Robot vehicles take on tough jobs

Scientists are focused on developing unmanned machines that can operate in the air, on the ground and under water, doing jobs where deploying people is just too dangerous.

Picture: The GoldenEye takes off and lands vertically and can hover for hours.

Source: BBC.

Robots That Walk on Water

As if signing books and performing surgery on patients were not enough, robots can now walk on water, too, thanks to engineers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). What started as a class project three years ago ended up as insectlike mechanical robots with four to sixteen legs. The “bugs,” two to six inches long and weighing a few grams, can scoot over water, reports IEEE Transactions on Robotics. Called STRIDE, for surface tension based robotic insect dynamic explorer, the robots use water’s surface tension to amble on their spindly legs exactly like water striders, the insects that motivated the challenge.

Source: Scientific American.

iRobot Receives $14 Million Order for PacBots

iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ:IRBT) received a US Navy order worth $14 million, part of an Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract to supply of PackBot man transportable robotic systems to the US forces. The recent order brings the total value of orders received from the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to $66 million. The total worth of the IDIQ contract could reach up to $264 million. Delivery has started in March 2007 and will continue through the end of 2007. The U.S. military’s MTRS program has requirements for up to 1,200 robots through 2012. To date, iRobot has delivered more than 800 PackBot robots to a broad range of military and civilian customers worldwide.

PackBot uses a unique propulsion system developing a road speed of up to 14 km/h. The system is characterized by distinctive “flippers” which offer continuous 360 degrees rotation and negotiation of rough terrain and obstacles such as stairs, rocks, logs, rubble and debris. The platform can climb grades up to 60% and survive submersion in water up to two meter deep. It is built to survive drop from two meter height, on a concrete surface, or being thrown through a window or tumbling downstairs.

Via Defense Update.

Satellite Pit Stop

According to DARPA’s website “the goal of the Orbital Express Space Operations Architecture program is to validate the technical feasibility of robotic, autonomous onorbit refueling and reconfiguration of satellites to support a broad range of future U.S. national security and commercial space programs. Refueling satellites will enable frequent maneuver to improve coverage, change arrival times to counter denial and deception and improve survivability, as well as extend satellite lifetime. Electronics upgrades on-orbit can provide regular performance improvements and dramatically reduce the time to deploy new technology on-orbit.”

Via Defence Tech.

Robocops ready to take on terrorists

Real-life Robocops, robots armed with lethal weaponry and a programmed-in determination to eliminate foes, could become a key element in global counter-terrorist and military operations within a decade, a leading security expert predicted today

John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.Org in Virginia, commented on plans announced this week by a US company, iRobot Corp, to arm its track-wheeled PackBot robot with a Taser X26 stun gun.

Source: Guardian.

Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Biases, and Global Risk

If you have not read “Cognitive Biases Potentially Affecting Judgment of Global Risks” and “Artificial Intelligence as a Positive and Negative Factor in Global Risk“, I recommend reading them. They are excellent book chapters from SIAI Research Fellow Eliezer Yudkowsky, forthcoming in the edited volume Global Catastrophic Risks from Oxford University Press (Nick Bostrom and Milan Cirkovic eds.). If you do not have time to read both, I recommend reading the conclusion of the first, repeated below, and reading the second in its entirety.

Via the SIAI blog.

Intelligence Augmentation vs. Artificial Intelligence

To some, it seems “obvious” that significant human intelligence augmentation will come before human-level AI. To others, it’s the reverse that’s obvious. I don’t think either is obvious, but I believe there’s a strong likelihood AI will come first.

Via Michael Anissimov.

Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence

A nice presentation of the essence of the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence:

Naval Robot Wars

A new report drafted by the well-connected Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments makes a strong case for an accelerated development of unmanned combat aircraft for carrier battle groups.

Source: DefenseTech

Micro-Air Vehicles to Get Insects and Bats Senses

Aurora Flight Sciences has been awarded a contract to develop navigation and control technology that will allow micro air vehicles (MAVs) to avoid collisions as they fly through urban and other cluttered environments. Due to their small size, MAVs hold great potential for providing valuable military intelligence while avoiding detection and destruction.

…

Aurora is partnering with Professor Sean Humbert and Professor Timothy Horiuchi, both of the University of Maryland, leveraging their expertise in bio-inspired sensing to create the technology that will allow MAVs to traverse urban areas without collision. This capability will enable unmanned aerial vehicles to conduct military intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions in environments in which enemy forces, assets, and activities are hidden or obscured.

Defense Update.