A weaponized robot acting as a member of a squad of U.S. soldiers fighting on the battlefield is no longer science fiction. They may not be two-legged, humanoid robots yet, but they are able to follow troops through a wide range of terrain and back them up in battle.
装有M240机枪的机器人，穿过黑暗，直到它在树上距离美国部队的一支队伍的树上100码。机器人使用热成像来检测敌人的战斗人员，并向他们瞄准枪。
With a single command from its human controller, who is with the squad 100 yards back, the robot opens fire and takes out the enemy, saving the troops from a potentially deadly attack.
A weaponized robot acting as a队of U.S. soldiers fighting on the battlefield is no longer science fiction. They may not be two-legged, humanoid robots yet, but with wheels or tracks they are able to follow troops through a wide range of terrain and back them up in battle.
美国陆军和美国海军陆战队有证人d prototypes of weaponized robots on the battlefield. However, armed robots are not currently in the Army's inventory of weapons.
Army leaders got a look at什么技术可用在博士堡，乔治堡的机器人实践演示期间，在这一周的战场。
"We were hoping to see how they remotely control lethal weapons," said Lt. Col. Willie Smith, chief of Unmanned Ground Vehicles at Fort Benning. "We were pleased with what we saw here. The technology is getting to be where it needs to be. It's a start."
史密斯希望看到机器人上安装了多种武器系统，说他不确定陆军在战场上使用武器化机器人的时间很快，但他希望它将在五年内发生。
"They're not just tools, but members of the squad. That's the goal," Smith said. "A robot becoming a member of the squad, we see that as a matter of training ... I think there's more work to be done, but I'm expecting we'll get there."
四家机器人公司 - 诺罗普·格鲁姆曼，HDT机器人，IROBOT公司和Qinetiq - 展示了他们的机器人能力，在周四在现场火灾演示期间从150米处取出弹出目标。
商业公司向大学堡垒的美国军官展示了他们的武器化机器人。本周。军事领导人正在寻求看看技术能力是什么以及如何在战场上使用它。（视频：Keith Shaw / IDG Enterprise）
北极格洛姆曼集成平台系统总监菲尔·克洛克表示，它的机器人，骆驼（携带 - 所有机械化设备Landrover），可以在三加半加仑的燃料上运行24小时，并可配备手榴弹发射器，自动武器和抗坦克导弹。
The CaMEL also can identify targets from three-and-a-half kilometers away, using a daylight telescope or thermal imaging. The robot also can be dropped into a war zone from a helicopter or a plane.
The robots can be controlled, tetherless, from a handheld device that looks much like a gaming control, a laptop computer or a片剂attached to a vest that a soldier wears.
The vest, which weighs about 10 pounds, carries a battery, the handheld controller and a tablet that flips down from the soldier's chest so he can see what the robot sees. That means the soldier doesn't have to see the live target himself.
The robots also can be operated, via satellite radio communications, from hundreds of miles away.
As forsecurity，来自机器人公司的高管表示有担心保护机器人被盗或被攻击。几家公司表示，为了确保黑客无法闯入机器人的计算机系统，并将其武器转向美国部队，军队严重依赖加密的无线电系统。
这个想法是为了机器人与部队一起搬家，因为他们在脚下巡逻时与士兵一起旅行或旅行。
武器化的机器人可以提供士兵重型火力备用，这在更大的枪支或坦克不可用时尤为重要。
A robot could move out into an open area, using its sensors to detect enemy combatants, while human soldiers stay safely behind. A robot also could move into position a greater distance from its squad, so the enemy will be focused on defending itself from the robot while U.S. troops move in on them.
“这实际上是一件好事，”员工SGT说。Douglas Briggs，Maneuver Battle Lab Nco，驻扎在堡垒班宁。“它让士兵造成伤害的方式。”
在伊拉克配备有机器枪的机器人武装机和机器人武装机械的Briggs表示，将机器人提供支持的大部分是支持活性职责士兵是信任的。士兵需要相信他们的机器人不仅在需要时工作，但不会伤害他们。
“它恢复了旧方法并融入了新的东西，”布里格斯说。“我们需要看看它是否会做他们所说的那样。就像我们开始使用GPS而不是指南针。我相信我的指南针。我必须习惯GPS。”
While robots may eventually become trusted members of a squad, the military is far from willing to give a robot the autonomy to fire on its own.
Tollie STRODE JR.，一名高级项目官员Maneuver Battle Lab在堡垒班宁说，此时，当一个决定具有致命武器时，循环总会有一个人。
“机器人可以获得敌人的目标，但它仍然总是要求人类允许射击，”大步说。“我认为机器人获取和评估目标并将其作为威胁和火灾的能力可能五或十年来。然而，即使存在这种能力......我们会在过程中有一个人决定该怎么做。“
本文，机器枪带机器人可能很快备份美国士兵，最初发表在computerworld.com.。
沙龙古丁涵盖互联网和Web 2.0，新兴技术和桌面和桌面和笔记本电脑芯片，用于ComputerWorld。在Twitter上关注Sharon@sgaudin， 上Google+or subscribe to沙龙的RSS饲料。她的电子邮件地址是sgaudin@computerworld.com.。
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这个故事，“机枪机器人可能很快备份美国士兵”最初是发表的Computerworld. 。