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Robotics The Military

Robot Dog Not So Cute With Submachine Gun Strapped To Its Back (vice.com) 113

Posted by BeauHD from the it-was-only-a-matter-of-time dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: A video started circulating on Twitter Thursday of a Boston Dynamics-style robot dog firing a submachine gun into targets amid a snowy backdrop. This type of robot dog (it doesn't seem like the robot in the video is a Boston Dynamics Spot, just looks a lot like it) is famous for dancing, but now appears to have fulfilled every warning given by journalists and analysts. It's got a gun and it's ready to kill. A lot of questions remain. First, the robot dog doesn't seem to be able to handle the recoil of the gun well. As it fires its rounds, the barrel trails up and the dog has to take a minute to get its balance back. We also don't know if the dog is firing on its own or if, and this is more likely, someone is off-camera pulling the trigger remotely.

The robot's feet, various ports, and its front are completely different from Boston Dynamics' Spot. There's dozens of knockoffs of the Boston Dynamics dog selling on the international market. The one in the video appears to be a UnitreeYusu "technology dog" selling on AliExpress for about $3,000. The feet, port placement, and joint coverings are all the same. The robot also has strips of Velcro on either of its flanks. The left flank bears a Russian flag and the other appears with a wolf's head. In another video on the channel, a man wears a similar patch on his arm. It appears to be a wolf's head insignia commonly associated with Russian Special Operations Forces or Spetsnaz. That doesn't mean that Spetsnaz is using armed robot dogs, as pretty much anyone can buy a similar patch online in various places.

The gun is also Russian. It appears to be a PP-19 Vityaz, a submachine gun based on the AK-74 design. As the dog wanders around and fires, it sometimes moves in front of an armored personnel carrier with a unique triangular door. That's a BDRM-2, a Russian armored car that's been spotted recently in Ukraine. Finally, there's the account the video originally appeared on. Before making its way to Twitter, the video of the dog was posted to the YouTube account of Alexander Atamov on March 22, 2022. Atamov is listed on his LinkedIn profile as the founder of "HOVERSURF" and his Facebook page lists him as living in Moscow. He posted a picture of the robot dog on March 21. According to Facebook's translation of his post, he called the dog "Skynet."
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Robot Dog Not So Cute With Submachine Gun Strapped To Its Back More

Robot Dog Not So Cute With Submachine Gun Strapped To Its Back

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  • Unsurprising (Score:3, Interesting)

    by tttonyyy ( 726776 ) on Thursday July 21, 2022 @11:05PM (#62723676) Homepage Journal

    This is just an attention-seeker doing it badly. Guaranteed that there are significantly more advanced and effective versions of this in various military organizations worldwide.

    • This is just an attention-seeker doing it badly.

      Indeed. Every round after the first is wasted. The robot is too light to fire an automatic weapon accurately even if it was programmed to anticipate the recoil (which it obviously isn't).

      A semi-auto carbine would make way more sense.

      • about the barrel trailing up: does that affect the first round fired at all, or is the projectile travelling in the barrel too fast and the gun's inertia holding the barrel in place even with a "soft" grip holding the weapon? Can someone form a gun-toting jurisdiction please comment?
        • Not from a gun-toting jurisdiction (two mass shootings in half a century) but you just need the right type of gun, e.g. an Ultimax with its constant recoil, which can be fired on full auto single-handed.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by DrunkenTerror ( 561616 )

          here's a high-speed video of the mythbuster guys shooting a handgun. the bullet leaves the muzzle before the recoil impulse is felt by the shooter. you can see the slide is just starting to move backwards by the time the bullet is away.

          Pistol Shot Recorded at 73,000 Frames Per Second [youtube.com]

      • Indeed. Every round after the first is wasted. The robot is too light to fire an automatic weapon accurately

        In a purpose-built killbot robodog, the real thing to worry about going forward - the full potential of this technology, full automatic fire makes no sense - it barely makes sense for humans (3 round burst is preferred). Full auto is to compensate for the sluggishness of human responses, who can only empty a 60 round magazine in 45 seconds or so, rather than 10, and the compensate for human ability to acquire a target accurately except an even slower pace.

        A killbot will have a sub-second target acquisition

      • By the time that that the dog recoils upward the bullet already hit the target. Soldiers never shoot on automatic - it just wastes bullets. BTW, I am an army officer.

      • It probably could have done a lot better with the gun mounted on its side.

    • The article is equally attention-seeking. How many times are they going to mention Boston Dynamics & Spot when this has absolutely zero to do with them?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by quenda ( 644621 )

      Guaranteed that there are significantly more advanced and effective versions of this

      Not a dog, but this armed robot from Corridor looks very promising:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by HiThere ( 15173 )

      No sure about the "Guaranteed that there are significantly more advanced and effective versions of this ", depending on what you mean by "this". Recoil is a difficult problem, and I don't think this form factor can handle a machine gun. You'd do better with a turtle shape, that hunkered down before firing. Or a much lighter weapon.

    • I wonder, is this supposed to be scarier than drones that cary grenades?

  • Boston Dynamics develops some of the coolest tech on the planet. But there's two problems with them:

    - Of course, like most high-tech company in the US developing advanced technology that takes a long time and a lot of money to master, they're building military things. Of course... There's no money in non-morally-bankrupt causes in America. As such, they sit squarely in the middle of the US military-industrial complex, and they kind of disgust me as a result.

    Anyhow,

    - On top of that, for some reason, all the

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      This isn't a Boston Dynamics robot, it's a knockoff.

    • I buy the sentiment about military applications, but would you really reject an attractive job offer because their product isn't cute?

      • I'm of the opinion that, given the choice, one should work to develop something they appreciate. I'm doing that at my current company: our products are cool and I enjoy helping make them as good as can be.

        I'd have a hard time working on a device that gives me the creeps - just like I wouldn't want to be an ER doctor because I really don't enjoy the sight of mangled flesh.

    • Re:Boston Dynamics is phenomenally creepy (Score:5, Insightful)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Friday July 22, 2022 @04:58AM (#62724048)

      There's no money in non-morally-bankrupt causes in America

      Of course there are. The problem is that morally bankrupt causes overlap. One man's field inspection unit at an industrial plant (what we use Spot for), is another man's bomb delivery system. One man's 4x4 offroad fun machine, is another man's military personnel carrier. One man's camera hobby drone is another man's UAV kill drone.

      It's not that companies need to support the MIC, it's that the MIC goes and seeks support from companies that produce products with plenty of other uses.

      I have NEVER seen a cute Boston Dynamics machine.

      If you want cute then talk to Sony. BD is building functional. Not everything needs to be packaged up with a fucking smiley face on it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mrex ( 25183 )

      Of course... There's no money in non-morally-bankrupt causes in America.

      Go to and tell the Ukranian people about how morally bankrupt the US M/I complex is. It's the only thing standing between them and speaking Russian.

      • Most of them already speak Russian

        • Re:Boston Dynamics is phenomenally creepy (Score:5, Insightful)

          by mrex ( 25183 ) on Friday July 22, 2022 @07:54AM (#62724274)

          Pedantry mode: ACTIVATED

          The official language of Ukraine is Ukranian [wikipedia.org]. Although many Ukranians do speak Russian as a second language due to it having been forced upon everyone during the Soviet times, its popularity and cachet has been in decline since the fall of the USSR. The Russian language is now at an all-time low for reasons you can well imagine related to the invasion and occupation.

          On the other hand, in areas controlled by Russia, Russian language becomes de-facto or officially only permissible language, as has happened in Donbas and Crimea since the 2014 invasion.

          • Although many Ukranians do speak Russian as a second language due to it having been forced upon everyone during the Soviet times, its popularity and cachet has been in decline since the fall of the USSR. The Russian language is now at an all-time low for reasons you can well imagine related to the invasion and occupation.

            From your own link: "The Russian language, however, still dominates the print media in most of Ukraine and private radio and TV broadcasting in the eastern, southern, and, to a lesser degree, central regions. The state-controlled broadcast media have become exclusively Ukrainian. There are few obstacles to the usage of Russian in commerce and it is still occasionally used in government affairs . . .

            On the other hand, in areas controlled by Russia, Russian language becomes de-facto or officially only permissible language, as has happened in Donbas and Crimea since the 2014 invasion.

            Also from your link: "On the other hand, when the question 'What language do you use in everyday life?' was a

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by mrex ( 25183 )

              The Wikipedia article statistics you site are largely outdated, coming from polls that predate the most recent invasion.

              https://www.newstatesman.com/w... [newstatesman.com]

              • By outdated, you are taking about languages spoken by a people. You have to present evidence that time has had a major impact on these numbers. After all, Ukraine sharing a border with Russia has not changed. The need for Ukranians to speak Russia for trade reasons would not have changed. The fact that print media is still in Russian defeats your argument. Also, you are aware that Russia invading Ukraine six months ago has very little effect on how many Ukranians today still speak Russian. Indeed, one of th

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Human fear what they cannot predict. It's why people often feel a bit scared of animals when they are not familiar with them, because they aren't able to predict their behaviour and imagine the worst possible outcomes.

    • Boston Dynamics develops some of the coolest tech on the planet. But there's two problems with them:

      - Of course, like most high-tech company in the US developing advanced technology that takes a long time and a lot of money to master, they're building military things. Of course... There's no money in non-morally-bankrupt causes in America. As such, they sit squarely in the middle of the US military-industrial complex, and they kind of disgust me as a result.

      Anyhow,

      - On top of that, for some reason, all the walking, rolling or hopping robots they make all end up looking either super-creepy at best and menacing at worst, even without any weaponry attached to them. I have NEVER seen a cute Boston Dynamics machine. I don't know how they manage that feat. But then, since they develop gear for the military and form follows function, it would make sense that none of their device elicits great love.

      If it wasn't for those two factors, I would be dying to apply for a job there (not that I would ever be considered, mind you :). But they manage to be the only super-cool company I would pay not to work for.

      Your "morally bankrupt causes" - aka, the US defense industry - is one of the the main reason's Kyiv doesn't today have a Russian flag flying over it. And for that matter, why London doesn't have a Nazi flag flying over it.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by HiThere ( 15173 )

        It's a difficult problem, and I don't have the answer. There's nothing intrinsically "morally bankrupt" about the military. It doesn't NEED to be used in a unethical fashion. But it often is. People who like power will use the tools available, and they see the military as a tool to be used. OTOH, if you can't defend yourself, someone else will take advantage of that. And if you won't defend your allies, someone else will take advantage of that.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by waspleg ( 316038 )

      they sit squarely in the middle of the US military-industrial complex

      Most likely, so does your 401K.

    • So if Russia decides to take Alaska back, what are you gonna do? Pee in your pants and post a morally corrupt message to Sloshdat?
    • Boston Dynamics is owned by Hyundai.

  • in soviet russia we dog you!

  • Labelled as owned by my next door neighbour. There is a high likelihood it will go rogue.
  • Is there a term for military weeb? There should be. Someone with enough money for a bunch of military equipment and yet loser enough to post some hilariously impractical backyard deathrap on twitter while going to great lengths pretending to be special forces. I bet they wear a fedora and a trenchcoat around in real life and a have a katana they bought at the mall.
    • My least favorite thing about the shooting community is going to the range when there is some asshole there cosplaying. The guys who show up with their nylon thigh holsters, practicing their quickdraw technique with a laser-sighted Glock they can't hit anything with at 7 yards. Everything packed in milsurp, incorrectly parroting whatever lingo they saw in action movies or read on message boards and just generally going out of their way to make sure everyone hears what an operator they think they are. It's g

  • The dog has a gun, and refuses to take his medication.

    https://acimg.auctivacommerce.... [auctivacommerce.com]

  • Still looks cute to me. As for the negative comments about the recoil, It actually seems to do amazingly well, I imagine the test wasn't for subsequent shot accuracy but how well the dog could recover from the affect of the recoil.

  • If there are going to be autonomous weapons, we need to make sure the good guys win the arms race, just like we did with the atomic bomb.

    That means Western powers and the United States need to get on this pronto.

    • https://www.engadget.com/robot-dog-gun-ghost-robotics-sword-international-175529912.html

      From last year, Ghost Robotics already has a military version. It would be interesting to know how accurate it is, and what its maximum range is. I feel like we're one generation of advancements in battery tech away from a very different battlefield. Obligatory proof that Matt Groening routinely predicts the future: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oazwTDeqF54

    • > make sure the good guys win the arms race, just like we did with the atomic bomb. That means Western powers and the United States

      Those aren't the same people.

      There are open-air slave markets now in Libya, the child starvation rate in Yemen is a humanitarian disaster, and Iraq never had WMD's. But two million innocents were murdered for profit, creating ISIS.

      The worldwide reputation is in the trash, squandered by the neolibs.

      So, what will happen instead is China will make a few hundred of these with lit

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by HiThere ( 15173 )

        First time I've heard Bush called a neo-lib.

        The US has been unethical since the start. It has always abused power to break treaties, etc. Ask any Native American. But this doesn't imply that any other country is any better. Britain was a bit worse than the US. Rome was a lot worse. Don't talk about the Nazi's or the Russians. The Chinese tend to be a better choice. They seem to tend to generally be honest, but they drive the hardest deal that they can, and then insist on it being honored, even if yo

        • The Chinese tend to be a better choice. They seem to tend to generally be honest,

          I have yet to see any evidence of that from any of the wide variety of news headlines I have seen over the last 20 years or how they have conducted business partnerships over the last 40.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by HiThere ( 15173 )

            You've got to compare them to the competition. Otherwise I'd agree with you. They're less trustworthy than a used auto dealer, and they're still better than anyone else WRT honesty.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by JustNiz ( 692889 )

      It's not self-evident to me that any government are "the good guys".

    • It shouldn't be long before we see Congressional legislation addressing the "bionic armed robotic killer dog,", aka BARKing DOG, gap.
  • Well, too many people.

  • The tweet said the quiet part out loud. It is pretty obvious that the military is funding these things. Where else are companies like Boston Dynamics getting the funding they need for development?

    Why send an easily injured meatsack to attack a fortified position, when you can send a small, agile, armored robot? Likely, various SWAT teams are on the customer list as well.

  • Janie's got a gun
    Janie's got a gun
    Her dog day's just begun
    Now everybody is on the run

  • Asking for a "friend."

  • Did anyone else have Bikini Girls With Machine Guns playing in their head while they were reading the article.

  • Whoever made it, the next step is to code up some control logic to counter muzzle climb when multiple rounds are fired.

    • Thanks for the suggestion but they don't need your help building a killer robot. They saw Robocop, Terminator, and Doctor Who.

  • How long until we have a Mecha-Hitler and all the other crazy mechanical shit from those games?

  • This would be a lot more effective if they'd mounted the gun sideways and close to the robot body. The mount they made is acting like a lever that torques the "dogs" body backwards. Still, I don't want this to exist. .

  • I don;t understand why the Russians want to send in expensive robots when they can just keep conscripting cheap meat sacks and cannon fodder.
    https://www.themoscowtimes.com... [themoscowtimes.com]

  • It's curious that this robot battle dog internet content is sourced from Russia. It was the Russians in WW2 who developed a program to use real dogs to deliver bombs to enemy tanks [wikipedia.org]. The Chinese robot seems like a modern reboot of their earlier idea.
  • What do you mean? It's adorable!
  • But machines are weak by nature. Brittle.

    Life finds a way, but the moment of a machine's maximum relevance is the instant it's introduced. It's all downhill for it from there.

  • This looks like something someone 3D Printed and installed on the robot in their backyard in the back-woods of Tennessee, someone who doesn't understand the physics of center-of-mass when it comes to resisting recoil.

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