Hasta La Gadget!

Turbulence. A minor bother for us, but a huge issue for enlisted seamen. So-called “ducts” in the lower atmosphere can wreak all sorts of maritime havoc; trapping radar and causing radio comms to travel further than expected and into the hands of the enemy. The Office of Naval Research‘s Ocean Battlespace Sensing Department (rad name, right?) isn’t satisfied with using balloons to keep track of the ducts anymore, and is deploying drones instead, including Insitu’s ScanEagle shown above. The result should be a greater understanding of how atmospheric conditions affect radar and communications, which could ultimately provide a tactical advantage — at least while we wait on those 100-kilowatt lasers.

[Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]

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As if there weren’t enough real jellyfish around to trigger our thalassophobia, researchers at Virginia Tech have created Cryo — an eight-armed autonomous robot that mimics jelly movement with the help of a flexible silicone hat. The man-sized jellybot altogether dwarfs previous efforts, hence the upgrade from small tank to swimming pool for mock field tests. And unlike the passively propelled bots we’ve seen recently, Cryo runs on batteries, with the researchers hoping to better replicate the energy-efficient nature of jelly movement to eventually increase Cryo’s charge cycle to months instead of hours. That’s also the reason these robotic jellyfish are getting bigger — because the larger they are, the further they can go. Potential uses include ocean monitoring and perhaps clearing oil spills, but the US Navy, which is funding the work, sees an opportunity to recruit jellies for underwater surveillance — a job the researchers say is suited to their natural-looking disguise. But, before the tables are turned, you can spy on Cryo for yourself in the video below.

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Via: Wired

Source: Virginia Tech (Vimeo)

The military has come up with a multitude of ways to utilize robotics, from bomb disposal and recon bots to Avatar-like surrogates. But a robot that takes its cue from squirrels and African birds to deceive its enemies is decidedly novel territory. Researchers from Georgia Tech, who are also working on a MacGyver bot with AI smarts, are making inroads into developing just such a robotic trickster. The Office of Naval Research led by Professor Ronald Arkin discovered that squirrels often deceive competing squirrels by visiting fake stash locations while their real acorn collection lies elsewhere, and have developed a robotic model that utilizes the same strategy. The programmed deceptive behavior was successful, as demonstrated in the video after the break.

Another lesson from nature is from the African babbler, a species of bird that flocks and crowds around a predator without actually attacking it, with the assumption that it’ll back away from the harassing mob. Based on their simulations, the team concluded that deception of this sort is often the right move when pushed against the wall, especially in military operations. “Being honest about the robot’s abilities risks capture or destruction,” said Arkin. However, he recognizes there is a real ethical quandary when it comes to deceptive robot behavior — do we really want robots that can lie to us? It’s a question that conjures up memories of Battlestar Galactica and brings chills down our spine. Here’s hoping we can restrain the robotic deception to the good of mankind.

Continue reading Deceptive robots mimic squirrels and birds for potential military use

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Source: Georgia Tech, Phys.org

We’ve seen the Kinect put to use to help you find your groceries, but the sensor’s image processing capabilities have some more safety-minded applications as well. The fine minds at MIT combined the Kinect with a laser range finder and a laptop to create a real-time mapping rig for firefighters and other rescue workers. The prototype, called SLAM (for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) received funding from the US Air Force and the Office of Naval Research, and it stands out among other indoor mapping systems for its focus on human (rather than robot) use and its ability to produce maps without the aid of any outside information, thanks to an on-board processor.

Continue reading MIT’s real-time indoor mapping system uses Kinect, lasers to aid rescue workers

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MIT’s real-time indoor mapping system uses Kinect, lasers to aid rescue workers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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