South Korea To Develop Army and Police Robots

JonathanGCohen writes "South Korea is planning on developing an advanced line of robots for military and police use by the 2010 decade. A $34 million USD infusion of cash will spur development and result in robotic applications like security watchmen and eight-legged autonomous combat vehicles. "

Haven't we explored this option before?

Please put down your weapon. You have 20 seconds to comply.

The important question.

Will they be able to find Sarah Connor?

Oops, wrong web site.

/slashie

Robots watching robots

I wonder....will the robot security guards watch robot football all night long when I visit my customers' plants on the midnight shift....or rather, when my robot visits the plant for me......

Isaac Asimov would not have liked this!

The government also seeks to build combat robots. Three Laws of Robotics: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Re:Isaac Asimov would not have liked this!

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Sure, but Asimov was a fucking pussy.

Re:Isaac Asimov would not have liked this!

Since when do people in the real world have to abide by some rules created by a dead author for use in his science FICTION books?

*cough*SCIENTOLOGY*cough*

North Korea

If i lived next door to a crazy, nuclear-armed country with a million-man infantry, then i'd probably want a technological upperhand as well on the battlefield. However, as wars are always going to be fought no matter what, i'm willing to put my boots on the ground for honour and glory and hopefully some metals... so joining the army. god damned robots better not screw me over on the only thing left that seems to be hiring... graduating with an english degree in May. what else can I do?

Re:North Korea

If i lived next door to a crazy, nuclear-armed country with a million-man infantry

you mean like... the US??

Cold, emotionless, enforcement drones ...

In the US we call them "State Troopers"

That bothers me.

In the USA, the military is not allowed to interfere with civilian matters (that was until recently). One of the advantages of this, is that it is so enforced in the military, that most would rebel against any attempted military coup or an attempt to convert America to a dictatorship. But a robot will not likely have a sense of ethics. They would gladly do exactly what the current leader says, be it Clinton (for you republicans) or GWB (for the rest of us).

Marriage?

What happens though when the Robot Police want to marry the Robot Teachers:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/ 04/0338238&tid=216&tid=146 [slashdot.org] ?

Will Robosexual unions be allowed under South Korean law?

And just wait until the messy Robodivorces when Robot Police Lady rolls off with Robot Soldier:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/ 25/0218254&tid=216&tid=219 [slashdot.org]

And they haven't even invented Robot Lawyers yet! The world will come tumbling down.

Jump a head to the end goal

Already the leaders stay home and play armchair warfare. Next step is the soldiers stay home and play war like a video game. It's been around for years folks, it's called Robot Wars. I say the leaders of each country build the best fighting robot then they can duke it out and nobody gets hurt and we save billions of dollars. Got a border dispute? Whoever can build the best fighting machine wins? It levels the playing field, saves time and money and by far the most important it saves lives. Don't like a level playing field? Try talking out your problems like civilized people do.

Re:Jump a head to the end goal

Why bother building a fighting machine? If you're just going to turn warfare into a little game, just have some humans play an existing game to solve your problem. Have the 2 nations each pick a soldier for a boxing match or even just a game of poker. It's all the same. You're just trying to take the killing and destruction out of warfare.

The problem is that your system relies on trust. How can I trust that my enemy is only going to confine this combat to the "fighting machine arena" or poker table, or whatever? You can't. Your enemy may just backstab you, and while you're only ready for your sanitized combat, they lunch a real attack on your cities. So you need to prepare for that and spend billions on a conventional army anyway.

Re:Jump a head to the end goal

What you're missing here is that the robots built for war won't be built to kill other machines - they'll be built to penetrate deep beyond enemy defense and inflict the maximum possible casualties appropriate for the situation, all without putting a human

I, for one,

I, for one, welcome our incoming flood of posts in this syntax.

So...

which are they going to develop first, their Army or their Police Robots?

just one step along the way

The rich need the poor to do only a few jobs: mass manufacture, police and emergency services, civil services. When they've got robots that eliminate the need for those at the bottom, I doubt they'll keep them around. If you are middle class or lower, you should think carefully about whether you're helping to build technology that will allow the upper class to do away with you.

The Cops, The Criminals & The Civil Fruitcakes

If the Robo-Cops hits the streets, the invention of small EMP grenades won't be too far behind. As an American citizen, do I have the constitutional right to bear EMP grenades? Or would EMP grenades fall into the same classification as regular explosive grenades?

Re:The Cops, The Criminals & The Civil Fruitca

If the Robo-Cops hits the streets, the invention of small EMP grenades won't be too far behind. As an American citizen, do I have the constitutional right to bear EMP grenades? Or would EMP grenades fall into the same classification as regular explosive grenades?

Two problems with that senerio. First EMP weapons at last word were still a rumor even for the military. If they do exist they would bulky and probably produce a fair amount of radiation. It isn't that easy to produce a field strong enough to knock out electronics.

The other issue is if that were a risk it's possible to harden hardware electronics from EMP fields. A lot of military hardware is already. I'd be real surprised if it was ever possible to produce an EMP gernade. In some ways it's not that different than trying to make a nuclear hand gernade. They may have had them in Starship Troopers but they don't exist in the real world and there's no way to make one with current understanding of physics. Even the brief case bombs were never proven and those are considerably larger than a handgernade. I tend to believe they are possible from what I've read and seen but I'm not 100% convinced one has been made.

There's far easier ways to take out a robot than an EMP bomb. Part of the draw back to most battle robots are they aren't really that tough. You'll notice most have stuck with a wheeled or tank tread approach. Wheels and tank treads are tougher and more efficent than walking machines. A two or four legged robot would have the same frailties as well as advantages of an animal with the same number of legs. The biggest problem always is trying to make motors small enough and strong enough to make walking possible. Equalling a human for strength, speed and endurance is far harder than it looks and it's a very long way to the bionic man.

Why is it the Koreans?

It seems there are a few patterns here:

Japanese make friendly servant robots (to help old people).
Koreans make battle/guard robots. With weapons. So humans don't have to fight.
Americans make rescue robots, unmanned aerial vehicles.

Doesn't this seem a bit odd? Why don't US companies try to make a friendly robot like the Japanese? Why are we so big on search and rescue? Why do the Koreans pour their precious money into killer bots?

Why don't the Koreans make agricultural robots, so that humans don't have to toil in the fields? If we had those in the USA, we'd have a totally automated farming workforce. And where do the Europeans fit in here? What sort of robots do they want?

Re:Why is it the Koreans?

We (the US) make all kinds of war robots. Things like cruise missilies and missile launching drones are robots too you know.

Re:Why is it the Koreans?

Isn't it obvious? Duh...

Japanese make friendly servant robots (to help old people).

Japanese are lonely.

Koreans make battle/guard robots. With weapons. So humans don't have to fight.

Koreans are scared.

Americans make rescue robots, unmanned aerial vehicles.

Americans are lost.

Obligatory reference #1

police drone rush kekekekekeke ^_____________^

To hell with security, where's the pr0nBots?

Yeah, that's right. I want a little cutie like that one in that goddamned robot chik-flick flick my wife made me watch with the little robot kid,er, AI or Erore does pooh-bear or fried green tomatoes or whatever the hell. I want one with multiple meat ports I can interface. And that's not all, damnit! I want an SLA that states I can send her dirty little rump to the crusher with my choice of "transference" of the best moments and get a tight, nubile and fresh little replacement. It's the least bit all these goddamned machines owe me after so many years of catering to their pithy needs. A gourmet meal, some fine drinks, and never hear "I'm tired, I have headache" after a long one at the data center making certain all that pr0n gets to where it has to go is all I ask for whatever ridiculous third mortgage I'll need to take out to get it. This is America damnit! Where's my screw-bot?!? 'Nuff said.

Re:better the robots than people

In a completely robotic war the only casualties will be civilians.