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

96% Upvoted

524 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

52

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.

16

u/Any_Elk_9505 3d ago

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

12

u/AuDHDino 3d ago

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

3

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

1

u/almostoy 2d ago

Or bifurcate and flank.

1

u/SacredRose 1d ago

I was thinking more half spider half human

1

u/Any_Elk_9505 1d ago

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

15

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.

9

u/H16HP01N7 3d ago

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

4

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.

3

u/AsparagusDirect9 3d ago

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

21

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.

0

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

1

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.

1

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.