A Soapbox Derby for the War-Games Set

NY Times ^ | March 14, 2004 | JOHN MARKOFFand JOHN M. BRODER

[neverdem]

PING

[Cannoneer No. 4]

ping

[Ophiucus]

What dumba$$ sponsored this piece of **** legislation?

The Pentagon is trying to meet a Congressional mandate to convert a third of its battlefield vehicles to autonomous operation by 2015 to save soldiers' lives.

A robot race is coll in a geeky sort of way but the idea of robotic drone vehicles on the battlefield is ludicrous - especially within 11 years. How is a computerized vehicle going to match the intuition, adaptability, and improvisation of the human mind in a constantly fluid, changing dynamic of the battlefield?

Computers are limited by their programming, the human is not. The limitations would result in more deaths that enemy bullets.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Sandstorm

[Cannoneer No. 4]

[PRND21]

Autonomous ground vehicles. Zero human interaction. Is this the future of warfare?

Go Caltech Go

[neverdem]

A robot race is coll

I'm not familial with the word and usage. Could you help me with this? Is this a typo for cool?

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Grand Challenge Media Gallery

[neverdem]

You have much better pics than the "paper of record".

[PRND21]

How is a computerized vehicle going to match the intuition, adaptability, and improvisation of the human mind in a constantly fluid, changing dynamic of the battlefield?

By spraying bullets and explosives at everything within reach for days. I can think of a few places to drop them in.

Computers are limited by their programming, the human is not.

Jessica Lynch. I'd rather send a bot.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

more pics

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Avidor-2004 SciAutonics II second place finisher

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Grand Challenge Teams

[archy]

Why do I suspect that an alliance of the Freeper MilTech, treadheads and motorcycle hooligans could do better than several of those big-name high-tech [and big bucks] developers.

Hmmm. Sensor of a mast-mounted sight *little bird* or *Kiowa* LOH scout helicopter. Radar sidesensor suite of a Russian Arena antimissile system, modified for collision avoidance instead. And with a vehicle chassis based on the Rhodesian *Pookie* land mine clearance vehicle.

I wonder if any of those other entries were amphibious....

[Ophiucus]

Could you help me with this? Is this a typo for cool?

Yep, it's a typo - and the spell check feature didn't catch it. Oops

Strange thing - Coll is a Hebridian island.

I'm not familial with the word and usage.

I'm not related to the word either....aren't typos a b**** sometimes. :-)

[Tangerine Time Machine]

Of course, the vehicles ran into a spot of trouble on the third leg when Tuskin Raiders starting taking potshots.

Seriously, this stuff is coming. Future Combat System (FCS) bids are going down right now for sensors that will go on next-gen manned and unmanned ground vehicles, from recon and command vehicles to troop carriers and recovery vehicles.

Boeing is heading up a lot of the effort, and DARPA is pulling in the more bluie sky research.

[archy]

By spraying bullets and explosives at everything within reach for days. I can think of a few places to drop them in.

Bolos.

My forty-seven pairs of flint-steel roadwheels are in depot condition. Their tires of spun ber~yl~lium monocrystal, woven to deform rather than compress, all have 97% or better of their fabric unbroken. The immediate terrain is semi-arid. The briefing files inform me this is typical of the planet. My track links purr among themselves as they grind through scrub vegetation and the friable soil, carrying me to my assigned mission.

There is a cataclysmic fuel-air explosion to the east behind me. The glare is visible for 5.3 seconds, and the ground will shake for many minutes as shock waves echo through the planetary mantle.

Had my human superiors so chosen, I could be replacing Saratoga at the spearhead of the attack.

The rear elements of the infantry are in sight now. They look like dung beetles in their hard suits, crawling backward beneath a rain of shrapnel. I am within range of their low-power communications net. "Hold what you got, troops," orders the unit's acting commander. "Big Brother's come to help!"

I am not Big Brother. I am Maldon, a Mark XXX Bolo of the 3rd Battalion, Dinochrome Brigade. The lineage of our unit goes back to the 2nd South Wessex Dragoons. In 1944, we broke the last German resistance on the path to Falaise—though we traded our flimsy Cromwells against the Tigers at a ratio of six to one to do it.

The citizens do not need to know what the cost is. They need only to know that the mission has been accomplished. The battle honors welded to my turret prove that I have always accomplished my mission.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the reply, but it left me scratching my head.

I'm not related to the word either....aren't typos a b**** sometimes. :-)

How do people relate to typos?

[PRND21]

Why do I suspect that an alliance of the Freeper MilTech, treadheads and motorcycle hooligans could do better than several of those big-name high-tech [and big bucks] developers.

SCORE International Off Road Racing is out there. That's two of your three.