TechnoChitlins

Defense Tech has a post that brings on my second Woah today- bq. Today's soldiers carry as much as 100 pounds of equipment. That's exhausting, even for the toughest grunt. In the future, the Army wants to dump up to half that gear onto the back of a drone. But military scientists are worried that robots with wheels won't be able to follow their human masters across mountain passes, up stairs and through forest trails. bq. To make their way across that kind of terrain, the drones will need legs -- maybe even four of them. So the Army's Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, or TACOM, has just doled out $2.25 million to two robotics firms to prototype a big, mechanical dog capable of carrying ammunition, food and supplies into battle. And it gets better- bq. "We're coming full circle," said Paul Meunch, a TACOM research scientist. "In the days of George Washington, the Army used mules and horses. Then it moved on to trucks. And then armored vehicles and tanks. Now we could be swinging back to four legs." Woah. 21st century mules. Be sure to follow the link and also follow his link to the Wired article. As Neo said- 'Woah.' (3 in one post- a record!) Posted by maestro at January 7, 2004 07:27 PM | TrackBack