Article describes a DARPA robot that powers itself by gathering and fueling itself from biomass. This is apparently an approach to energy-autonomous recon robots (harvest grasses and plants where it goes) that has amusingly terrifying connotations when you consider the mental image of a chainsaw-wielding robot capturing and devouring, say, people.
It seems that DARPA, which once built things that seemed like the fevered imaginations of a 14 year old boy, is now building things that seem like the fevered imaginations of a 7 year old boy.
At the sixth (System of Systems) level, which has not yet been implemented, the 4D/RCS serves as an overarching intelligent control and decision system for (all or part of) a manifold of distributed unmanned and manned platforms, unattended sensors and weapons, and control centers.
Seems to be inspired by the latest Terminator movie. Why do we need more killer machines, are the people in charge afraid that some day humans will refuse to fight for the "just causes" they are presented?
Getting worked up over the potential of a DARPA research project is like getting yourself worked up over a popular girl when you were in high school. There's almost no chance those ideas will come to fruition, and on the slim chance something does, it will be in the far off future and nothing like you initially thought.
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[ 5.1 ms ] story [ 86.5 ms ] threadIt seems that DARPA, which once built things that seemed like the fevered imaginations of a 14 year old boy, is now building things that seem like the fevered imaginations of a 7 year old boy.
A code of moral behavior for intelligent robots will be developed. Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws are insufficient (especially for military).
1. A robot will not harm authorized Government personnel but will terminate intruders with extreme prejudice.
2. A robot will obey the orders of authorized personnel except where such orders conflict with the Third Law.
3. A robot will guard its own existence with lethal antipersonnel weaponry, because a robot is bloody expensive.
(Langford is an SF writer. You might know him from his "basilisk" stories--if not, go read them sometime.)
Making the things that people want who have no idea of the things they aren't supposed to want.
http://www.robotictechnologyinc.com/index.php/EATR:
At the sixth (System of Systems) level, which has not yet been implemented, the 4D/RCS serves as an overarching intelligent control and decision system for (all or part of) a manifold of distributed unmanned and manned platforms, unattended sensors and weapons, and control centers.
Ambitious!