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Crazy Robot
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Coolness: 92990
| Bear robot rescues wounded troops
1. Teddy bear face designed to be reassuring
2. Hydraulic upper body carries up to 227kgs (500lbs)
3. When kneeling tracked "legs" travel over rubble. Switches to wheels on smooth surfaces
4. Dynamic Balance Behaviour (DBB) technology allows the robot to stand and carry loads upright on its ankles, knees or hips for nearly an hour
The US military is developing a robot with a teddy bear-style head to help carry injured soldiers away from the battlefield.
The Battlefield Extraction Assist Robot (BEAR) can scoop up even the heaviest of casualties and transport them over long distances over rough terrain.
New Scientist magazine reports that the "friendly appearance" of the robot is designed to put the wounded at ease.
It is expected to be ready for testing within five years.
While it is important to get medical attention for injured soldiers as soon as possible, it is often difficult and dangerous for their comrades to reach them and carry them back.
The 6ft tall Bear can cross bumpy ground without toppling thanks to a combination of gyroscopes and computer controlled motors to maintain balance.
It is also narrow enough to squeeze through doorways, but can lift 135kg with its hydraulic arms in a single smooth movement, to avoid causing pain to wounded soldiers.
While the existing prototype slides its arms under its burden like a forklift, future versions will be fitted with manoeuvrable hands to gently scoop up casualties.
The Bear is controlled remotely and has cameras and microphones through which an operator sees and hears.
It can even tackle stairs while carrying a human-sized dummy.
Daniel Theobald, the president of Vecna Technologies, which is developing the robot for the US Army, said: "We saw a need for a robot that can essentially go where a human can. The robot will be an integral part of a military team."
Gary Gilbert, from the US Army's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Centre in Frederick, Maryland, said that the teddy bear appearance was deliberate.
"A really important thing when you're dealing with casualties is trying to maintain that human touch."
Vecna is working on other potential applications for the robot technology - including helping move heavy patients in hospital. |
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I'm feeling bored right now.. |
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Coolness: 686315
| It SAYS the US military is developing it, but you look at that bear face, and you KNOW they've got a team of asians locked in a bunker somewhere working on it. |
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I'm feeling warcracktastic right now.. |
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Coolness: 132415
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Coolness: 300050
| i want one! |
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I'm feeling lonely right now.. |
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Coolness: 87615
| Wo0t ! The future begins now !! :D |
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I'm feeling time for a change right now.. |
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Coolness: 201950
| I dunno.. If I had just been shot and I saw a robot bear coming for me, I don't know how reassured I would feel. |
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I'm feeling gangsta right now.. |
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Coolness: 158960
| "A really important thing when you're dealing with casualties is trying to maintain that human touch."
Uh... bear is not human. |
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I'm feeling b-bored right now.. |
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Coolness: 87615
| hahaha ... touché ! |
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I'm feeling chillin' & groovin right now.. |
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Coolness: 123035
| me wants |
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I'm feeling midget luvinz right now.. |
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Coolness: 57310
| The future is now, it's just not widely distributed. |
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I'm feeling stressed right now.. |
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Coolness: 87615
| I saw in a news paper a couple days ago that a japanese company developped a robot kid. Can't remember the newspaper or the company's name, but I'm sure a little google would solve the mater in no time. |
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I'm feeling dead tired right now.. |
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Coolness: 686315
| yeah, they developed a robot kid to study how children develop or something like that..
Wtf, did they run out of children?! |
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I'm feeling warcracktastic right now.. |
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Coolness: 87615
| Hahaha .. Japanese don't have time for kids, Japanese have to work ! damnit ! ;) |
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I'm feeling dead tired right now.. |
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Coolness: 153730
| they dont have time to raise children, but they have time to make them and construct false ones =P |
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I'm feeling angelkoreish x 10000 right now.. |
Crazy Robot
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