Aussie Army Trains With Fleet of Robots On Segways 109
kkleiner writes "The armed forces of the world have already begun to hunt down and shoot robots. No, it's not the beginning of the man-machine war; it's a state-of-the-art training simulation that's very cool to watch. Australia-based Marathon Robotics has taken Segways and turned them into human-shaped autonomous robots capable of moving around streets and buildings just like people in a crowd! The Marathon bots can act like insurgents, hostages, or civilians, letting armed soldiers practice before being exposed to the real thing. The Australian Department of Defense already has a training camp using the robots, and the US Marine Corps will be establishing one this year."
I for one welcome... (Score:1, Funny)
...eh...nevermind
Re:Ridiculous (Score:3, Funny)
... and shooting at real people during training generates a lot of paperwork.
Only if you miss.
Insurgent on Segway .. (Score:1, Funny)
Insurgent on Segway http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pFv8CAniYQ [youtube.com]
Re:Amazing (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ridiculous (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Wait... What? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Wait... What? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Life imitating (recent) art... (Score:3, Funny)
If only they made some of those robots similar to Serge Graystone; or perhaps, more appropriately, to few targetbots we've seen in the pilot.
I'm waiting for the robotic kangaroos with Stinger missiles [snopes.com]:
Re:Ridiculous (Score:3, Funny)
Let's just hope they aren't paying the price of an Apache helicopter for these robots.
Its the Australian Army. The only thing they're going to spend the "price of an Apache helicopter" on is an actual Apache helicopter - and even then, that'd be *one* Apache helicopter, and one only.
Re:Resourceful... and comical (Score:5, Funny)
We are also training killer Wombats [abc.net.au] and Koala drop bears.
Fear your beer swilling, redneck English, southern hemisphere overloads and our homicidal marsupials.
Re:I don't understand (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Ridiculous (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I don't understand (Score:1, Funny)
I was lonely and the 'roo was a cutie...
Re:Simulate people? (Score:3, Funny)
I thought aussies are fighting with cane toads and camels.
Indeed they are. Once trained, an Aussie sniper can reliably strike a target with a high-velocity cane toad from up to 2000 meters away. Camels, on the other hand, are too large to fire from a rifle, and require the use of motorized artillery.
Re:Ridiculous (Score:3, Funny)
Not to dispute your point, but we're buying Tiger's
You are buying Tiger's what? Old golf clubs? Whores?