Remember Robocop?
How about the Terminator series of movies? I Robot? No? Let’s try that episode of the original Star Trek where the USS Enterprise, (NCC-1701. “No bloody A, B, C, or D.” 
), is rigged with a computer so that it needs no crew; becoming a “robotic” ship?
What was the one thing these movies all had in common?
The premise that when Man gives over to robots the power of Life & Death we step over the edge of a very slippery slope. One from which we may not recover.
Keep that in mind as you read the following from the Associated Press…
Imagine a soldier who can fire a machine gun with deadly accuracy at 300 yards, doesn’t complain about heat or cold and can go forever without food or water.
Meet the “Robo-Soldier.”
The idea for the Robo-Soldier started in Afghanistan, where U.S. troops wanted help clearing the entrances of caves.
“The concept … here at Picatinny is don’t reinvent the wheel, don’t keep engineering. Take what’s already proven, apply it to this robot that’s already proven. We need it now,” said tester Santiago Tordillos.
Design teams at New Jersey’s Picatinny Arsenal came up with the idea of mounting grenade and rocket launchers on the existing Talon robot, which evolved into a machine gun setup. The operator can be at the controls up to 1,000 yards away â€??? pulling the trigger while staying well out of harm’s way.
“We were sitting there firing single rounds and smacking bull’s-eyes after zeroing the scopes. We were completely amazed,” said Bob Quinn of Foster-Miller Inc.
The robot has already been in Iraq clearing roadside bombs, and the team at Picatinny is ready to ship out the weapons-mounted model as soon as the call comes.
“If a decision came down from a commander in the field to the United States Army that said they want this capability, it could be in the hands of the soldiers in approximately 60 days,” said Anthony Sebasto of Picatinny.
But there is one thing the Robo-Soldier can’t do: put a human face on war. That will always be the job of the men and women in uniform.
Laugh on, mate. Go ahead. Laugh. You know you want to… Did I *really* just equate Life and modern warfare to Star Trek?
Yes, I did.
Look to history, my Dear Reader. Look to yesterday’s Sci-Fi magazines and novels. They are *packed* with today’s realities. Everything from Space Shuttles, lunar landings, exploration of the other planets, and satellite communication – to – robotic house cleaners and microwave ovens. It seems that the writers of yesterday’s good sci-fi were the real prophets of our modern life.
Considering the success of those writers in making predictions of our future, (and noting that todays movies are often based on the witings of those great Sci-Fi writers), perhaps it would be wise to re-think the wisdom of giving machine guns and rocket launchers to robots. Even those that, *for now*, are under our complete control.
“By your command!”
Omar, out.
