NASA Robots and Rovers At Play In the Desert 54
Geoffrey.landis writes "Robots and rovers will be running around in the desert in the NASA Desert RATS ('Research and Technology Studies') test in Arizona, including the heavy-lift rover 'All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer,' or ATHLETE. (See videos from newscientist.com). Some NASA robots from an earlier field test of robotic lunar excavators can be seen on video from the NASA page."
Re:Dune coons (Score:0, Interesting)
This is actually very insightful because it is likely that this technology will be used to develop fully or partially-autonomous killing robots to fight in the Middle East.
The research is done under the umbrella of NASA so that the idiot public will feel good about it without thinking about how we'll be pissing our tax dollars and our credibility as a nation into the quagmire for another 10 years, just to fatten the pockets of the military industrial complex.
So what comes first (Score:2, Interesting)
The acronym or what it stands for? I always wondered that. Maybe companys and organizations have a whole team of people who's sole job is to brainstorm cool acronyms and then figure out words to fit.
Anyway, I still think this exercise would be cool to watch.
Re:Dune coons (Score:4, Interesting)
Agreed, on many levels. You're completely right that this is a stalking horse.
On the other hand, if we're going to fight wars where we pacify populations then this is a much cheaper way to do it, in the long run, then the current way.
(I was about to say "pointless wars where we pacify populations" but you know, even though the one(s) we're in have been badly mismanaged by a pack of morons and at least one of them we had no business getting into at all, that doesn't mean that pacifying a country is always a pointless, devastating, callous exercise. Almost always, but not completely so.)
Besides, out of the killer robots which roam the countryside killing every biped or vehicle in a neutral zone will come better bots to clean our floors, install solar panels, manufacture AND install stuff, etc.
HG wells makes the point in _The Food of the Gods_ that every, EVERY technology gets used, no matter how annoying or absurd the consequences. And specifically every tech is ultimately used for war. HG Wells was right on so many things it's scary.
GMOD + Reallife = NASA! (Score:2, Interesting)
Since there have been a number of recent updates to GMOD (a Half-Life 2 open sandbox "game" where you can create just about anything you can think of within the limits of the physics/materials/models) came out I have played with it everyonce in a while and find it very fun to take ideas I've had in the past and try to make them and try to find out how well they would work. I think the potential is there for very easy and semi-realistic prototype and R&D type building to go on, the poor mans NASA testbed! I have seen and made many designs, and one that I keep coming to is some sort of all terrain vehicle (I am a ATV and Jeep guy that loves off roading) and many of my designs have looked very similar to the ATHLETE. One thing I think those scientist types could use is some real world off-roading/rocking experience. Anybody can just rumble across rough terrain, the important part is to do it A) without breaking anything or putting yourself at an extreme risk/reward ratio, and B)Do it well enough that it actually becomes "smooth". Off roading is all about wheel-placement and physics estimation combined with experience. If my wheelbase is X long and my approach/departure angles are B and this incline is Y steep, should I attack it straight or at an angle, etc. Anyway, now I'm just rambling but I would give a left nut to have the funding to be able to create some of my off-roading ideas in real life, so its really cool to get to see other people able to, till then back to GMOD.
Take a Look at the Tweels (Score:5, Interesting)