"The time has come for military ground robots"

Military and Aerospace Electronics has a look at the rollout of military robots and talks extensively to Joe Dyer, head of iRobot's military robotics division. Among the tidbits is the potential use of fuel cells to power robots. (A fuel cell recently powered a PackBot for 40 miles!)

“Robots have high peak power demands, in addition to their power loads of just staying awake and looking about,” says iRobot’s Dyer. “Steep and rough terrain has very high power demands.” For now, UGVs will take advantage of the cutting edge of battery technologies, and investigate future advances in fuel cells and hybrid electric power, he says.

Dyer also speculated about armed robots, suggesting that Taser-equipped robots and other nonlethal technologies may be equipped first. (Awesome Taser PackBot video).

Thx, SamBouchard!

Tags: iRobot, robot, robotics, military