Late last week senior Army officials looked on as robots live-fired guns in a demonstration of the future of robotic infantry.
With companies like Northrop Grumman, iRobot and Lockhead Martin attempting to impress the military brass with their warrior robots another company, HDT Robotics, showed off a system that’s both fierce and apparently ready for action.
Based upon its Protector line of robots, HDT’s demonstrator comes with a 32HP turbo diesel engine. The robot’s turbocharger not only gives the Protector a boost in speed but it also allows it to power a number of accessories including a mine roller, manipulator arms a satellite communication panel and a machine gun.
During its test HDT’s robot successfully fired a M240 machine gun at targets some 500 feet away. At the time of this writing no stats could confirm whether HDT’s bot was a novice or deadeye marksman.
While none of the robots at the demonstration are autonomous, bipedal terminators capable of completely replacing soldiers their descendants will likely find a role guarding sensitive areas and possibly providing backup for vanguard operations.
Source: ComputerWorld
Images Courtesy of Sharon Gaudin