift 150 pounds.

“Right now, it can go 10 miles per hour. When we finish the development, it will be able to do a four-minute mile,” said retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Joe Dyer, iRobot’s president of the government and industrial division. “You are starting to see the first robot that can really haul your pack and be not only a partner but be a stronger and faster partner.”

...

At the same time, a key dimension to the Warrior X700 is its ability to protect soldiers by firing weapons such as a machine gun or 40mm explosive round.

“The Warrior has the stability and the engineering to be a weapons platform,” Dyer said.

One Warrior variant is outfitted with an electronic firing system with four small barrels able to shoot as many as 16 rounds a second when firing simultaneously. The robot-mounted weapons shoot as far as 800 meters...

“What we are focusing on at the moment is 40mm, so we’re dealing with high-explosive grenades or air-burst rounds. We also have less-than-lethal rounds and [improvised explosive device] disruptor rounds,” he said.