Technically speaking...
I work in the defense industry and have been following the development of various new technologies in addition to those that I work on personally.
Specifically, for the purposes of this post I'm referring to a number of autonomous systems (unmanned, robotics) of interest; a few of them are showcased below.
First are a few items by QinetiQ, from their website.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Zephyr®: a high altitude long endurance UAV that can support payloads for surveillance or communications.
In July 2010 it set the world record for the longest duration unmanned flight by flying for 14 days, reaching an altitude of over 70,000 feet.
Robotics
Dragon Runner™: a small unmanned ground vehicle, which can be carried in a pack, enables users to see around corners in urban environments and can be customized in the field.
MAARS®: a modular ground robot system capable of providing force escalation options from non-lethal to lethal for a measured response to combat situations.
TALON®: powerful and man-portable, TALON is the fastest robot on the market (easily keeping pace with a running soldier). It can cope with virtually any terrain and has a very high payload capacity for all-weather day/night sensor packages.
The iRobot company is probably best known for the "Roomba" automated vacuum cleaning robot, but they also produce several tactical systems.
110 FirstLook™: a small, light, throwable robot that provides hasty situational awareness, performs persistent observation and investigates confined spaces.
310 SUGV: (Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle) is a tactical mobile robot that gathers situational awareness in dangerous conditions for warfighters and public safety professionals.
510 Packbot®: a tactical mobile robot that performs multiple missions while keeping warfighters and first responders out of harm’s way.
710 Warrior®: a big and powerful robot that carries heavy payloads.
The best thing about these systems is the fact that if they get destroyed by whatever means, it prevents the loss of life...
Specifically, for the purposes of this post I'm referring to a number of autonomous systems (unmanned, robotics) of interest; a few of them are showcased below.
First are a few items by QinetiQ, from their website.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
In July 2010 it set the world record for the longest duration unmanned flight by flying for 14 days, reaching an altitude of over 70,000 feet.
Robotics
The iRobot company is probably best known for the "Roomba" automated vacuum cleaning robot, but they also produce several tactical systems.
The best thing about these systems is the fact that if they get destroyed by whatever means, it prevents the loss of life...
posted by camojack | 09:55
7 Comments:
Very interesting. One of those surveillance aircraft is probably circling over my house right now, since I'm not and "o-bot". :-(
I'd like to soon see the day when I can have one of these robots to do all of my cleaning and ironing for me... ;-D I was a big fan of "The Jetsons" as a kid, and I remember Jane Jetson's robotic maid. Ah...I can dream can't I? LOL!
"an" o-bot
**sigh**
thanks for the information. very cool
You have the coolest job!!
Bunny:
I don't think the domestic surveillance UAV fleet has been deployed yet, but maybe.
You can already get robots that will do your vacuuming and clean rain gutters, however. I don't know about the ironing, though.
Bob:
You're welcome. I think it's pretty cool, too.
Mig:
My job? That has its moments...and pays the bills. ;-)
Sorry to get here so late, but very cool stuff indeed. But like Bunny, I'm worried about this stuff being used against citizens. The Obama Administration has already approved something like 160 different agencies to use drones domestically. Do we really need them?
Best regards...
Hawkeye®:
I'm definitely not in favor of drones being used domestically against law-abiding citizens...so it's a valid concern.
<< Home