South Korea Enlists Robots in their War

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

It's feeling a bit peckish, and has got a hankering for some Korean. North Korean.

Tired of having to deal engage North Korea in a decades-long staring contest and losing out to Japan in the robots category, South Korea has decided to solve both these problems in one go: making a robot so much more badass than before, the machine had to be enlisted in the Cold War against their nuke-packing Northerners.

The Super Aegis-2 is an automated 12.7mm caliber gun turret set to be deployed in Korea's demilitarized zone. It's mission: protect the democratic half of the East Asian peninsula from getting Zerg-rushed by the more totalitarian half. It's not susceptible to fog of war either, and can spot human targets miles away and in the dark, letting the Super Aegis vent its seething hatred for its fleshy creators on Kim Jong's ilk.

Source:

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/south-korea-super-aegis-auto-turret-gun-turret,news-9292.html

[Maytan]

Did somebody say South Korea?

Well, if things do end up going south (no pun intended), I hope South Korea doesn't get obliterated.

I mean, you just can't let talent like this die a fiery death.

[lowpoly]

Samsung has been working on this too:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/rok/sgr-a1.htm

[bluegum]

It sounds like science fiction film, use robots  in the war?

[PAINKILLER]

Sounds like the FUTURE OF GAMING. I can't wait for them to make remotely operated tanks and jet fighters and a nice big war to start. Then I'd join the army to pwn all the noobs. It's not like I'm worried I'm not good enough to face anyone IRL, but there is always the risk of running into some ambush or greatly superior numbers, etc. With remotely controlled stuff wars will become much more popular.

[Henry]

I mean, you just can't let talent like this die a fiery death.

Or that :

(K-pop MVs, kbdmania mods, guys wearing pink, ... you can see the trend there. :biggrin: )

[keyboardlover]

When I grow up, I want to be a robot.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Robots to Gain T-1000-like Self-Repair Functions

Start reprogramming your Arnold Schwarzeneggers, it looks like self-healing robots will soon be on the prowl.

What makes the Robot Apocalypse such a horrifying prospect is that it portrays machines as indestructible. While robots in the real world are as sensitive to a head-on car collision as your average Joe, they're more durable and relentless in fictional work, like the Terminator franchise. One of the worst offenders is the T-1000, a robotic Robert Patrick whose mimetic poly-alloy structure lets it repair any damage in a flash.

Well, it looks like this is one aspect of fictional robotics that's starting to catch up with reality. Researchers at Arizona State designed a system that lets synthetics recreate the natural healing process found in organics. It uses shape-memory or mimetic polymers embedded with a network of fiber optics. The network senses any damage to the system, then delivers heat to the "wounded" area to repair it.

Looks like '90s-era Christian Bale is screwed.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/self-healing-shape-memory-polymers,news-9315.html






Genetic Robots will Adapt to Anything

We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.

If any one medium brings about the fear of the impending robot apocalypse more than the Matrix, Terminator or Blade Runner films, it would have to be Star Trek: the Next Generation. The highest-rated Trek show introduced us to the Borg, a hive-minded race of cyborgs, bent on assimilating organic species to add to their collective diversity.

If that trifecta of robot horror tropes isn't enough to rattle you, they've got one more thing up their sleeve. They can adapt to any sort of attack, so if you don't take them out in one massive sneak attack, then you're in for an Undertaker-style resurrection and the realization that yes, your resistance is futile.


This adaptive aspect of the Borg may soon come into existence, thanks to robot sympathizers over at the Fraunhofer Institute (the guys responsible for the MP3 compression algorithm). They've developed robots which can adapt to any situation. The Fraunhofer researchers call them Genetic Robots, since the Borg is still trademarked.

A genetic algorithm calculates the best assemblage of robo-parts that can traverse a particular hazard, like a maze or uneven surface. A 3-D printer then starts churning out the unstoppable little machines, now configured to easily tackle the humans' pathetic attempt to stop their onslaught.

Thankfully, the system can only craft robots made out of cylinders and ball-and-socket joints, so we can still take them out while it's early. Because if we don't stop them now, it's only a matter of time before they start adapting to more complex forms, and start requiring organic components to further improve their design. And by organic components, I mean Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/fraunhofer-institute-genetic-robot-algorithms,news-9204.html



DARPA Gives Robots Artificial Memristor Brains

This just in: DARPA officially changes its name to Skynet.

Speculative fiction has long warned us what would happen the moment we give robots sentience. Yet despite science trying really hard since the 50's, their constant failures have always reassured us that our mechanical minions could not evolve beyond their current parameters. That is, until DARPA started funding research into something that can very well make Judgment Day a reality.


Enter MoNETA, an AI software being developed at Boston University's Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems. Unlike other AIs, MoNETA won't cause its mobile platform to run uselessly against a wall or shoot its teammates. The secret? It'll run off a special processor composed of memristors, which perfectly emulate how the neurons in the human brain work.

Our only hope now is for someone to invent a flux capacitor, so Christian Bale can send his future dad back to the 80's.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/memristor-artificial-robot-brain,news-9241.html

[Maytan]

Or that :
*snip*

(K-pop MVs, kbdmania mods, guys wearing pink, ... you can see the trend there. :biggrin: )

Totally.