Marine Corps Shelves Futuristic Robo-Mule Due to Noise Concerns

#1

Post by bgraves » Wed, Dec 30, 2015, 3:30 PM UTC

Marine Corps Shelves Futuristic Robo-Mule Due to Noise Concerns
military.com

Re: Marine Corps Shelves Futuristic Robo-Mule Due to Noise Concerns

#2

Post by homerowilson » Wed, Dec 30, 2015, 3:52 PM UTC

There are these things called "mules." They're quiet, can carry about 200lbs., and can refuel themselves as they go by eating grass and drinking water...

Re: Marine Corps Shelves Futuristic Robo-Mule Due to Noise Concerns

#3

Post by lazypenguin » Wed, Dec 30, 2015, 3:57 PM UTC

homerowilson wrote: post #2

There are these things called "mules." They're quiet, can carry about 200lbs., and can refuel themselves as they go by eating grass and drinking water...

And they don't cost $40+mm

Re: Marine Corps Shelves Futuristic Robo-Mule Due to Noise Concerns

#4

Post by Thriptic » Wed, Dec 30, 2015, 4:01 PM UTC

lazypenguin wrote: post #3

homerowilson wrote: post #2

There are these things called "mules." They're quiet, can carry about 200lbs., and can refuel themselves as they go by eating grass and drinking water...

And they don't cost $40+mm

And you can eat them in times of scarcity. The robotic ones aren't nearly as tasty.

Re: Marine Corps Shelves Futuristic Robo-Mule Due to Noise Concerns

#5

Post by ck2 » Wed, Dec 30, 2015, 4:03 PM UTC

Irony of it being all electric motors/actuators but needing a gas engine to power it so it is very loud.

Re: Marine Corps Shelves Futuristic Robo-Mule Due to Noise Concerns

#6

Post by lmm » Wed, Dec 30, 2015, 4:03 PM UTC

homerowilson wrote: post #2

There are these things called "mules." They're quiet, can carry about 200lbs., and can refuel themselves as they go by eating grass and drinking water...

The logistics of keeping them fed and watered, having trained handlers, and treating them for injuries are nontrivial. And they're prone to unhelpful reactions in a firefight. There are good reasons they've largely been displaced by motor vehicles. Combining the go-anywhere ability of legged propulsion with the advantages of motor transport seems like a good enough idea to merit study.

Re: Marine Corps Shelves Futuristic Robo-Mule Due to Noise Concerns

#7

Post by wehadfun » Wed, Dec 30, 2015, 4:06 PM UTC

why do they need this. What are they carrying? Are marines supposed to go without resupplies for weeks/months where they would need an additional robot mule to carry everything?

Re: Marine Corps Shelves Futuristic Robo-Mule Due to Noise Concerns

#8

Post by outside1234 » Wed, Dec 30, 2015, 4:09 PM UTC

is it range anxiety that drives using a gas motor versus battery pack and solar panels?

Re: Marine Corps Shelves Futuristic Robo-Mule Due to Noise Concerns

#9

Post by Lambdanaut » Wed, Dec 30, 2015, 4:12 PM UTC

These are the "Big Dog" mules being built by Boston Dynamics, who was recently acquired by Google.

Google has been against militarizing the robots since acquisition, so they're no doubt happy to have this contract dropped.

To be clear, this doesn't mean the project is shelved, it means the contract with the Marine Corps is shelved. Google will be able to focus more directly on civilian uses for the mules from here on out.

Re: Marine Corps Shelves Futuristic Robo-Mule Due to Noise Concerns

#10

Post by arethuza » Wed, Dec 30, 2015, 4:13 PM UTC

wehadfun wrote: post #7

why do they need this. What are they carrying? Are marines supposed to go without resupplies for weeks/months where they would need an additional robot mule to carry everything?

I found this interesting article:

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2013/march/pa...

Which includes this quote:

"“What we’ve seen is that when Marines come ashore, they’re carrying 130 pounds of food, water, batteries, ammo, you name it, on their backs because fundamentally, they don’t trust sea-based logistics to keep them supplied,”