Shoot to Kill: Autonomous Robots Developed By DARPA Will Not Question Orders

[Camilo]

Shoot to Kill: Autonomous Robots Developed By DARPA Will Not Question Orders

Susanne Posel
Occupy Corporatism
September 4th, 2012


The Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) Autonomous Robotic Manipulation (ARM) program seeks to find ways to utilize different remote robotic manipulation systems that are controlled by humans. This program is divided into 3 aspects:

• Hardware: to design dexterous multi-fingered robotic hands
• Software: develop complex algorithms for grasping, manipulation and sensory perception
• Outreach: beta-testing robotics in public forums to further study robotic autonomy

In 2010, DARPA revealed a robot at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Conference in Denver that was interactive in a public forum. Participants would write software and have the robot preform specified tasks. The goal of this event was to show that robots were being developed by the US government to preform “dangerous tasks” such as disarming an explosive device thereby reducing “significant human interaction”.

Universities and other government-controlled agencies such as Carnegie Mellon University, HRL Laboratories, iRobot, NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory, SRI, and the University of Southern California, provided teams of researchers to write software for DARPA.

Boston Dynamics, Inc., has been awarded a $10.9 million contract to manufacture humanoid robots that are bi-pedal, built like humans and have a sensor head with on-board computing capabilities.

These robots are being created to assist in excavation and rescue missions, according to DARPA.They could also be employed to evacuation operations during either man-made or natural disasters.

This week, the Project Offices for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), Apache Attack Helicopter and Armed Scout Helicopter revealed the Manned Unmanned System Integration Capability (MUSIC) at Michael Army Airfield, Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. During the exercise, MUSIC showed that the US Army could use drones armed with lethal weapons that were wired for precise communication with their operator.

The RQ-7 Shadow is another enhanced drone with weapons capabilities. As the US Army endeavors to combine ground forces with drone technology, their tactical operation’s success is multiplied.

The use of government-sponsored universities such as Cornell, MIT and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands has created prototypes for bi-pedal robots that will someday be thesynthetic army or police force.

Stanford University’s Aerospace Robotics Laboratory (ARL) wants to introduce autonomous robots into law enforcement situations; such as response in lieu of police SWAT teams.

Drones for law enforcement are being developed with the creation of the Talon SWAT/MP that can be configured with a multitude of weaponry. Some include a multi-shot TASER, LRAD, 40mm grenade launcher, and a 12-gage shotgun.

An earlier version of Talon, developed for the Israeli Defense Forces and the Israeli Ministry of Defense’s Directorate of Defense, was of the VIPeR series that were equipped with a 9 mm mini-Uzi with scope and pointer, or grenade launcher.

In 2006, Los Angeles began using aerial drones to spy over citizens under the guise of tracking suspects. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) subsequently ended that program. The police force retaliated citing that “there is an immediate need by state and local public safety personnel for unmanned aerial systems.”

The Naval Research Laboratory has developed SAFFiR, the Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot. SAFFiR is an autonomous bipedal humanoid robot, based on the CHARLI-L1 robot created at Virginia Tech. This robot can interact with humans with a comprehensive response system that utilizes language – including slang to make it more familiar. A robot that can hold a conversation and fight fires is quite impressive.

In 2009, with funding from the Pentagon, DARPA created the Multifunction Utility/Logistics and Equipment (MULE) which was a size of a Humvee. This robot car used sensors to drive autonomously and calculate its target, await remote instructions or decide to fire.

MULE’s potential has been in the works for the last 3 years. Its advancement and use as a battlefield vehicle is being tested and readied for deployment. The remote controls mirror those of a gaming console which gives the operator the ease of playing a “video game” while at the same time instructing a deadly piece of equipment on targeted missions.

Unmanned ground vehicles have been in use since Iraq and Afghanistan. They are armed for combat with the same capabilities as ground troops. MULE’s development as an autonomous weapon for the purpose of allowing a robot to decide on whether or not to carry out a mission is advantageous to the US military.

A force of robotic “peacekeepers” that are programed to become violent without remorse – will enable the government to organize and act where human law enforcement and/or trained soldiers may hesitate.

Delivered by The Daily Sheeple

[Mulder]

It's much worse than we can think. They have automated ships that can pull up to a country, trucks with terminators roll off and kill everyone. - Another serving of fear porn.

[bluestflame]

"In 2006, Los Angeles began using aerial drones to spy over citizens under the guise of tracking suspects. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) subsequently ended that program. The police force retaliated citing that “there is an immediate need by state and local public safety personnel for unmanned aerial systems.”

i get the impression it's more about "drone movies" shown back at the station , the "surveilance" footage that doesn't quite get catalogued but eventually ends up on you tube

yet another "b" grade hollywood production ?

(yes the highlighted text is in blue to denote the flavour of the "movies" )

[eileenrose]

I doubt it will be that long before the robots replace soldiers. They never tire, don't need to eat and can't be killed (unless something detonates near them....but then they just get replaced).

I doubt they will look like the versions put out in the movies. And I doubt they will be AI (real AI people...again....like in the commercials...oops, excuse me ...like on television).

Probably (my guess here), more like catepillars or something that can utilize the various angles (up, down, sideways) and stay stable on the ground. They don't have to get big (but can). Probably will be coming out next year is my guess. At first they might be used by remote control (like drones). Eventually though...you can just command it to kill anything in a certain area and they will. So won't need a human element or mind deciding who lives and who doesn't. Just need people to design them (once) and then you don't actually need human's involved in production (all done by automation already...except I guess circuit boards....or whatever they need those chinese students (former) in Ipad factories in China for....maybe it is cheaper to use slave labor than machines.....for the consumer market).

...just thoughts

....

[bluestflame]

supported by this ?...
"TweetPrototype robotic “pack mule” stands up, lies down and follows leader carrying 400 lbs. of squad’s gear (Vhttp://go.usa.gov/Qg3mtPn7G@DARPA_News DARPA

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=xY42w1w0TWk

or...
http://www.theverge.com/culture/2011...in-q-tel-drone

"Robots at war: the ethics of military drones, cyborgs, and nanobots"

"Plenty of people have debated the value of using drones in war for surveillance and targeted strikes, but most of the discussion has only scratched the surface when it comes to some deeper ethical questions. The CIA's technology venture-capital arm, In-Q-Tel, recently asked philosopher Patrick Lin to elaborate on these issues, and his briefing is now available at The Atlantic. In it, Lin delves into how robots could change the face of warfare, whether by performing dispassionate interrogations or impersonating insects to gather information.

With every new technology, however, comes a practical or moral conundrum. Could a sufficiently intelligent robot refuse an order if it possessed better situational information that its human operator? Would enemies be prohibited from torturing soldiers who had been cybernetically enhanced to resist interrogation? Could military nanobots pose an unacceptable risk to civilians who accidentally inhaled them? Even if you're familiar with the tech the article describes — or the Three Laws of Robotics — it's a fascinating look at the intersection between technology and morality."

[eileenrose]

My feeling is that everything has already been invented....just hanging on a hook somewhere. They (TPTB....or even above them) don't put them out to the general market till they feel we can run them for them (so they are actually just waiting for us to be ready to do 'robot' control/programming all day). It would explain why they decided to get rid of the human surface population. Are not needed....I mean they got plenty of foot soldiers who can run drones now.

Which leads me to feel that the reason we remote view awful things (I do anyway) is that these people who actually run things (on earth) are just left over half cyborg (machine parts) half intelligence (some sort of memory system). Would explain why they are way beyond evil. Like there arn't words to describe them (they are in fact alien to us). I mean humans have been on this planet and intelligent for long enough to have invented everything...perhaps eons or even bigger spans of time ago. So maybe we are in fact being told what to do by over the hill humans hooked up to intelligent like robots. Just saying.......

[Davidallany]

I just heared from a reliable source that the clocking technology is here, and the US has been utilizing it in Iraq and Afghanstan.

[jackovesk]

post removed by me...