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Security Toys Technology

Robots for Air Force Protection 251

Posted by michael from the lazy-flyboys dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "During a demonstration held in San Antonio on August 6, twelve robots intended to protect bases and people were shown to Air Force security directors and to 230 other security professionals. In "Robots display force-protection prowess," Air Force Link tells us the story. "Demonstrations included one robot that crawled up walls and across ceilings, another that clambered over rocks with six rotating legs and a third that wriggled like a snake through a pipe." This summary contains more details, including photos of the "Wall Crawler" climbing a wall and of Hexapod, a robot with six rotating legs walking over a pile of rocks."
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Robots for Air Force Protection More

Robots for Air Force Protection

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  • Military Robots (Score:4, Funny)

    by umrgregg ( 192838 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:26AM (#6695444) Homepage
    These new gadgets are all well and good, just don't let them [johnny-five.com] be outside during a thunder storm [imdb.com].

  • A small victory (Score:4, Funny)

    by BMonger ( 68213 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:26AM (#6695450)
    Now we just need to get the rabbit/human hybrid to be for Air Force Protection. Then the aliens will have to give in!

  • JOHNNY FIVE (Score:4, Funny)

    by n1ywb ( 555767 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:26AM (#6695453) Homepage Journal
    So when do the bolts of lightning cause the robots to become adorible artificially intelligent friendly meddling do gooders?
    • Never.

      Ever watched that movie or its sequel recently? The technologies they allegedly used are laughable.

      J5's memory and hard drive were absurdly small by today's standards, and there's no possible way that such a system could even begin to display properties of genuine intelligence.

      • Re:JOHNNY FIVE (Score:4, Funny)

        by G-funk ( 22712 ) <josh@gfunk007.com> on Thursday August 14, 2003 @11:17AM (#6695954) Homepage Journal
        NO! GET OUT!

        This just in... The film "short circuit" does not show scientific reality.

        In other news, scientists believe that killer time-travelling machines probably could not run on 6502 processors running command-line enhancement software typed in from an old copy of "Nibble".
        • I wasn't talking about special effects, or any subliminal visual cues, I was talking about statements that were made that were actually embedded into the movie. Heck, J5 didn't even have an entire single gigabyte of hard drive space, and my pocket calculator has more RAM than J5 did.

          IMO, the writers would have been smarter to have left such specifics out of the script entirely. They date the movies (quite badly IMO) and make it all the more difficult to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy the story.

          My

  • I had one of those cieling crawling robots... (Score:4, Funny)

    by raehl ( 609729 ) * <raehl311.yahoo@com> on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:27AM (#6695457) Homepage
    But I had to get rid of it, kept shitting on guests.

  • Bah, '80s technology! (Score:4, Funny)

    by RobertB-DC ( 622190 ) * on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:28AM (#6695471) Homepage Journal
    I saw a documentary on this subject back in the '80s. As I recall, the all-terrain robots were quite impressive [fast-rewind.com], but subject to major, non-reversable programming glitches when subjected to large electro-magnetic fields (such as lightning strikes).

  • Cool, but ... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Rolo Tomasi ( 538414 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:28AM (#6695474) Homepage Journal
    Cool stuff, but I think these [snakerobots.com] would be much more intimidating to potential attackers (check out the videos). :)

  • And as always.. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Jeppe Salvesen ( 101622 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:30AM (#6695495)
    .. what happens when the bad guys get hold of one?

  • Obligatory reference (Score:4, Funny)

    by dcypher_67 ( 674764 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:30AM (#6695505)
    Operator: Main screen turn on.
    Captain: It's You!!
    Cats: How are you gentlemen!!
    Cats: All your base are belong to us.
    Cats: You are on the way to destruction.
    Captain: You'll have to get through my team of Aibos first!!!

  • time for robot insurance (Score:3, Funny)

    by wwest4 ( 183559 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:31AM (#6695508)
    They eat old peoples' medicine for fuel. As if the prescription drug problem wasn't bad enough...
  • Haven't these guys been to the movies this year? The ROBOTS are the BAD GUYS! The future GOVERNOR of CALIFORNIA is the good guy! Sheesh!

  • *insert T2 music here* (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:31AM (#6695513)
    On August 6th, 2003 at Lackland AFB, SkyNet became self aware.

    On October 7th, 2003 they elected a Terminator to lead them.

    October 8th, 2003. Judgement day.

  • our duty is clear: (Score:5, Funny)

    by Requiem ( 12551 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:31AM (#6695516) Journal
    We must build and maintain those robots.

  • Pity (Score:2, Funny)

    by Jbrecken ( 107271 )
    Too bad Battlebots got cancelled.
    These guys could have been contenders.

  • Wow, 10 posts and nobody's said it... (Score:5, Funny)

    by yotto ( 590067 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:31AM (#6695527) Homepage
    I for one welcome our new robot masters.
  • I think I have that in JKII...force shield or some such.

  • hell(o) (Score:2, Funny)

    by simgod ( 563459 )
    ...you better tell arnold to put aside the elections campaign in California, because this is already starting to look like Skynet...

  • Nothing bad could possibly happen (Score:4, Funny)

    by jbfaninmo ( 540470 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:32AM (#6695535)
    Robots to defend our military bases, what could possibly go wrong...
    • It was software the entire time... we should have listened to the Terminator. Now we're stuck in this Fallout-style control room while skynet is about to get its war on... Damn...

    • Re:Nothing bad could possibly happen (Score:4, Funny)

      by mkldev ( 219128 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @11:23AM (#6696024) Homepage
      I can see the scientist talking next to the disabeld body of the robot sheriff now. Something like:

      "Their guns are designed to sense the heat from your body and refuse to fire. That way, they'll never accidentally kill a tourist."

      "Nothing can possibly go wrong. Nothing can possibly go wrong... go wrong... go wrong.... go wro... go... go... go... go wrong...."

  • Cool but... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by WhytTiger ( 595699 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:32AM (#6695537)
    These robots look rather cool, but it seems to me that it would be easy to interrupt the radio transmitter controlling these robots. Isn't there a better way to control them (either automate them, or something?)

    • Re:Cool but... (Score:2, Informative)

      by th3axe ( 690230 )
      Sure, you could probably jam the signal, but the problem with doing that is you broadcast your location, and if I was a security chief, I'd be all ready to triangulate on your location(s) and turn you into small bits if I began to detect this sort of interference.

      Besides, these things (at least right now) are designed to protect bases, not go off on their own and do stuff. Autonomus robots are really hard to do, while we can take basic steps with remotes.

      These sorts of things remind me of the Shadowrun so

    • The purpose is intrustion detection... (Score:5, Informative)

      by BobBoring ( 18422 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @12:05PM (#6696450) Homepage
      So, If someone is jamming the control frequency you just tell the real live human sky cops who have authority to use lethal force to wake up and go drive the perimeter road looking for someone jumping the fence. Plus if they are using even the 1980's SINCGARS [globalsecurity.org] radio technology the signal will be hard to jam and the jamming will be easy to triangulate back to a source. They are more likely to be using one of the newer frequency agile radio technologies that are even more resistant to jamming. They probably have provision for connecting a landline data link to robots that are 'standing watch' and only move through a limited area mitigating the man in the middle attack vulnerability. The robots that climb on walls and ceilings look like they are intended for use to scout an interior area for intruders. They may be semi-autonomous and only transmit back the base station if they spot something. Given the state of machine object recognition there will have to be an operator evaluating the senor data from this type of stuff for a long time to come.

  • Ben! (Score:5, Funny)

    by mao che minh ( 611166 ) * on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:33AM (#6695547) Journal
    As long as the Indian guy, Ben, is on the project, I like it.

    Ben Jabituya: I am standing here beside myself.

    • Re:Ben! (Score:5, Informative)

      by unclepedro ( 312196 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:52AM (#6695738) Homepage
      What's interesting, is that Fisher Stevens [hispeed.com], the guy who played Ben Jabituya, is not Indian. He's totally pulling an Apu for that role. He's actually from Evanston, IL, but now lives in NYC. Anyway, I think the reason I'm posting this is that it was a shocking realization to me a few years ago to find that out, so fooled was I as a kid watching Short Circuit.

      Oh yeah, and Stevens [imdb.com] was in Hackers and Super Mario Bros. And he dated Michelle Pfeiffer.
  • Demonstrations included one robot that crawled up walls and across ceilings, another that clambered over rocks with six rotating legs and a third that wriggled like a snake through a pipe.

    The story left out "RoboSlinky (TM)", which patrols stairs, alone or in pairs, and makes a "slinkety" sound. It debuted this Spring.

  • if you break one of them open... (Score:5, Funny)

    by focitrixilous P ( 690813 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:34AM (#6695560) Journal
    So, if someone were to fight one of the robots and break it, would it be a DMCA violation as well as a terrorist act?
  • someone flips the switch and cedes control of our robotic protectors to SkyNet ;)

  • Uh oh. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by BiggerIsBetter ( 682164 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:35AM (#6695571)

    This is really scary. They're just begging Skynet to take over! Actually, methinks the military boys saw too many Terminator movies...

    More seriously, if the military becomes heavily dependant on this kind of thing, in the near future, I can envisage being an unlicensed ter^H^H^H hacker becoming a crime punishible by an indefinite term in Guantanamo Bay.

    /obligatory everything is scary post.

  • Wallace & Gromit (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Mad Man ( 166674 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:36AM (#6695577)
    "Demonstrations included one robot that crawled up walls and across ceilings,


    Funny to be reading that while I'm watching, "The Wrong Trousers [imdb.com]" right now. (Think of the scene where the evil penguin is forcing Wallace to steal the diamond by walking across the ceiling).

  • Robot Uses (Score:2, Interesting)

    by darkstar949 ( 697933 )
    The robots were developed for several purposes, including inspections hazardous areas, and bomb detection/disposal. However, they have more uses, because of their mobility they can be used to find victims trapped in narrow areas where a human or rescue dog might not be able to get at. Plus, robots don't complain about their job.
  • K1LL ALL HUMANS
    K1LL ALL HUMANS
    K1LL ALL HUMANS

    Beep.

  • Cool stuff... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by glh ( 14273 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:37AM (#6695595) Homepage Journal
    One of the articles [af.mil] linked talked about people currently buying these things:

    People have bought it just the way it is for things like inspecting the fuselage of an aircraft," Wiedeman said.

    We are one step closer to having R2D2! I wonder if the robots can crawl around while the plane is in flight? (Probably not, based on the specs given). Anyway, I think this is pretty interesting. Using these on a space shuttle might not be a bad idea, ie- crawling around outside and inspecting things before take off. And later- making external in-flight repairs...

    • Re:Cool stuff... (Score:2, Informative)

      by at_kernel_99 ( 659988 )

      We are one step closer to having R2D2! I wonder if the robots can crawl around while the plane is in flight? (Probably not, based on the specs given). Anyway, I think this is pretty interesting. Using these on a space shuttle might not be a bad idea, ie- crawling around outside and inspecting things before take off. And later- making external in-flight repairs...

      Uh, dude. The wall-crawler (i.e. fuselage inspector) uses a fan to create a low pressure area between it & the surface its crawling. With

      • Uh, dude. The wall-crawler (i.e. fuselage inspector) uses a fan to create a low pressure area between it & the surface its crawling. Without an incredibly powerful fan, it won't work on a flying aircraft. Do I have to say anything about the absence of air in space?

        Obviously, modifications would have to be made for this to work in space or even flight. I'm thinking something in terms of magnetics or suction cups with an oxygyn tank (I'll leave that as an exercise for you to figure out). Shouldn't be
    • Using these on a space shuttle might not be a bad idea, ie- crawling around outside and inspecting things before take off. And later- making external in-flight repairs...

      Let's imagine a future space shuttle mission. It is streaking through the atmosphere during reentry, except now there is a dome-shaped metal head poking out a hatch on the top.

      Suddenly, the heat shield tiles fail, and glowing bits of molten debris start flying off of the spacecraft. Fortunately the pilot yells "R2! The shields are breac

    • As far as I know, the R2 units sit in the back like co-pilots.

      For the ones that can crawl around on the outside of the ship and fix things, look to the drones [modelprisoners.com] from "Silent Running".

  • Videos!! (Score:2, Interesting)

    by brakk ( 93385 )
    I want Videos! Pictures do nothing for me. In this age of palm sized video cameras and streaming porn, you would think I could get at least a lo-res video of some robots.

  • Adaptability (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Aerk ( 697405 )
    Perhaps one day we can have a single robot to perform the varied functions mentioned above.

    Having your base protected by robots can lead to the possible problem of one thunderstorm shutting down base security. Until major improvements in AI are made, I would not trust robots to perform such a vital function.

  • Radio Control (Score:2, Interesting)

    by saskwach ( 589702 )
    These robots seem radio controlled...so who's to stop a terrorist from getting a signal jammer and rendering these things useless...or a more powerful transmitter and taking them over?

  • Maybe OT (Score:3, Interesting)

    by hey! ( 33014 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:41AM (#6695631) Homepage Journal
    But does this situation with military and amateur inventors battlebots remind anyone else of the early days of aviation?

  • Eh ... what about? (Score:3, Funny)

    by LoudMusic ( 199347 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:42AM (#6695652)
    Did anyone else expect the AIR FORCE to have robots that fly ? I mean, really ...

  • RHex software on sourceforge. (Score:5, Informative)

    by jeti ( 105266 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:46AM (#6695685)
    The hexapod robot is very likely the one commonly
    called RHex. It was basically designed after a
    cockroach. You can find a lot more videos of it
    on the net. Its performance is truly impressive.

    And the best thing: The software for RHex is hosted
    on sourceforge!

    • Links (Score:4, Informative)

      by jeti ( 105266 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @11:06AM (#6695869)
      And here are the links for RHex:
      ( easy to remember, easy to /. )

      RHex project home [rhex.net]
      RHex software on sourceforge [sourceforge.net]
    • It was basically designed after a cockroach

      Which makes me think:What about designing a battle robot along the lines of a fire ant? Fireants swarm up a large animal like a human; when the first one makes it to the top it releases a pheromone which causes all the ants on the victim's body to use their painful poisoned bite simultaneously, sending their victim into shock.

      What's scarier -- the prospect of a thousand pound robot armed with guns and grenades, or a sixteen thousand tiny ant robots weighing an
      • "What's scarier -- the prospect of a thousand pound robot armed with guns and grenades, or a sixteen thousand tiny ant robots weighing an ounce each hiding, ready to swarm over their victim at a prearranged signal?"

        What's scarier? 16,000 1000 LB robots armed with guns and grenades, ready to swarm over their victim at a prearranged signal. And if you don't think that's likely? Three words for you:

        "Shock and Awe"

  • Sarge: Soldier, we've gotten orders to attack. Prepare battlefleet 5 and get ready to strike on my signal.
    Soldier: Sarge, we gotta problem...
    Sarge: "Problem", soldier? Whatd'ya mean "we gotta problem"?
    Soldier: the bots, Sarge. They're all upgrading. Gonna take at least an hour, then we have to test them all again. Last virus was a bitch, they were all singing "My Way" a capella together...
    Sarge: yeah, I heard. Those slimy bastards... it was terrible...
    Soldier: anyhow, this new patch is gonna block all those music viruses.
    Sarge: OK, do what you have to. But what about the enemy?
    Soldier: Oh, no problem. We hit them with TZ/21, it's the virus that makes their 'bots quote random Nietsche, with Bob Hope delivery...
    Sarge: poor bastards... poor bastards...
    Soldier: yeah, war sucks. So, game of Doom/6?
    Sarge: yeah, why not... (don VR helmets, zapping noises)

  • Can they pass the ASVAB on their first try? If so, they may be overqualified. . . :p

    All levity aside, Air Force cops are chronically overworked and underappreciated. Anything that helps them do their jobs and makes their jobs a bit easier is well worth the money.

  • webcrawler? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by f64 ( 590009 )
    now. just how the hell does that thing climb the walls?

    assuming wallclimbing doesn't require being bit by a radioactive spider, it would be kinda kool to make a couple of those and let them climb around at random at home. if nothing else than to entertain the cat.

    besides, couldn't you build a human wall-climber using the same principle?
    does this tech scale (sorry) well?

    f64 : climbing walls, lacking coffee

  • Larger images (Score:5, Informative)

    by Quixote ( 154172 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:55AM (#6695767) Homepage Journal
    Here are bigger images of the wall climber [af.mil] and the six-legged crawler [af.mil]

  • The Hexapod Robot (Score:5, Informative)

    by Hayzeus ( 596826 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @10:55AM (#6695770) Homepage
    ... is a really cool design. I first saw this design show up on the JPL "Cool Robot of the Week" site a while ago (no URL, just google for it). It's one of those "why didn't they think of this 20 years ago?" things.

    If you can't figure it out from the picture, the idea is that rather than the traditional (biologically inspired) multi-jointed, multi-DOF leg design, a curved and somewhat flexible leg is just mounted directly to the motor shaft, which spins it like a wheel. The result is a robot that can navigate rough terrain with the same competence as its biologically inspired counterpart, but using much simpler control software and, more significantly, requiring much less mechanical complexity, which makes for a much more robust design. Very cool stuff.

  • OK, these robots are all well and good, but when are we going to see COMBAT MECHA?????? C'mon folks...nothing says "Shock and Awe" more than a 10-story-tall mecha, loaded for bear!!! Combat mechas NOW, dammit!!!! +^_^+
  • If this thing uses a louvered fan for suction how does it transition from the wall to the ceiling?

  • Just remember... (Score:5, Funny)

    by BigGar' ( 411008 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @11:00AM (#6695817) Homepage
    DO NOT point a gun at them when demonstrating their effectiveness to a large group of senior executives.
  • You have 20 seconds to comply.
    19
    18
    17...
  • ...until the robots send one of their own back in time to stop John Connor?

  • Isn't this stretching the meaning of "robot"? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MouseR ( 3264 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @11:14AM (#6695927) Homepage
    Shouldn't a robot be described as some mechanical device that's autonomous or otherwise self-guided?

    These "robots" all seem to be remote-controlled, making them expensive RC toys you'll find in 5 years at Radio Scrap.
  • The images show a human remote-controlling two of the machines. Sorry, if they are human-controlled, they aren't robots (despite what pop culture calls such machines [battlebots.com]).

    The word 'robot' implies some degree of autonomy. At the end of the article, it says one of the machines is nearly autonomous and can be programmed to patrol a perimeter. Ok, that one's a robot. The rest seem to be remote-control security cameras...
  • You have 20 seconds to comply!

    </obligatory robocop quote>
  • It cannot be stopped, only postponed.

    No really, either we get taken out by these, or by nanobots, or by genetically-engineered diseases. Pick yer poison.

    But hey, it's only the continuation of an old tradition, that we should help to select our successors. The monkeys could do that to a limited degree, only by choosing with whom to have sex; but we get to build them with our own hands.
  • Another robot brought to the exhibition was an experimental prototype of the mark 3 travel machine, recently renamed as the "Dalek" by it's creator Davros. Mass production of these travel machines will begin shortly.

  • Now imagine preparing for the "invading force" and 10,000 of these come marching into town. You shoot them, they keep coming forward, you throw bombs at them and their legs fall off, but they still keep coming after you. They could even be programed to be non-leathal attackers that just grab you and don't let go and bring you back to jail. If fuel cells actually happen this kind of stuff is not that far off.

    KAWADA INSUTRIES [kawada.co.jp]

    Yes, a wall walker may have more praticle uses, but imagine the fear factor of an
    • " Now imagine preparing for the "invading force" and 10,000 of these come marching into town. You shoot them, they keep coming forward, you throw bombs at them and their legs fall off, but they still keep coming after you"

      You saw that same episode of The Simpsons with the itchy and scratchy amusement park too!

  • Number 5 is alive! (Score:4, Funny)

    by FunWithHeadlines ( 644929 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @12:17PM (#6696581) Homepage
    I can't belive no one else noticed this obligatory 80s reference: A demonstration before military personnel of robots designed to show off their superior security ability? Whoa, dude, I'm back in the 80s! [imdb.com]:

    Military guy: Will he kill me if I stop?
    Ben: Who is to say?
    Military guy: Will he kill me if I don't stop?
    Ben: Again I am shrugging.

    Number 5: Many fragments. Some large, some small.

  • There was an earlier story [slashdot.org] on Slashdot about RHex [rhex.net], as part of the Aqua project [cs.dal.ca]. Videos are available on the ARL [mcgill.ca] website at McGill.

  • If you REALLY wanna see if these can "defend", I recommend putting them on Battlebots. Seriously, if the government wants to get serious about using robots as soldiers, they should sponsor that show. And make it so that you can have explosive/corrosive/incendiary/projectile weapons! Just put the audience and controllers back a bit with some more protective junk, and that show would be a WHOLE lot more interesting.

  • The things that bother me (Score:3, Funny)

    by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @01:57PM (#6697826) Homepage Journal
    Ya know... we got the viruses taking out computers, we got the highly specialized super-computers, and now we've got robots protecting military installations. None of that really bothered me until I realized my name was John.

  • These Are Not Robots! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by 3Suns ( 250606 ) on Thursday August 14, 2003 @04:07PM (#6699499) Homepage

    When did our definition of "robot [everything2.com]" become "Nifty mobile vehicle with some kind of new technology" ? A robot, sort of by definition, is an autonomous machine, capable of acting and reacting on its own without human intervention. Battlebots? They're just souped-up RC cars. ASIMO? His every step is preprogrammed; if you moved the stairs a foot forward he'd trip, because ASIMO is not a robot.

    These pictures clearly show humans remotely controlling them. What makes them different than remote controlled cars that you can buy at Toys-R-Us, the fact that they can crawl up walls or have six funky legs? Please, stop referring to these fancy toys as "robots" and diminishing the accomplishments of those who make real autonomous robots.

    And yes, I have worked on real robots. Last year I was on the robotics team from the University of Rochester. Our robot Mabel the Mobile Table, an autonomous robotic hors d'ourvres-serving waiter, won the AAAI Robot Host competition. Robotics means artificial intelligence, at least rudimentary AI, not just some new means of locomotion.

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