Trust me.
Posted on 08/16/2004 12:02:08 PM PDT by Horatio Gates
The U.S. Army has been testing a robot armed with a pump-action shotgun for counter-insurgency missions. The unit has already seen action in Iraq.
In combat, the PackBot can be equipped with a pump-action shotgun system capable of recycling and remote firing. A soldier controls the robot through a joystick and receives streaming video from a front-mounted camera transmitting to a personal digital assistant, or PDA.
The PackBot also comes equipped with a nuclear, biological and chemical sensor package capable of detecting a wide range of NBC contaminants. An infrared camera lens enables the robot to operate in low-light conditions as well.
The PackBot has been tested by the 29th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Ga. as part of the unit's new experimental force platoon. The PackBot weighs about 40 pounds and is propelled by heavy-duty tracks. It has rotating, tracked arms that assist in propulsion and negotiation of obstacles.
The robot was introduced in Iraq in late June, officials said. The Army has also deployed advanced robot control systems with the 25th Infantry Division in Afghanistan.
[On Aug. 8, the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq announced that Iraqi security forces received "massive shipments" of weapons and material over the past week. The shipments for the Iraqi military and National Guard were said to have included more than 2,500 vehicles, 600 radios, 55,000 weapons and 25,000 pieces of body armor.]
Officials said one use of the PackBot has been to transport up to 30 pounds of munitions or medical supplies to personnel trapped under fire. The robot reportedly costs $42,000.
The PackBot has been operated through an advanced robot control system, officials said. The system allows for the remote control of different types of unmanned robotics elements and expands the communication capabilities from firing teams to higher echelons.
PackBot is manufactured by iRobot Corp. in Burlington, Mass.
Trust me.
Cool; I want one!
yeah baby, that what I am talking about!
Send it to the mosque and release the gas!
Hmmm... sounds like a worthwhile investment... I wonder if Ah-nold will buy one, like he did with his Hummer after GulfWar I.
This sounds very cool...but the truly awesome part is just imagining how this technology must scare the living bejeezus out of the 14th-century ragheads it's going after.
That part just gives me a warm fuzzy.
I see... I envision you walking it around on the leash.
No, better yet, I see the Denver police getting them and using them in their local war on terror. I can see the headlines now: "Denver SWAT robot kills disabled homeowner, thought coke can was a gun". Cool.
wouldn't it be cheaper to train a monkey to wear an explosive belt or send him running through the village to fetch ammo? if police can use dogs, why not use monkeys?
as Elvis said, "release the monkeys"
They had these in WW II. They would drive them right up to an enemy position and blow them up. They were armored and had tracks, little tanks is what they were.
Build one. There are a lot of known uses for these besides vacuuming the living room, and unlimited uses still to be thought of.
...or how about this:1)train monkeys to run through Islamofascist strongholds flinging ham sandwiches and the like.2)Have Robot do same3)have robot herd swine through said islmaofascist holdout area.
I think the nickname is Dalek.
or like the Taco Bell commericals with Whiplash the Cowboy monkey riding the dog...have the monkey riding a pig!
The pig could wear an e-belt and nobody would touch him.
use one of them state fair sized 1000 lb. pigs,too.
The startled looks and cries of "Oh #$&*" (in Arabic) that the operator gets on his screen have got to be golden.
I'm assuming this thing can carry more than 8 shells, or does this thing know how to combat load its shotgun?
They should have made the 'Porcine version' of this robot.
The PV variant is equipped with a 5 gallon tank of pig blood and fires paint ball rounds of HCL and pig blood.
It also has the ability to mount a gutted pig on its chassis, so that it appears as if the enemy is in pursuit by pigs with shotguns.
The PV variant is equipped with a 5 gallon tank of pig blood and fires paint ball rounds of HCL and pig blood.
It also has the ability to mount a gutted pig on its chassis, so that it appears as if the enemy is in pursuit by pigs with shotguns.
Genius. Pure genius. No other description comes close.
You're hired. When can you start? : )
I wonder if FR could sponsor that beast? I know we could raise $42K if they would let us clear out that mosque in Najaf & stream the video.
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