Don't worry, be happy.
Posted on 02/27/2008 10:01:31 AM PST by Fennie
It's rough, tough, unmanned and nearly unstoppable.
The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has nearly finished work on the Crusher, a six-wheeled robot that rolls through ditches, walls, streams, other vehicles and almost anything else that gets in its way.
"This vehicle can go into places where, if you were following in a Humvee, you'd come out with spinal injuries," Stephen Welby, director of DARPA's Tactical Technology Office, told the military-oriented Stars and Stripes newspaper. "Usually vehicles are set up to protect humans. Here, we didn't have to worry about that."
The big brute weighs nearly 7 tons, has a top speed of about 25 mph and is designed to be totally autonomous - it doesn't need remote drivers back at base twirling a steering wheel, though it can be operated remotely if necessary.
Give it a command to get from one point to another and it'll use its GPS sensors and internal maps to plot out a route, deviating from the straight and narrow only when confronted by obstacles over six feet tall or deep...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
It’s a real shame, but every time I read about these new weapons I ponder what domestic use they’ll be put to eventually.
There are a lot of places that you might come out of with spinal injuries in a HMMWV, depending on how you drove through them. The military isn’t known for speccing comfy seats for their vehicles.
Nevertheless, this is very cool.
Don't worry, be happy.
Another small step for man, a big jump for mankind...
I wouldn't worry about this one. 25 mph with a diesel engine out of a VW Jetta. Don't think it'll run very well with 6 flat tires either.
Solid rubber.
Like that helped... LMAO
Light 'em on fire then.
I'm waiting for the first pilot-less fighter jets. Maneuverability can really improve if you don't care about your pilot blacking out.
Sounds crazy huh.
It worries me
Was that going up?
The caption under the pic says “easily climbs a four foot wall”, so I’d say yes.
Jeez....
I hear you Martin. Bet it scares the hell out of Abdul though.
Regards
Sounds useless to me, at least in enemy territory. Nothing to defend it w/ a top speed of 25 mph. If you need to deliver something in held territory and don’t have someone to spare I guess it would work.
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