Month: May 2008

War of the future: Robot versus robot

From the Toronto Star, May 02, 2008–A fleet of tiny tanks, each no bigger than a breadbox, cruising in remote-control formation down the dusty alleys of Afghanistan to neutralize roadside bombs……The Grand Challenge was launched in 2006 in an attempt to solve modern military riddles …

From the Toronto Star, May 02, 2008

LONDON–A fleet of tiny tanks, each no bigger than a breadbox, cruising in remote-control formation down the dusty alleys of Afghanistan to neutralize roadside bombs…

…The Grand Challenge (detailed at www.challenge.mod.uk) was launched in 2006 in an attempt to solve modern military riddles …

… Several of the systems entailed futuristic flying bots built from scratch. Others, such as the fleet-formation ground system by the British firm Mindsheet, are adapting conceptual robot armies based on over-the-counter cars available at hobby shops everywhere.
“We chose not to reinvent the wheel but to work instead with the wheels readily available. That way we are able to more easily concentrate on providing a tool that a soldier in Afghanistan would be able to begin using immediately,” said Mindsheet managing director Raglan Tribe …

…”It is a weird extrapolation, the idea that war is becoming a scenario of `Your robots versus our robots,’ Why not just fight it out on a video game instead?” said Mindsheet’s Tribe. “But this is where things are moving.”

Read full article at www.thestar.com

Mini-helicopters, flying saucers and robot buggies fight it out for war games prize

“We call it boys’ toys for warfare,” bellows Chris Burgess, as the hip-hop act Stromkern roars “Come Armageddon come” from the plasma screen behind him. On the video a radio-controlled buggy is zipping along a dusty street, its onboard camera swivelling left and right, on the lookout for snipers and roadside bombs that might lie ahead.

“We call it boys’ toys for warfare,” bellows Chris Burgess, as the hip-hop act Stromkern roars “Come Armageddon come” from the plasma screen behind him. On the video a radio-controlled buggy is zipping along a dusty street, its onboard camera swivelling left and right, on the lookout for snipers and roadside bombs that might lie ahead.
Burgess belongs to Mindsheet, one of 11 teams unveiled as finalists in the Ministry of Defence’s most ambitious – and unusual – attempt to bring hi-tech science to the frontline. Called the Grand Challenge, the £4m project calls on engineers to design a robot that can scour an urban area for enemy combatants and explosives and report back, preferably without human intervention …”

Read full article at www.guardian.co.uk

From The Guardian, Friday May 2 2008