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Holy. Crap. Imagine what could become of this research in 5-10 years of sustained development? God help the poor sucker that needs to deal with one of those t

Holy. Crap. Imagine what could become of this research in 5-10 years of sustained development? God help the poor sucker that needs to deal with one of those things when coupled with less than benevolent intentions. Imagine five of these, armed and working together? Good bye urban combat, hello robotic assassins.

ErrantX 16y ago
It reminds me heavily of some of the bots in The Terminator movies.
- niallsmart 16y ago
  That's exactly what I thought. As a clunky non-flying biped, I for one welcome our new quadrotor overlords.
- ramidarigaz 16y ago
  Or the manhacks in Half Life 2.
brown9-2 16y ago
If the quadrotor helicopter gives you the willies, get a whiff of BIGDOG and his cousin LittleDog, which can accomodate rugged or unstable terrain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUQsRPJ1dYw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUQsRPJ1dYw
- jerf 16y ago
  And what is on BigDog's back? A pack of six of these buggers and support infrastructure for them (larger battery, for instance, or a generator). Localized air surveillance and potentially semiautonomous to boot. And I mention this because that's just the direct application of these two devices with no (significant) new research necessary. While the news is flooding with doom and gloom (and with some justification), times are getting interesting real quicklike where few people are looking.
whimsy 16y ago
Yeah, my thoughts exactly. When I saw it, I instantly thought of Man Hacks from Half Life 2 - flying drones with buzz-saws attached. They were far less maneuverable than these quadcopters. Buzz-saws are for chumps, though - I'm sure these things could carry more than sufficient C4 to ensure that any human-sized target was eliminated completely in the sort of way that their relatives hope their dental records are up to date. Terrifying.
- stcredzero 16y ago
  With a Gyrojet style weapon, it would be easy to fit 4 or 5 rounds of ammo with the stopping power of a 45 caliber on such a platform. Taser rounds could also be quite doable, and even adapted to the same launcher. This would be complimentary, as Gyrojets have a minimum range of 15' or so, which is a practical max range for a Taser.
silversmith 16y ago
Obligatory Half-Life 2 reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PEPt2OCYSk#t=2m00s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PEPt2OCYSk#t=2m00s
dejb 16y ago
Imagine ten thousand of them swarming in over the horizon, all sharing data and building a super accurate 3d map of everywhere they go. In 5-10 years time the cost of something like this would have to be less than $100. I guess power supply/range would be the main problem.
- stcredzero 16y ago
  Operate them in swarms around base vehicles, where they can dock with a battery-exchanger. Each unit's endurance is 14 minutes, but the whole swarm is only limited by the fuel available to the base vehicle's generator.
motters 16y ago
Based upon my observations there is no such thing as "sustained development" in academic robotics research. Otherwise I agree that larger versions of this with a weapon could make war crimes or acts of terrorism easy to commit.
- protomyth 16y ago
  Or save some civilian lives in a war zone. The robot drone soldier might actually be able to take the time to assess the target instead of split second shooting. If a normal soldier hesitates, the the soldier could die. If a person commanding a remote drone hesitates, well then maybe you have to order a new drone or some spare parts.

ErrantX 16y ago

It reminds me heavily of some of the bots in The Terminator movies.

niallsmart 16y ago
That's exactly what I thought. As a clunky non-flying biped, I for one welcome our new quadrotor overlords.
ramidarigaz 16y ago
Or the manhacks in Half Life 2.

brown9-2 16y ago

If the quadrotor helicopter gives you the willies, get a whiff of BIGDOG and his cousin LittleDog, which can accomodate rugged or unstable terrain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUQsRPJ1dYw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUQsRPJ1dYw

jerf 16y ago
And what is on BigDog's back? A pack of six of these buggers and support infrastructure for them (larger battery, for instance, or a generator). Localized air surveillance and potentially semiautonomous to boot. And I mention this because that's just the direct application of these two devices with no (significant) new research necessary. While the news is flooding with doom and gloom (and with some justification), times are getting interesting real quicklike where few people are looking.

whimsy 16y ago

Yeah, my thoughts exactly. When I saw it, I instantly thought of Man Hacks from Half Life 2 - flying drones with buzz-saws attached. They were far less maneuverable than these quadcopters. Buzz-saws are for chumps, though - I'm sure these things could carry more than sufficient C4 to ensure that any human-sized target was eliminated completely in the sort of way that their relatives hope their dental records are up to date. Terrifying.

stcredzero 16y ago
With a Gyrojet style weapon, it would be easy to fit 4 or 5 rounds of ammo with the stopping power of a 45 caliber on such a platform. Taser rounds could also be quite doable, and even adapted to the same launcher. This would be complimentary, as Gyrojets have a minimum range of 15' or so, which is a practical max range for a Taser.

silversmith 16y ago

Obligatory Half-Life 2 reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PEPt2OCYSk#t=2m00s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PEPt2OCYSk#t=2m00s

dejb 16y ago

Imagine ten thousand of them swarming in over the horizon, all sharing data and building a super accurate 3d map of everywhere they go. In 5-10 years time the cost of something like this would have to be less than $100. I guess power supply/range would be the main problem.

stcredzero 16y ago
Operate them in swarms around base vehicles, where they can dock with a battery-exchanger. Each unit's endurance is 14 minutes, but the whole swarm is only limited by the fuel available to the base vehicle's generator.

motters 16y ago

Based upon my observations there is no such thing as "sustained development" in academic robotics research. Otherwise I agree that larger versions of this with a weapon could make war crimes or acts of terrorism easy to commit.

protomyth 16y ago
Or save some civilian lives in a war zone. The robot drone soldier might actually be able to take the time to assess the target instead of split second shooting. If a normal soldier hesitates, the the soldier could die. If a person commanding a remote drone hesitates, well then maybe you have to order a new drone or some spare parts.