Remember Johnny 5 from Short Circuit? It was the automated laser-armed U.S. military robot that got struck by lightning and turned into a peace-loving hunk of metal with the help of a lady named Stephanie.
Call me crazy, but I don’t think there’s that much hope for GLADIATOR. It was tested today at Schofield Barracks, and it doesn’t look very receptive toward the idea of peace. The video I saw showed it armed with about eight machine-gun turrets. It made short work of the target.
According to the UGV/S JPO, GLADIATOR is “a tele-operated/semi-autonomous ground vehicle for remoting combat tasks…” (emphasis mine).
I really don’t like the words “semi-autonomous” in that description. I don’t relish the idea of an armored vehicle with guns being given the ability to think for itself. That’s a little too futuristic for me.
I’m not worried about the machines rebelling against humanity or anything else silly like that. I just hope this trigger-happy robot can spot terrorists better than these guys. (I’m sure they’re just doing their jobs, but it doesn’t make sense to search elderly women just to be politically correct – I think the TSA is profiling and doing searches of the elderly in a misguided attempt to keep the anti-profilers, like me, happy.)
I think I want GLADIATOR disassembled.
(Photo courtesy UGV/S JPO.)
Lemonade stands are about the most obvious place to conduct a feel-good business transaction I can think of. (Not to mention the poster child of capitalism and democracy in the United States.) Where else can you find a thirst quencher and also help a good cause for pennies on the dollar?
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