ACM SIGART Bulletin Issue 82, October 1982, pp 23–25: https://donhopkins.com/home/TurtlesAndDefense.pdf https://donhopkins.com/home/TurtlesAndDefense.pdf TURT

ACM SIGART Bulletin Issue 82, October 1982, pp 23–25: https://donhopkins.com/home/TurtlesAndDefense.pdf https://donhopkins.com/home/TurtlesAndDefense.pdf TURTLES AND DEFENSE The following letter, which was the response to a request for information about the use of AI hardware for defense purposes, arrived through the ARPAnet after passing through many different sites (more than 4). We received permission from the authors to include it in the newsletter. They said that the time (3:05 AM) was the actual time the letter was written - Ed. 3:05am Tuesday, 19 January 1982 William Schubert Center for Defense Analysis SRI International 333 Ravenswood Avenue Menlo Park, CA 94025 Dear sir: We must admit to some initial puzzlement at receipt of your communique of 6 January regarding possible applications of our robotics and artificial intelligence products to military functions. However, always eager to contribute to the defense of our country from the ever-present threat, we put our best minds right to work on the problem and put together the enclosed report. We hope it will aid in your analysis. Please note that the information we are providing is to be used only in your analytical studies, and is not to be considered an official offer by Terrapin to supply the systems at the quoted prices. Please call us at (617) 492-8816 if you have any questions. Sincerely yours, Patrick G. Sobalvarro Leigh L. Klotz Senior Software Engineers Terrapin, Inc. Introduction At Terrapin, we feel that our two main products, the Terrapin Turtle®, and the Terrapin Logo Language for the Apple II, bring together the fields of robotics and AI to provide hours of entertainment for the whole family. We are sure that an enlightened application of our products can uniquely impact the electronic battlefield of the future. The Terrapin Turtle® is a small, versatile robot that can perform any number of complex tasks under computer control. A powerful A1 programming language is necessary to realize the full potential of this advanced device. The Terrapin Logo Language, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Artificial Intelligence Laboratory's Logo Group, is ideal for this application. The Logo language is a close relative of Lisp, the language used most widely in AI research. It fills the bill quite handily! Descriptive Information [...] Munitions The Terrapin Turtle® does not currently incorporate any munitions, but even civilian versions have a downward-defense capability. The Turtle can be programmed to attempt to run over enemy forces on recognizing them, and by raising and lowering its pen at about 10 cycles per second, puncture them to death. Turtles can easily be programmed to push objects in a preferred direction. Given this capability, one can easily envision a Turtle discreetly nudging a hand grenade into an enemy camp, and then accelerating quickly away. With the development of ever smaller fission devices, it does not seem unlikely that the Turtle could be used for delivery of tactical nuclear weapons. [...]