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Cylogic Smart Avenger Runaway Project
Cylogic Aerospace announced last week in a press release that it was in the process of designing the Avenger missile, a "human guided, on the fly, target acquisition system."
The intent seems to be that an in-flight missile couild be directed by an operator at a particular target. If the intent is to use the Avenger missile in urban environments, it will need to be able to make some quick turns. From the press release and the sparse website, it appears that this company is in the very earliest stages of development.
I'm wondering if the creators of this system might have been watching Michael Crichton's 1985 film Runaway. The movie's villain (played with great panache by Gene Simmons of the rock group KISS) has a gun that programs and fires smart bullets. The "smart bullet" is really a miniature missile with remarkable guidance capabilities.
This unit will be able to track targets, follow them in an urban or hostile terrain, and selectively eliminate perceived threats. Target acquisition and identification will be realized utilizing a series of ultra high-speed digital cameras (open aperture, ``OA'' Technology) and infrared sensors mounted in the missile's nose section. The information, fed over a secure wireless network, is transposed in real time to the operator's visor, and modified to allow faster than normal neural processing by the operator. Direction control and target options will be handled by Cyberhand's Viper controllers built into the Empath Fire Control Center.
(From Cylogic Aerospace)
(Runaway Smart bullet in the lab)
It actually has fuel propellent; it can change course and follow its selected human target around corners and through pipes.
Read and see more details on the Smart bullet from Runaway. Read about the cylogic aerospace Avenger; found this one on robot gossip.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 5/2/2006)
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