Robot with Friendly Appearance to Rescue Wounded Troops
June 8th, 2007Via: BBC:
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.
Posted in Rise of the Machines | Top Of Page
I will be sure to tell the woman who cuts my hair about this. Her husband’s body was crushed to smithereens by an IED while he rode as medic. After the bomb hit, He needed to have his body scooped up, cause every freakin bone was broken, and boy I’ll bet he wishes some freakin bear headed robot was on call to hand him a freakin lollipop before he was life-lifted to Germany, and then spent six months in a cast at Walter Reed. Oh yea, this is going to make it all Better for the wounded soldier. Christ, what miracles will they think up next to comfort the dying and wounded? Is it so bad in Iraq that the answer for the wounded is a robot with a bear head? My gawd. WTF! But no worries. This Bear robot is 5 years from now.In the meantime we can just fill the body bags, no problem, no bears, no lollipops.
I can see the headlines, Iraq 2015: “Grizzly soldier bear ‘kills’ teddy bear in friendly fire incident. Rogue programmer held in custody.”
Thinking back on my time in the Corps… I sure woulda loved having one of these with our gear.
Getting each other back, even in pieces, is an extremely weighty thing for Marines. We think about it, our ability to do that task, constantly
… I cant fully express how frightening it is to think that I may fail at bringing my friends back out of harm’s way. It is as important as air and water to *know*, without doubt, that you will be cared for if injured.
That you will not be abandoned or forgotten.
Those who probably couldn’t carry me and my gear, and their gear, and still put up a fight were the lowest of the low.
Having a piece of gear to help ensure that we weren’t stranded and forgotten would have been extremely welcomed.
West
former USMC
I find it funny when people claim that we’re losing in Iraq. Truly. War has always been about killing or ruining the lives of the most people, and we’ve definitely succeeded at that. What’s our body toll? three thousand something. What’s the Iraqi body toll? Three hundred thousand something. Regardless of the lies that got us into the war, and the great cost to Americans, it is us, not the Iraqis who are winning.
That is never going to work. Just look at the mockup; it’s enough to make you laugh!
I keep seeing this thing struggling to pick up some poor bastard, dropping him and then falling on top of him.
I mean, seriously. Not an impossible idea, but the implimentation is completely wacky: a giant robot man with a teddy bear head. Would a robot or two with treads and a bullet proof stretcher-like thing be easier to build, safer and a *lot* more stable?
This story stinks of some kind of weird pr. I don’t get it.
An updated version of the old M274 Mechanical Mule (i.e. modern ATV) would be a simpler, more rugged, less expensive, and battlefield-proven approach.
More vaporware from yet another connected corp seeking to get its share of the lucrative war business pie.