A dog-shaped robot equipped with a firearm appeared. It is not clear if it is for sale, but we consider it a matter of time.
Four-legged robots are one of the most exciting developments in robotic technology. They are small, agile and able to cross environments that make wheeled machines difficult. So, of course, it was only a matter of time before someone added a weapon to them.
Η παραπάνω εικόνα δείχνει ένα τετράποδο ρομπότ, μια μονάδα Vision 60, που κατασκευάστηκε από την αμερικανική company Ghost Robotics, και που εξοπλίστηκε με ένα ειδικό όπλο από μία εταιρεία εξειδικευμένη στα μικρά όπλα, την Sword International Inc. Φαίνεται ότι το ίδιο το όπλο (που ονομάστηκε SPUR ή «μη επανδρωμένο τυφέκιο») έχει σχεδιαστεί για να τοποθετείται σε μια ποικιλία ρομποτικών συστημάτων. Διαθέτει οπτικό ζουμ 30x, θερμική κάμερα για στόχευση στο σκοτάδι και αποτελεσματική εμβέλεια 1.200 μέτρων.
What is not clear is whether Sword International or Ghost Robotics are currently selling this combination of weapon and robot. But even if they do not sell it, it seems that it will be done soon. Besides, Sword International is proud of its original on the official website: "SWORD Defense Systems SPUR is the future of unmanned weapons systems and this future is now".
The machine was first unveiled at the annual conference of the Association of the United States Army, in 2021, at the beginning of this week. The details of the collaboration between Ghost and Sword are unclear, but Ghost four-legged robots are already being tested by the US military.
Last year, the 325th Security Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida became the first Department of Defense unit to used four-legged robots in regular operations.
Πλέον τα uses για να περιπολεί την περίμετρο της βάσης, πλοηγώντας τα σε βαλτώδεις περιοχές που «δεν είναι επιθυμητές για ανθρώπους και οχήματα», according to an interview of the CEO of Ghost Robotics, Mr. Jiren Parikh.
Apart from the patrol which is one of the most obvious cases of using robot dogs, the manufacturers are experimenting with other purposes. They are tested for remote video and mapping, such as mobile cell towers, robots to defuse bombs, or to detect chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear materials (otherwise known as CBRNs).
And, of course, the same weapons can be made.
The biggest question is how these robots will develop in the future and what level of supervision will be required when they start shooting at humans.
For some time now, experts have been warning of a slow increase in the use of "killer robots" (known as lethal autonomous weapon systems, or LAWS, in official terminology) as official US policy does not prohibit their development. Many groups are campaigning for a precautionary ban on such systems, but, as history has shown, neither the imagination of people nor technology can stop.
