The US government is testing two small tactical robots from rough-terrain robot pioneer Boston Dynamics whose movements are based on those of a flea and a cockroach. The Sand Flea jumps high into the air to avoid obstacles, and the six-legged RHex easily crawls around on rough terrain.
The Army Test and Evaluation Command will begin assessing safety, reliability, and performance of three RHex robots, followed later this year by similar tests on Sand Flea models. Funding for the evaluation of both robots is coming through the US Army’s Rapid Equipping Force (REF).
The six-legged RHex robot moves like a cockroach over a wide variety of rough terrain, and can climb telephone poles and stairs. (Source: Boston Dynamics)
"Small, very mobile robots will deliver stand-off and reconnaissance capabilities in rugged terrain that current robots can’t provide," said Boston Dynamics' vice president of engineering Robert Playter, in a press release.
Once safety evaluations of the robots have been completed, the Rapid Equipping Force plans to deliver nine Sand Fleas and four RHex for testing in Afghanistan. "The mission of the REF is to find innovative solutions to meet pressing problems in theater, and to do it fast," said Gary Frost, chief technology management-REF.
The four-wheeled Sand Flea began life as the Precision Urban Hopper, an earlier collaboration between Sandia National Laboratory and Boston Dynamics that was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO).
Good points, Tool maker. I believe you say it all in your first paragraph. Given two opponents with equal determination and commitment, technology wins.
Rob I normally do not like to comment on references to wars, but you touched a sore spot here. For a war to be won; first tehr must be a clear cut objective and then there must be either an adversary willing to admt defeat or the total anihilation one side. I do not care if it is sticks against bombs, if the sticks are willing to wait long enough, centuries even, eventually the bombs will tire of the effort, declare victory and go away.
Guerilla tactics cannot win a war, it can merely prolong it until the other side tires of the exercise. Robert E. Lee saw that when he commanded the south to drop their weapons and go home, rather than continue to fight on a guerilla basis.
The anihilation tactic was evident in WW II. The Japanese had vowed to fight to "the last man" and the US demonstrated not only the ability, but perhaps even the willingness to kill the last man when Truman ordered the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Only then did the Japanese government call an end to hostilities.
The reason for the ineveitable outcomes in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan is because there are factions in each that are/were willing to wait as long as necessary while random bombings, suicide attacks and various similar tactics break down the will of the outsider's populace to support the activity.
My goodness, Ann. That's an impressive development. So potentially, a robotic earthworm could be created that would mimic two major aspects of an earthworm: the ability to burrow underground and the ability to process underground material into rich earth.
I'm not so sure that making topsoil from trash is a joke. A couple of different microbes have been discovered that can or have the promise to, digest plastic and make it compostable. Theoretically, armed with some kind of delivery mechanism, robotic earthworms could then make that idea a reality.
I understand, Ann. I'm just surprised the concept is getting tossed around. That proposed idea is an interesting application for robotic earthworms. I would certainly guess the notion of it making topsoil from trash is a joke. But who knows, it might show up sometime as a trash mining apparatus.
I thought you'd like these. Of course, a prediction isn't by any means a set of schematics, but it will be interesting to see if anyone takes them up on that idea and starts working on one.
That's pretty good, Ann. Forecast number four is robotic earthworms. My goodness. They take it a step further, having the robotic earthworms digest the trash to make topsoil. That's great.
OK, Rob, you got me curious. Wouldn't you know, there's a combination of predictions from the World Future Society about robotic earthworms for landfills to help with biodegradability and extracting metals and plastics (Forecast #4--the whole list is interesting):
I agree about the serendipity of Lawrence's death, a freak accident after everything he had lived through. What a tragedy. I think Korda's book is an exceptionally good read and covers a lot of history in the process. Since Lawrence was busy making that history, that's not hard to do in a biography of him.
By experimenting with the photovoltaic reaction in solar cells, researchers at MIT have made a breakthrough in energy efficiency that significantly pushes the boundaries of current commercial cells on the market.
In a world that's going green, industrial operations have a problem: Their processes involve materials that are potentially toxic, flammable, corrosive, or reactive. If improperly managed, this can precipitate dangerous health and environmental consequences.
With LEDs dropping in price virtually every year, automakers have begun employing them, not only on luxury vehicles, but on entry-level models, as well.
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