These robots are impressive - should we be afraid?

[rollatorwieltje]

How soon will we go from

(skip to 5:32)

to

Not very soon I suspect.

https://twitter.com/bilalfarooqui/status/887025375754166272/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

[CopperCone]

The better question is when are we going to get EMP rifles like in system shock 2.

We need a way to make great magnetic fields... Or crazy thermal weapons.. Work on really good batteries please...

Something like a one shot super plasma cutter would work in close quarters, if you could get a 15 foot wide plasma stream from it

I imagine if its mobile enough it could be used to hunt down hidden shooters in urban areas. In most cases i would think finding a target with a drone and then blowing up the room he is in with a rocket would be cheaper and easier to implement. I have seen soldiers on youtube using drones tactically, for instance i saw a marine squad fighting a shooter behind a fense, and the drone operator basically told him where to aim his grenade throw without risking exposure.

It can also carry heavier weapons then a drone and be designed to creep up on an enemy position and be sent in for close quarter combat during something like a rolling barrage artillery attack... If moderate armor is used it can follow artillery very close and be used to storm trenches in all the dust kicked up by explosions... Possibly gaining entry to a positon covered by a significant air defense grid where attack helicopters have trouble getting in range. Its hard to imagine this situation occuring with the heavy emphasis modern militaries place on air power however

[phliar]

I hope it didn't take these robots to make you think that technology might be harmful to humans or society.

Technology has always had the potential to be dangerous, and there are many cases where millions have been killed using technology. It is up to us, as a society, to not use tech for evil purposes. And it is up to us, the technologists, to think of these issues while we're developing the tech, so we can provide useful expert opinion to our society.

This is why technical/scientific education must have a strong ethics component. (But I have never heard of ethics training for tech people. Sigh....)

[mtdoc]

The history of war making and technology shows that with each introduction of new technology which allows further distance between humans, more indiscriminate killing occurs.  From swords and spears to rifles to artillery to long range artillery to rockets to planes dropping bombs to long range missiles to drones, etc,etc.  Patrolling, policing and ultimately killing robots would just be another step along that path.  Much easier to kill "civilians" when you don't have to look them in the eye.

The better crowd control is to control the media. Let the North Koreans to do the assassin shit.
Chinese government, if they want to fuck anyone, they can simply make news and distribute it everywhere to make anyone anti citizen one and let that individual being bitched by everyone, including his/her own family members.

Currently happening in the USA and other western "democracies" as well.  Perhaps just not as obvious to the masses as it is in China.

The thing with these robot dogs, etc - is that once they are employed by police and the military, they will be able to be used for house to house searches to root out any suspected "terrorists" or other "subversives".  That's a job no human wants to do - too dangerous and humans are too likely to be distracted by the crying children or screaming spouse.

Who knows what algorithms might be employed:   "Detection: high tech electronic equipment. Directive: apprehend suspect by any means necessary"   

[CopperCone]

I can imagine that a heavily prepared position could be easier taken witthout heavy support using drone dogs though, i saw a battle on youtube in the early stages of the iraq war where there was a sniper in a rather long building. If the walls between rooms with windows were demolished and the interior of the building was prepared with nettingand mesh, a relocating sniper would be difficult to kill. I believe in the video i saw the resistance was so heavy that the soldiers shot a few rockets at it and then had to wait for a abrams tank to show up and basically level the front of the building. This took a long while and heavy equipment. I could imagine that some of these robotic dogs could be carried by a humvee or jeep and be used to allow enough commotion inside of the structure to allow a light mobile force to make a more rapid advancement into the area without relying on something logistics heavy like a main battle tank. Also the strucure might not have to be as leveled, allowing civilians to take refuge there later.

They could also perform a breach attack using a demolition charge to breach the strucuture then still be able to manuver through the rubble unlike a tracked or wheeled drone. Especially if there is battle damage already present. I can imagine absolute destruction if a heavy caliber machine gun was mounted on it

Even one of those big gasoline power loud ones could be used to make a temporary cover or be used to funnel the enemy into a kill zone.. Being armored and manuverable and capable of shooting right through most battlefield obstructions would probobly be pretty lethal.

Dident ray bradburys fahrenheit 451 have a robodog in it?

[VK3DRB]

There is Land of Fools somewhere, that has a foolish president representing a foolish population. Shoot-to-kill robots are their least problem. Their biggest danger is themselves. Being fools in the Land of Fools, they ask the same questions over and over, "Why?"

[mtdoc]

The guy with the hockey stick is back....

Looks like they've made some improvements since they attacked one of their humanoid robots with a hockey stick a while back.

I like the integrated leash.  Would be fun to take one of these doggies for  walk..

[jonovid]

The guy with the hockey stick is back....

Looks like they've made some improvements since they attacked one of their humanoid robots with a hockey stick a while back.

I like the integrated leash.  Would be fun to take one of these doggies for  walk..

yes some improvements the foot/heel has had some phalanges re-design. stirrup over the 2017 ball foot design.
if Boston Dynamics added a femur top limb link giving the leg 3 parts not 2 as most animal limbs have up to 4 parts per leg.   improve robotic limberness?
Proof of concept this type of robots is a demonstration of house cleaning or emergency rescue.
in a randomly changing environment.