tooo funny...
Posted on 03/23/2008 7:16:46 AM PDT by afortiori
Yes, for that, you need a Collie named 'Lassie'. ;^)
Well, a robot mule has the potential to be controlled by remote control. Also it can be pre programmed to follow a predetermined route. If it’s smart enough, you could just give it a some coordinates and let it find it’s own fastest and safest route there. A robot mule is perfectly obedient and never misunderstands your commands, and is theoretically infinitely repairable. On an assembly line a robot mule can be created in a matter of days, if not hours. A real mule will take years to grow to adulthood and train and must be cared for every day. Robot mules could be dissassembled and packed in crates and shipped to their destination half way around the world without regard to food, water, warmth, sanitation, etc on the voyage. If you have a bunch of damaged robot mules, you can mix and match parts to put together a few working oned.
Basically, the robot mule is superior in every way except one...the real mule has the ability to find it’s own fuel and live off the land if necessary.
Yes, that last bit is the most significant disadvantage. Until battery/ fuel technologies are improved, these mules will be a logistical nightmare, in the sense that for their usage in the real battlefields, and for the lengths a live mule train can cover, the fuel needs of the robotic ones will be gigantic.
Put some good sensors on it, and some weapons, and Grunts get to play Doom and Halo for real, from the comfort of an air-conditioned trailer stocked with beer
unless they are so cheep to make that the become essentially disposable.
A rabbit sized version of the mule
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBSK7LYpg9w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYptK21vAgQ
LOL! Ain't that the truth. That is a scary looking device.
tooo funny...
And tasty if yer MRE drops don’t get there !
So we should just abandon inventing new stuff, I guess. Technology has never resulted in any useful products.
My thoughts 'zackly.
At least put a head on the damn thing.
(plus, you're sure not gonna sneak up on anyone with that noisy contraption)
It’s going to have to have a muffler system on it to be worth anything.
Those oddly-jointed legs make the thing look like a giant insect. Creepy.
the Orange or Cherry drink powder, Tabasco, Salt and Pepper, and Sugar from a few MRE's makes for a great meat rub/baste too...
I see a lot more possibility in creating a “fanwing” based drone cargo or Medevac aircraft.
Background: www.fanwing.com
A fanwing is a type of more efficient, mechanically simple aircraft prop, that uses one or more centrifugal fans, similar to those used in evaporative coolers.
It is quieter, far simpler, and has a greater lift capacity than a helicopter. An initial lift of 1 to 1-1/2 tons of weight in the air with just a 100 hp engine.
It has a very stable flight pattern, and vertical lift, horizontal stability and propulsion are provided by the same fans.
Importantly, the Fanwing company aircraft design would probably not be optimal for the transport and delivery of cargo as a drone aircraft, but the research and development of a more suitable design should not be terribly difficult.
It is also more scalable than a helicopter, and far less dangerous for having no exposed blades. This means it could be just large enough to carry a single man and his equipment, either piloted by him or automatically; to a cargo aircraft capable of lifting a medium armored vehicle like a Stryker.
“So we should just abandon inventing new stuff, I guess. Technology has never resulted in any useful products.”
So right! That $40 million wasted in developing Big Dog should have been spent in social welfare programs where it could have produced a bumper crop of what our ancestors called “bastards”.
Now, they are called “children of single parent families”./sarc off
“Yes, that last bit is the most significant disadvantage. Until battery/ fuel technologies are improved, these mules will be a logistical nightmare, in the sense that for their usage in the real battlefields, and for the lengths a live mule train can cover, the fuel needs of the robotic ones will be gigantic.”
I imagine the same argument was used when the military first started using trucks.
The trucks didn’t run on electricity.
How useful would an electric truck be, with today’s technologies and costs?
I have no idea what you are talking about. You seem to be arguing tha mules are better than trucks, I would say you need to stop drinking.
Big Dog can run on a variety of energy sources including gasoline, fuel cells, diesel, hybrid systems with gas/battery, etc. Currently it runs on compressed air in the lab and gasoline in the field.
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