Robots and DARPA things to come

Opmmur

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BigDog robot maker shows off its latest galloping cyber-beasts
Devin Coldewey NBC News
Oct. 4, 2013 at 3:30 PM ET


The makers of the (in)famous "BigDog" four-legged robot have released a handful of videos showing off their latest creations. From BigDog's successor to the speedy "WildCat" to the eerie human analogue "Atlas," the robots are as impressive — and creepy — as ever.

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Boston Dynamics


First up from Boston Dynamics is the Legged Squad Support System, or LS3, as the latest in the BigDog line is called. The field testing video above shows the high-stepping robo-critter ascending and descending a steep slope while laden with packs, and then trudging through snow back in its native Boston.

Keeping all those parts working in both desert heat and wet, frozen conditions can't be an easy task, but the LS3, if it is ever deployed, will be expected to function regardless of weather — like the soldiers it serves.

Next is Atlas, the human analogue that walks on two feet and balances just like a person would. Watch it traverse some rubble here:

Not the most elegant gait, but it gets the job done. And its response to being struck by a 20-pound ball is almost scarily humanoid.

Lastly there is a new robot in the Boston Dynamics stable: the Wildcat. The video can speak for itself:


It appears to be a descendant of the Cheetah robot, which in controlled circumstances can hit 29 miles per hour, a record for legged robots. While the WildCat's loud gas engine makes it rather unsuitable for stealth missions, it could fill other roles on the battlefield and in civilian life.

As usual, the creepiness of Boston Dynamics' robots is matched (caused, in fact) only by the impressive engineering enabling such natural motion. Funding for these projects is provided by the Defense Department's research arm, DARPA.
 

TnWatchdog

Senior Member
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7,099
They will be chasing people in the near future with tasers...no escaping the robots just like the Terminator days. But it would be fun to put a saddle on the Wild Cat and go for a ride....hang on. One thing for certain with the Big Dog (which happens to be one of my dog's name) when it lifts his leg back off as it may be taking a leak or should I say leaking hydraulic oil.
 

Num7

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Pretty impressive to see the robot in the snow. That must be hard on the batteries though. It must be really cool to ride that robot!

The last one is kinda creepy.
 

Opmmur

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Pentagon’s DARPA reveals their most human-like robot yet
Published time: April 08, 2013 18:25
Edited time: April 10, 2013 15:30
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Screenshot from youtube video by BostonDynamics


The Pentagon’s army of space-age robot warriors is getting a lot more real.


The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has released video footage of a project that’s been long in the works and really starting to now take shape. The Protection Ensemble Test Mannequin — or “PETMAN,” for short — is the subject of the latest clip, and very well could be all it takes to scare off any insurgents once it’s ready for the battlefield.

PETMAN is a bipedal robot that has been displayed during previous tests as having the ability to climb stairs and even do pushups. In the latest video, though, the experimental project is showcased as being more lifelike than ever before.

Scientists at Boston Dynamics have released a video that shows PETMAN, clothed head-to-toe in full-on camouflage, jogging in place on a laboratory platform. But unlike earlier videos in which PETMAN appeared to be nothing more than a pile of wires enclosed in metal, the newest footage shows the science project at its all-time most humanness.


PETMAN isn’t being tasked with running like a human being for simply the sake of being creepy, though. Boston Dynamics have outfitted the robot in high-tech protective camo clothing that is designed to keep soldiers — real, cyborg or other — safe from hazardous chemicals.

“PETMAN has sensors embedded in its skin that detect any chemicals leaking through the suit. The skin also maintains a micro-climate inside the clothing by sweating and regulating temperature,” explains Boston Dynamics.

The robot, adds the scientists, can balance itself, move freely, walk and do a variety of suit-stressing calisthenics — all while being exposed to chemical warfare agents.

"Natural, agile movement is essential for PETMAN to simulate how a soldier stresses protective clothing under realistic conditions,” adds Boston Dynamics. “The robot will have the shape and size of a standard human, making it the first anthropomorphic robot that moves dynamically like a real person."

And yeah, PETMAN can walk the walk — but he doesn’t stop there either. Scientists have programed the robot to “simulate human physiology,” so that when being exposed to chemical agents, researchers can send signals to the robot that forces it to mimic human sweating and switch its body temperature like a real-life soldier might do while on the field.

So with PETMAN being able to do all of that and then some, what does DARPA have planned next? That’s likely top-secret, but critics of the US Defense Department’s science lab say projects like this will lend themselves to changing the face of war from a human one to a robotic one.

"It's going to be used for chasing people across the desert, I would imagine. I can't think of many civilian applications - maybe for hunting, or farming, for rounding up sheep,” Noel Sharkey, professor of artificial intelligence and robotics at the University of Sheffield, told the BBC previously in regards to DARPA’s robot creations.

"But of course if it's used for combat, it would be killing civilians as well as it's not going to be able to discriminate between civilians and soldiers,” he said.
 

Opmmur

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Pentagon’s DARPA preparing to equip robots with ‘real’ brains
Published time: April 12, 2013 18:52

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A robotics fan wears a button on his hat at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge in Primm Nevada. (Reuters / Gene Blevins)

Information Technology, Military, SciTech, Science, USA

Is the Pentagon trying to freaks us all out, or do they just want to give zombies something to eat? The Department of Defense is reportedly almost finished building robots with “real” brains.


That’s according to National Defense Magazine, which this week profiled the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) lab and a little known project that has sucked down millions of dollars during the last few years: millions of dollars spent trying to replicate the human brain.

National Defense Magazine’s Sandra Erwin explores the “physical intelligence” program this week, a research and development initiative launched back in 2009 in order to “to understand intelligence as a physical phenomenon and to make the first demonstration of the principle in electronic and chemical systems,” according to the Defense Department’s original solicitation.

Erwin says that four years later, a team of scientists led by University of California, Los Angeles Chemistry Professor James K. Gimzewski is just “inches away from the finish line” in terms of reaching their goal.

Gimzewski and crew have constructed a tiny machine, Erwin writes, that allows robots to attack independently. How independently? It won’t rely on convention computer code used to program cyborgs and robots like the kind found in Hollywood sci-fi flicks, but instead use microscopic wires to emulate the electrical and chemical pulses sent from cell to cell within the human brain.

“Rather than move information from memory to processor, like conventional computers, this device processes information in a totally new way,” says the scientist

Erwin continues:

“What sets this new device apart from any others is that it has nano-scale interconnected wires that perform billions of connections like a human brain, and is capable of remembering information, Gimzewski said. Each connection is a synthetic synapse. A synapse is what allows a neuron to pass an electric or chemical signal to another cell. Because its structure is so complex, most artificial intelligence projects so far have been unable to replicate it.”

According to DARPA, “The objective of the implementation domain is to demonstrate the first human-engineered open thermodynamic systems that spontaneously evolve nontrivial ‘intelligent’ behavior under thermodynamic pressure from their environment.”

“The objective of the analysis domain is to develop analytical tools to support the development of human-engineered physically intelligent systems and to understand physical intelligence in the natural world,” the agency writes.

On the website for UCLA’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department, the goal of the “physical intelligence program” is described a bit more succinctly. “The project will not only lead to fundamental understanding about various physical and biological self-organization systems and origin of intelligence, but also practical applications such as the creation of next generation of electronic circuits with intelligent behaviors, and dynamic interactions/control of biological systems,” says UCLA’s Yong Chen.

Dr. Gimzewski tells National Defense Magazine that a team of scientists have made great strides in the multi-million dollar project, even if it’s the most ambitious one he’s seen yet. But what happens when it’s finally complete?

“It is not clear, however, that the Pentagon is ready to adopt this technology for weapon systems,” writes Erwin, citing a Defense Department policy statement from last year that limits the Pentagon’s power to make autonomous robots.

Meanwhile, though, other DARPA operations like the PETMAN project reported by RT earlier this week suggest it’s only a matter of time before the military has some form or another of weaponized robot warriors.



 

Opmmur

Time Travel Professor
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DARPA’s big eye: 1.8-gigapixel camera for air surveillance unveiled
Published time: January 29, 2013 18:26
Edited time: January 29, 2013 22:27

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Image by BAE Systems

DARPA has revealed the ARGUS-IS its mega digital camera – with a 1.8-gigapixel resolution. The camera is expected to take clear images of objects as small as 15 centimeters from an altitude of six kilometers.

DARPA has revealed the ARGUS-IS its mega digital camera – with a 1.8-gigapixel resolution. The camera is expected to take clear images of objects as small as 15 centimeters from an altitude of six kilometers.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is an agency of the US Department of Defense, has finally revealed details of their next-generation eye in the sky – the ARGUS-IS. The super high-resolution photo system is expected to be attached to drones and used for precision guided air surveillance.

The so called “Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance – Imaging System” (ARGUS-IS) is described as one of the highest-resolution surveillance systems in the world.

One gigapixel is equal to 1,000 megapixels. For comparison: Modern professional digital cameras have a resolution of about 20 megapixels.

One petabyte is equal to 1,000 terabytes. One terabyte is equal to 1,000 gigabytes

It uses four lenses with stabilizers and 368 photo matrixes, five megapixels each. The system allows a high-res picture to be taken of objects as small as 15 centimeters across from an altitude of up to six kilometers. The system is also able to view approximately 25 square kilometers of terrain at a time and track moving objects with up to 65 simultaneous windows.

With such capabilities, experts believe that six drones equipped with the camera would make it possible for the US to keep an eye on the entirety of Washington DC, while – for the sake of comparison – four such cameras would provide a complete surveillance of Paris.

At speed of 12 images per second the ARGUS-IS creates 600 gigabytes of data. During one day of operation the system would collect about six petabytes of information. As a drone cannot carry enough equipment to process such data torrents, the images would most likely be sent to two processing subsystems: one in the air and the other located on the ground.

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ARGUS-IS sensor (Image by BAE Systems)

However, it would be functionally impossible to send all of ARGUS’ data to the ground. That’s where DARPA’s persistics system comes in; this records information according to points of interest. Only essential information is sent to the control room on the ground for storage and later review. The technology weblog ExtremeTech says to make this happen DARPA will need a wireless device able to transmit 100Gb of data per second.

The ARGUS-IS first came to public attention about three years ago. Speculation became fact at the beginning of this year in a documentary showing video footage of the imaging system in action, although the camera itself remained shrouded in mystery for security reasons.

The footage revealed that the high-resolution camera can spot details like a bird flying around a building and the color of a person’s clothes. But it’s not able to reveal facial features. Still, experts say that drones could be sent at a lower altitude to create the right angle to record someone’s face.

What was not revealed by the documentary was the future implementations of the ARGUS-IS – or if it’s already been used by the US military.

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Image by BAE Systems

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Image by BAE Systems

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Image by BAE Systems
 

Opmmur

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US Army Robots Will Outnumber Human Soldiers in a Decade
Seeded by Tony in Arizona View Original Article: TechBeat
Seeded on Mon Nov 25, 2013 3:34 PM

Gun-toting robots: HDT Robotics live fire demonstration - YouTube

A lot can happen in 10 years, especially with the ever-increasing advances in technology. When you think about what might happen in the military in the next decade, the possibilities seem endless. With so much technology at our hands, will humans eventually become second class to machines? Long have robotic soldiers been prevalent in Hollywood, with movies such as Terminator and I-Robot, but some experts think a surplus of robots might actually be enlisting into the armed forces by 2023. Just how many robots? Well, quite a few.

Scott Hartley, one of the founders of 5D Robotics, recently had this to say at an Army demonstration at Fort Benning in Georgia: …”ten years from now, there will probably be one soldier for every 10 robots. Each soldier could have one or five robots flanking him, looking for enemies, scanning for land mines.”
 

Opmmur

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US Army robots will outnumber human soldiers 10 to 1 by 2023

Talking at a US Army demonstration of autonomous weaponized robots at Fort Benning, Georgia, experts said that "ten years from now, there will probably be one soldier for every 10 robots. Each soldier could have one or five robots flanking him, looking for enemies, scanning for land mines."

Those are the words of Scott Hartley, co-founder of 5D Robotics, who demonstrated his companies' machines along with Northrop Grumman, QinetiQ, HDT Robotics and other robotics corporations catering to the US military. Harley also added that "robots can save lives." And indeed they can, helping soldiers survive in a hostile environment and making their lives easier. But, obviously, they are also making them to kill.

According to the organizers, the main core of the event were the live fire demonstrations:

The Armed UGV Live Fire Demonstration will provide selected technologies an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to remotely fire a M240 accurately at stationary targets. These are highly anticipated demonstrations which will draw significant interest from Soldiers and within the U.S. Army Research communities.

The systems that participated in the demo were both autonomous and remote controlled. The robots had to demonstrate their ability to accurately fire the M240 machine gun (pictured below) at targets 800 meters away.

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Other demonstrations included firing weapons like the M2 Browning 0.50cal machine gun, the MK19 grenade launcher or the FGM-148 Javelin, a "man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank missile."

We are not anywhere near having Terminators with artificial intelligence now. The initial implementations are mostly human-dependent, but we are certainly going in that direction. Talking to ComputerWorld, Lt. Col. Willie Smith—chief of Unmanned Ground Vehicles at Fort Benning—said that "robots allow [soldiers] to be more lethal and engaged in their surroundings. I think there's more work to be done but I'm expecting we'll get there."

It's true that military robots—both weaponized or support units—will protect soldiers. But they will also make war even more horrible by taking away the human life loss component. If we can send platoons made of robots to war, people will not fear death in wars. There will be no dead bodies getting home in flag-covered coffins. Like aerial drones, this will inevitably trivialize wars.

I'm all for robotic research, but this is certainly a field I'm not enthusiastic about.

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Opmmur

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Are We Ready To Accept Cyborgs In Our Society
11 January, 2014

The time belonging to cyborgs is approaching fast. Soon intelligent robots will be present in our society and we will have no other option than getting used to it.

It is a scary thought and many people are concerned. Will the machines take over or will we find a way to co-exist?

They are known from science fiction novels and films -- technically modified organisms with extraordinary skills, so-called cyborgs.

This name originates from the English term "cybernetic organism."

Cyborg technology is making rapid progresses. There are a number of reasons why scientists and companies think it can be a good idea to use cyborgs. Medical implants, complex interfaces between brain and machine or remotely controlled insects are just a few examples that give us an idea how to use cyborgs.

We can also add to the list space exploration and ask ourselves if ET machines, cyborgs or humans can explore space best.

Recent developments combining machines and organisms have great potentials, but also give rise to major ethical concerns.

The KIT researchers Professor Christof M. Niemeyer and Dr. Stefan Giselbrecht of the Institute for Biological Interfaces 1 (IBG 1) and Dr. Bastian E. Rapp, Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT), point out that cyborgs that combine technical systems with living organisms are already reality.

Developing a super-tuning machine that can imitate the human brain has been a scientific goal for a long time.

In recent years, medical implants based on smart materials that automatically react to changing conditions, computer-supported design and fabrication based on magnetic resonance tomography datasets or surface modifications for improved tissue integration allowed major progress to be achieved.

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Currently, bioelectronic developments are being combined with robotics systems to design highly complex neuroprostheses. Scientists are working on brain-machine interfaces (BMI) for the direct physical contacting of the brain. BMI are used among others to control prostheses and complex movements, such as gripping.

BMI are often considered data suppliers. However, they can also be used to feed signals into the brain, which is a highly controversial issue from the ethical point of view. "Implanted BMI that feed signals into nerves, muscles or directly into the brain are already used on a routine basis, e.g. in cardiac pacemakers or implants for deep brain stimulation," Professor Christof M. Niemeyer, KIT, explains.

"But these signals are neither planned to be used nor suited to control the entire organism -- brains of most living organisms are far too complex."

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Credit: KIT/S. Giselbrecht, R. Meyer, B. Rapp

Presently, scientists are working on methods to use the patient body's own thermal, kinetic, electric or chemical energy. In their review the KIT researchers sum up that developments combining technical devices with organisms have a fascinating potential. They may considerably improve the quality of life of many people in the medical sector in particular. However, ethical and social aspects always have to be taken into account.

Communication between man and machine is a fascinating area at the interface of chemistry, biomedicine, and engineering, but where do we draw the line for how far we want to go in our attempt to unite humanity with machines?
 

Ayasano

Member
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As a transhumanist, the next few decades are looking to be a very exciting time. I wouldn't worry too much about the whole machines vs. humans thing though. One of the areas getting the most focus among civillian researchers is how to make sure that when the first superintelligences emerge, they'll be what's known as "friendly AI". (Military research is another thing entirely, but their focus is not on superintelligences, and you can't create one of those by accident, so the scope of harm is relatively small) Another is making sure we can keep up with said superintelligences when the time comes.

A couple of good websites to look at for information on AI/robotics research are MIRI and LessWrong. And don't forget Motherboard for the occasional news piece. LessWrong isn't just about AI, it's mostly about promoting rationality. I wish more people would take the information there to heart, because we'd have a lot less problems if they did.

I've also been reading a very interesting book recently, "The Singularity is Near" by Ray Kurzweil. With the advent of the quatum computer, I'd probably peg the Singularity as being much closer than people assume, even him. Maybe another 20 or 30 years? We have all the hardware we need now, it's just a software problem, and even that is remarkably close to being solved, just look at SPAUN. (And keep in mind this thing is 2 years old and runs on conventional computers!)
 

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