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Aye Robot
The first of 15 driverless robots began trundling across the Mojave Desert on Saturday in an unprecedented race for $1 million in government-funded prize money. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is sponsoring the Grand Challenge to foster development of autonomous vehicles that could be used in combat. Defense officials foresee using the driverless, remote control-free robots to ferry supplies in war zones.Is it just me or does anyone else get that queasy sinking feeling when "autonomous vehicles" and "combat" are used in the same sentence? First out of the gate was Carnegie Mellon Universityâs converted Humvee, which took off at a fast clip only to break down about 45 minutes into the race. "Thatâs not good. I assume thatâs the end of it," said Carnegie Mellon President Jared Cohon. Meanwhile on The Western Front, "I hope chow shows up soon..." Virginia Techâs converted golf cart failed within 100 yards of the starting line when its brakes seized up. Thatâs ok, Private Simpson will fix it...wait Private Simpson is a robot and she doesnât do brakes. If no one finishes, the agency will host another contest, probably in 2006. Whaddyasay Ranters, we can start building today. I hereby donate an old set of Goodyearâs to the cause. Hmmm, we can use hot air to power it. I wonder where we can find some of that... Posted by: Zpaz 2004-03-13 |
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