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DARPA Seeks Self-Repairing Hunter-Killers?
In the movie version, when the Terminator takes a few rounds - or is run over - or is set on fire - it calmly goes about making necessary repairs, or simply adjusts to get around the damage.
DARPA is trying to develop what they call "Damage Tolerant Control Programs" to make sure that robots can continue and complete a mission in spite of taking heavy damage. Tests to date have seen small aerial robots lose large chunks of themselves to hostile fire, yet carry on with their mission.
According to The Register, DARPA has now moved on to Phase III of their program.
Phase III includes integration and flight demonstration of the technology. The objective of the flight demonstration is to show the utility of these technologies on an operationally representative [killer robot].
The US military has already tested a five-ton aerial remotely-operated robot, the MQ-9 Reaper, a medium-to-high altitude, long endurance unmanned aircraft system. The Air Force website describes it this way: "MQ-9's primary mission is as a persistent hunter-killer against emerging targets to achieve joint force commander objectives."
(MQ-9 Reaper 'persistent hunter-killer')
Damage tolerant hunter-killer aerial drones? Maybe just around the corner - or right overhead.
(Hunter Killer from The Terminator)
Via DARPA aim to make killer robots invulnerable to damage.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/16/2008)
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