The robots quadrupeds are not new. Thanks to their structure, these devices are characterized by their agility and their ability to move through difficult terrain for machines with wheels. However, they have recently been put to the test for use as weapons .
Artificial Intelligence is located in the grip of the weapon.
The American company Ghost Robotics has been commissioned to develop Vision 60 . This quadruped robot can carry a custom weapon such as SPUR (“Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle”) , manufactured by specialists Sword International.
SPUR is designed to be able to adapt to various robotic platforms and one of them is Vision 60. The weapon has a 30x optical zoom, a thermal camera that allows aiming even in the dark and an effective range of 1200 meters .
The collaboration between Ghost Robotics and Sword International is not yet clear . However, the US Department of Defense is already beginning to test the combination of both machines.
In addition to being used as weapons, quadruped robots can be especially useful carrying payloads, conducting remote mapping, defusing bombs, or detecting QBEN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) matter.
The 325th Security Forces Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, was the first US Army unit to employ quadruped robots in its operations last year.
Launching the missile on the unmanned ship.
At the moment, these robots are used to patrol the perimeter of the base in areas “not desirable for humans and vehicles,” as detailed Jiren Parikh, CEO of Ghost Robotics in an interview .
Another firm known for its quadruped robots is Boston Dynamics, but it maintains a strict policy against equipping its devices with weapons.