Pentagon's "flying car" to get robot pilot from Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute

[Turborama]

Source: International Business Times

Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a 17-month, $988,000 contract to Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute to develop an autonomous flight system for the Transformer (TX) Program.

The university is also exploring the feasibility of a military ground vehicle that could transform into a vertical-take-off-and-landing (VTOL) air vehicle, Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute said. "The TX is all about flexibility of movement and key to that concept is the idea that the vehicle could be operated by a soldier without pilot training," said Sanjiv Singh, CMU research professor of robotics.

In practical terms, that means the vehicle will need to be able to fly itself, or to fly with only minimal input from the operator. And this means that the vehicle has to be continuously aware of its environment and be able to automatically react in response to what it perceives, Singh said.

=snip=

The TX program aims to develop a robust ground vehicle that can transform into an air vehicle with vertical take-off and landing capability, while offering significant operational flexibility with the ability to travel 250 nautical miles on land and in the air, or a combination, while carrying up to 1,000 pounds.

Read more: http://africa.ibtimes.com/articles/80965/20101111/darpa-carnegie-mellon-s-robotics-institute-transformer.htm

[Liberal Veteran]

1. Do want.

[provis99]

2. so when do we hook up the Hellfire missles for blowing up Arab weddings?

[James48]

3. Well, I'll tell you this....

They aren't going to be able to do it on $988,000.

Multiply that by ten, and you'd have a research program that could explore some ideas.


Multiply that by one hundred, and you could probably get a flying prototype done.

But I can tell you it ain't gonna happen on $988,000.

[WheelWalker]

4. That amount is just a place holder. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Leave the cost aside... multiply by 200 at least

They are working on THIS....



Cool when science fiction becomes real. What the hell do we write now? They keep taking all these sci fi\ fantasy concepts... oh never mind, I got a communicator! (Flip Cell Phone)

[truthisfreedom]

6. I believe that figure applies only to the autonomous flight system, not the car itself.

Read the first line of the article.

[ProudDad]

7. And piss away how much petroleum?

The DOD is the largest user of petroleum in the USAmerikan Empire...

What a fucking waste...

[Locrian]

8. uh, oh.,..

[christx30]

9. Carnegie Mellon?

Now I want some cantalope

[daleo]

10. Once the Pentagon has flying cars

The Taliban is bound to give up.

All hail the flying car.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

11. If they give the robot an Austrian accent. That's it. I'm moving to a remote cave

somewhere.