Boeing and iRobot joining forces to create a squad-level battlefield surveillance robot is a smart move. Boeing has the expertise that iRobot needs and the latter is a fresh shot in the arm for an old bloated ex-Cold Warrior. The current robot is doing a fantastic job, and giving troops in the field a set of remote-control eyes is a Very Good ThingTM.
iRobot Corp. and The Boeing Company today announced they have signed a teaming agreement to develop and deliver a new, next-generation Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV) to military, civil and commercial users. Weighing less than 30 pounds, the robot, named SUGV Early, will enable users to remotely conduct reconnaissance and secure real-time intelligence while remaining out of harm’s way.
The SUGV Early will be a smaller, lighter version of the combat-proven iRobot PackBot(R), which is used daily in Iraq and Afghanistan to safely disarm Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and search buildings, caves and tunnels for hostile forces. The SUGV Early’s smaller size and advanced capabilities will allow life-saving robotic technology to be used by a far broader group of users than the current PackBot.
Boeing and iRobot will jointly market the new SUGV Early robot. Boeing will also contribute expertise in systems integration, large-volume production and global marketing, while iRobot will design, develop and manufacture the robot using its proven experience with the iRobot PackBot and its development work on the U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems program.
I still wonder if our combat robot development will follow the armored walker, the “Bolo” tank, or robot infantry philosophies? Hopefully we won’t see rejects like the fictional ED-209 from RoboCop.
Among his many accurate predictions, Robert Heinlein also said that the first successful autonomous robot would be an automated vacuum cleaner. In his book “The Door into Summer”, his protagonist goes from those simple self-steering suck brooms to mailbox-sized automatons that may have inspired R2-D2. Who knows what this partnership will create beyond this project?
I Robot, a great novel and series by Isaac Asimov (wish he were still here). Somewhat sad to see the company named for him is building war machines. I doubt the ‘Three Laws of Robotics’ are built in. Pretty cool tech though. And Heinlein? Another Master of the language and stories. Great article, thanks Alix.
New robots for all OS’s here:
http://www.physorg.com/news96428870.html
Just my 2 cents (2 new gold dollars) worth.
I hope these robots & other robots, will push the military in spending / creating renewable fuel cells.
The fuel cell industry needs a power hungry consumer with a “I don’t care how much it costs” mentality.
I’ve often wondered why there isn’t a robotic machine gun that could be carried around and deployed in a fire fight.
If our guys find themselves pinned down, they could deploy it to a better shooting position and strafe the target to give themselves cover.
4,
That’s the idea behind the video rangefinders in Land Warrior. The soldier can stay behind cover and return fire.
So this means they’re sending a batallion of Roombas to clean up Mars?