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Marine Corps Shelves Futuristic Robo-Mule Due to Noise Concerns

military.com

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

#11

Post by mattlutze »

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?

Combat loads have been increasing for decades as we load our troops with new tech and body armor. A US Army report indicates an average of 87-127 lbs (40-58 kg) carry load [0]. Another here [1] indicates 90-110 lbs. US Army doctrine prescribes a max load of 60lb, but troops regularly are exceeding the guidance due to operational necessity. It's incredibly stressful on the body and is a major indicator in early joint and soft tissue degeneration in our soldiers and Marines.

The branches are all looking at ways to reduce the load. Pack "animals" are an excellent option to offload heavy equipment and improve the health and long-term mobility of our combat forces.

0: http://archive.armytimes.com/article/20110214/NEWS/102140308... 1: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/call/c...

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

#12

Post by Shivetya »

Lambdanaut wrote: post #9

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…

Well this technology certainly has far more uses than the military, specifically search and rescue. Send these puppies in to hard hit areas, isolated spots, and the like, with supplies and such. The military will get their robots so we have to accept that but we can use all that research into making them do useful and humanitarian missions. No one will care if that rescue robot is noisy.

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

#13

Post by mason240 »

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?

Yes, actually this was a frequent occurrence in Afghanistan. Soldiers or Marines would be posted in small numbers in a remote COP in the mountains. Resupplying these troops would require more soldiers then were actually in the COP, and the resupply missions were often more dangerous than the mission of the COP itself (because it is easier to ambush a convoy of trucks than attacked an outpost).

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

#14

Post by jarmitage »

Can anyone in robotics weigh in on whether new approaches like pneubotics / otherlab [0, 1] make Boston Dynamics' super heavy/noisy/expensive robots irrelevant or not? That's what Saul Griffith has been saying at least [2], I'd like to hear an impartial take on it

[0] http://www.pneubotics.com/

[1] https://otherlab.com/projects

[2] "[...] we're the only game in town." 21:00 onwards https://youtu.be/gyMowPAJwqo?t=1263

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

#15

Post by [deleted] »

arethuza wrote: post #10
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,”

[deleted]

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

#16

Post by cetacea »

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

> $40+mm

40 million million dollars?

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

#17

Post by hellofunk »

Thriptic wrote: post #4
lazypenguin wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they don't cost $40+mm

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

Speak for yourself. Diets motivated by iron deficiency are a real thing.

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

#18

Post by jt2190 »

For those who don't understand the U.S. military funding process: This is being shelved because there isn't money to continue work, not because of a fundamental problem with the technology. [1] It's more of a "We'd LOVE to give you this cool thing... Too bad we don't have any money to work on it. Oh well!"

[1] The article mentions that they built a quieter version of the robot that carried less. More interesting were problems about how to maintain the things (from training mechanics to supplying replacement parts) and how to integrate them into current training. (How/when to use? Advantages? Disadvantages?)

[2] For those of you interested in the U.S. Military's use of Mules in more recent times: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/02/15/riding-high

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

#19

Post by jobu »

mattlutze wrote: post #11
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?

Combat loads have been increasing for decades as we load our troops with new tech and body armor. A US Army report indicates an average of 87-127 lbs (40-58 kg) carry load [0]. Another here [1] indicates 90-110 lbs. US Army doctrine prescribes a max load of 60lb, but troops regularly are exceeding the guidance due to operational necessity. It's incredibly stressful on the body and is a major indicator in early joint…

An old coworker left the Army due to back issues from carrying gear through Afghanistan. Unfortunately their gear is often much heavier and lower quality than what civilians use for backpacking/camping.
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