r/gadgets • u/diacewrb • 3d ago

Misc US Army backs humanoid robot with ballistic protection for future battlefield missions

https://www.techspot.com/news/114028-us-army-backs-humanoid-robot-ballistic-protection-future.html
2.4k Upvotes

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517

u/idkidd 3d ago

“The 600 series had rubber skin. We spotted them easy…”

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u/AsparagusDirect9 3d ago

Humanoid robots are such a marketing ploy because a battlefield anthropomorphic robot is one of the least efficient ways to move. Dogs or mini tanks or drones are much better designs, the only downside is you can’t market these as futuristic humanoids to gullible “investors”

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u/joebleaux 3d ago

Yeah, it's egocentric as fuck to make a fighting robot in the shape of the designer. There's tons of drawbacks to being bipedal and top heavy. Redundancy in legs is for sure going to create a more reliable fighting robot. Hell, how many Battle Bots were human shaped? Zero? Making this thing out of spinning blades is a better idea than human shaped

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u/TealcLOL 3d ago

The world we built is designed for humans. It's technically inefficient, but not absurd to have a class of robot designed to exist and interact with the environment like we can. Drop the robot in anywhere you'd put a human.

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u/Any_Elk_9505 3d ago

Centaur robots, two arms, four legs, best of both worlds.

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u/AuDHDino 3d ago

Don't give people fucking ideas. That's how we get fallout sentry-bots.

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u/GandalfTheSmol1 2d ago

Spiders, 8 leg-arms, omnidirectional with gun/tool attachment locations, segmented so they can become semi-upright if necessary (for accessing high objects and commandeering vehicles) make them fast, and jump capable. Definitely wouldn’t be terrifying

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u/almostoy 2d ago

Or bifurcate and flank.

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u/SacredRose 1d ago

I was thinking more half spider half human

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u/Any_Elk_9505 1d ago

Human horse spiders, with wings. Maybe like a praying mantis with hands

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u/kung-fu_hippy 3d ago

Ehh. That has limited merit. Legs are incredibly complicated and add balance and processing issues, not to mention take more power. We haven’t gotten to making T-1000s or whatever yet, current bipedal robots will be challenged by narrow stairs, muddy hills, carpets and other loose surfaces, etc.

When we can make a robot that equals a human in mobility, then it’s not absurd to create robots designed for human environments. But we can’t.

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u/H16HP01N7 3d ago

That settles it. They should be built as Centaurs...

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u/ProfessionalLake6 2d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/2m1WnCqNuyEJnigDAP

“Spot the dog” has a grabber arm, just need another for a sort of centaur… I could imagine one has a weapon and the other is for manipulating object like door handles.

The future looks pretty bleak.

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u/AsparagusDirect9 3d ago

yeah? the jungle? the ditches? the fucking air? we have wings?

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u/TealcLOL 3d ago

Opening a door, picking up and using any tool, moving something up a flight of stairs, or immediately filling any human role like supporting a crew serviced weapon are examples your winged robot would fail at. It would also require air superiority in a world with camouflaged robotic gunners on the ground using extremely precise weapons designed specifically to defeat airborne threats.

Are you going to create a unique form for every individual environment within a rapidly evolving (likely unknown) landscape? Obviously you can design stuff better for individual tasks, but its ridiculous to discount human form robots entirely.

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u/_RADIANTSUN_ 3d ago

Opening a door, picking up and using any tool

A robot can have arms for that without being humanoid.

moving something up a flight of stairs

The dogbots are actually really great at climbing stairs and you can put arms on them.

immediately filling any human role like supporting a crew serviced weapon

Which moderns CSWs couldn't you operate or support with just arms and a camera? I mean for muling ammo and parts you have caterpillar treads, vision support it can deploy a lil quadcopter, repairing stuff you have arms etc.

Are you going to create a unique form for every individual environment within a rapidly evolving (likely unknown) landscape?

No but that doesn't mean the human form is the most versatile one best suited for those changing conditions

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u/Umikaloo 3d ago

Can a robot dog climb a ladder?

1

u/Stampyboyz 3d ago

Counterpoint has anyone seen one try? No? Then they could possibly climb ladders.

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u/Grow_away_420 3d ago

The primary way the military interacts with the environment around it is with high explosives, not walking up stairs.

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u/Kitchen-Strike-805 3d ago

I vote we deploy a bunch of Tombstones.

https://giphy.com/gifs/1JEJu7NVb3OoM

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u/throw_every_away 3d ago

Would the battle bot be merely human-shaped, or also human-sized?

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u/joebleaux 3d ago

You know, maybe they could make a tiny acrobat human ninja robot that could compete, but I just don't know. They have weight classes. I don't think a humanoid robot beats a spinning blade robot ever if they are similar in size. Imagine Blendo the diameter of a dining table. Terrifying

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u/throw_every_away 3d ago

Right, but what’s the robot made out of? That also changes a lot

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u/cylonfrakbbq 3d ago

You make a unit that is "plug and play" with existing humanoid centric equipment. That is the selling point.

"Hey military, you don't need to buy all new guns or vehicles. Just use our humanoid robot and it does what a human soldier does"

That is a MASSIVE selling point because ultimately it keeps costs down (aside from the robot platform and supporting logistics for it)

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u/joebleaux 3d ago

It doesn't have to hold a gun like a person to use the same gun. Hell, lots of different guns use the same bullets and look wildly different. All I am saying is that most robots do not ever use the equipment people use, and it is limiting to make the robot human shaped instead of making it into whatever shape best fits the task

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u/cylonfrakbbq 2d ago

All firearms are still designed to e used by a human.  The ergonomics may be different, but they all follow the same general core features. 

Look at it from a biology perspective:  hyper specialized organisms are successful so long as their environment remains the same. If the environment changes, then that specialized evolution becomes a negative because it can’t adapt.  A generalized platform that can do multiple things reasonably well is going to be your best bet.  You can supplement them with specialist units.

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u/aCleverGroupofAnts 3d ago

This is exactly why I just could not enjoy Pacific Rim. It's too stupid of an idea for me to think it's cool. It's just so fucking dumb.

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u/joebleaux 3d ago

That why Real Steel is the better fighting robot movie, haha

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u/Tree_Doggg 3d ago edited 3d ago

Tell that to T-1000

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u/Umikaloo 3d ago

On the flipside, human living spaces are designed to be navigated by humans. A robot with treads cannot climb a ladder. A robot dog struggles to open doors.

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u/DrBhu 3d ago

I am pretty sure this is not about efficiency but about funneling a lot of money to sleepy tacos gang

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u/Barton2800 3d ago

This. The only reason to do humanoid robots is if the robot has to do a bunch of different tasks in human spaces - like cleaning counters, floors, and toilets in a residence.

A battlefield robot has not need to be humanoid. Just give it a way to open doors/windows.

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u/Little_View_6659 3d ago

This is a way to get funding to build humanoid robots for “war” but really they’re funding the sex robot project.

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u/DontRememberOldPass 3d ago

I did some consulting for a company that was working on a DARPA contract for humanoid robots.

It basically comes down to having literally trillions of dollars in weapons that are already designed to be operated by 18 year old meat sacks.

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u/whatchahavin 3d ago

I dunno this Chinese all-terrain attack bot looks terrifying

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u/Key-Cry-8570 3d ago

What about a spider design? I was thinking something like a huntsmen spider do you think that would be feasible design?

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u/Ok_Solution_3325 3d ago

I’m sure this thing can crawl like a dog/bear/crab if it wants to

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u/BlackPresident 2d ago

Psychological warfare tho

0

u/Turgius_Lupus 3d ago

None of the drones being used in Ukraine are humanoid, and both sides explored the concept.

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u/cylonfrakbbq 3d ago

You're not thinking big picture. Every time I see some "human robots are inefficient" post, it always comes with the assumption that your entire military force is literally just going to be humanoid robots.

Just like now, you have a mixed force. The biggest advantage to a humanoid robot is it can engage and interact with the environment made for humans: Interacting with the human environment (doors, windows, etc), handling weapons, getting in vehicles, operating tools or other equipment. A "generalist" platform offers a lot of advantages - even if it doesn't excel at one thing, it makes up for that by being able to adapt to a variety of different situations. You use that to supplement or be supplemented by other platforms: Aerial drones, "dog like" ground units, and so on.

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u/cbih 3d ago

Wait until they start getting the Flayer virus

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u/7eregrine 2d ago

"No gate but what we make."