Sociotard Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Forgive me if this is a repost. I just found an interesting article about Robots in the military. It talks about how some soldiers become attached to their droids. Units will name them, give them rank (and promotions) and even award them purple hearts. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/05/AR2007050501009_pf.html The most effective way to find and destroy a land mine is to step on it. This has bad results, of course, if you're a human. But not so much if you're a robot and have as many legs as a centipede sticking out from your body. That's why Mark Tilden, a robotics physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, built something like that. At the Yuma Test Grounds in Arizona, the autonomous robot, 5 feet long and modeled on a stick-insect, strutted out for a live-fire test and worked beautifully, he says. Every time it found a mine, blew it up and lost a limb, it picked itself up and readjusted to move forward on its remaining legs, continuing to clear a path through the minefield. Finally it was down to one leg. Still, it pulled itself forward. Tilden was ecstatic. The machine was working splendidly. The human in command of the exercise, however -- an Army colonel -- blew a fuse. The colonel ordered the test stopped. Why? asked Tilden. What's wrong? The colonel just could not stand the pathos of watching the burned, scarred and crippled machine drag itself forward on its last leg. This test, he charged, was inhumane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Re: Medals for Robots on a semi-related note, the military used to issue medals to animals such as pack mules, horses, guard dogs etc, this was stopped in the fifties or sixties, not really sure why Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matrix3 Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Re: Medals for Robots I heard about this some time ago, and I thought it spoke well of the officer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Re: Medals for Robots That opening vignette is bizarre. Inhumane? As for animals getting medals, there was a pigeon in WWI named Cher Ami who received the Croix de Guerre for carrying a message after having been shot through the chest and losing an eye and a leg. They don't still give animals awards? That's kind of weird. I mean, it's weird to do it in the first place, since the animal doesn't give a rat's ass, and it's not going to inspire any of the other animals, but it's symbolic to those humans that work directly with the animals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Re: Medals for Robots Skynet is online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Re: Medals for Robots It's human nature to anthropomorphise machines that we have special fondness for. How many of us have named our cars and treated them with as much TLC as we would one of our relatives? Soldiers do this all the time with their ships, planes, or tanks. How much more tempting would it be to sympathise with a machine designed to resemble a living creature? If that robot had actually been a living animal it would have been lauded for its courage and loyalty for behaving as it did. And who knows? It may not be long before the distinction between flesh and machine organisms becomes very blurred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Re: Medals for Robots That opening vignette is bizarre. Inhumane? As for animals getting medals, there was a pigeon in WWI named Cher Ami who received the Croix de Guerre for carrying a message after having been shot through the chest and losing an eye and a leg. They don't still give animals awards? That's kind of weird. I mean, it's weird to do it in the first place, since the animal doesn't give a rat's ass, and it's not going to inspire any of the other animals, but it's symbolic to those humans that work directly with the animals. I do believe that an animal participating in an awards presentation can sense that something special is going on. At the least it's probably aware of the heightened affection and pride of its master, and perceives that it's pleased him or her. But yes, the benefit of the award is primarily for its human colleagues. Funerals serve a similar function. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Re: Medals for Robots this brings to mind a story from one of the later Bolo books written by William H Keith... entitled "Brothers" it talks about 2 bolos stationed together that became like brothers, named Andrew and Hank, and how Hank goes berserk after Andrews death on the battlefield. its an interesting story, and considering its dedicated to his brother Andrew who had passed away suddenly, a bit moving. its from the book "Bolos... the old guard" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sociotard Posted January 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: Medals for Robots Heh. Actually, the scene I quoted makes me wonder how long it will be before we see PETOR: People for the Ethical Treatment Of Robots. EDIT: Okay, "People for the Ethical Treatment of Robots" got 46,500 hits on Google. It really won't be long now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Re: Medals for Robots lets just hope the robo-terrorist organization "Robots Eating Tasty People" doesnt form Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Re: Medals for Robots Many of Keith Laumer's BOLO stories are about how the robotic Bolos are far more noble and valiant than the pig-headed human generals and the slimy human politicians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Re: Medals for Robots 'Many of you feel sorry for this lamp. That is because you crazy.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 Re: Medals for Robots This also happened with NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1270/1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Re: Medals for Robots I'd also say that it's human nature to create superstitions and rituals in high-stress situations. Even moreso when death is involved. Sports people have their lucky things. Soldiers as well. Just look at the worship pf the army standards in the Roman Republic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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