The robot thread

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Re: The robot thread

Postby AhabsOtherLeg » Fri Dec 03, 2010 8:18 am

dbcooper41 wrote:does no one else think it is unusual that ...john blitch was still at the wtc site, yet he is shown as a participant in 2 groups as a saic/darpa employee.


Holy shit! Now you mention it - YES! I'm afraid this is not my area, and I have to admit I didn't even know who John Blitch was before checking him out (he didn't get much play in our press) but what you've found here is something that needs to be looked at by someone smarter than me.

the "lunchtime entertainment" was a presentation of the rescue robots at the wtc site. all the participants were linked to the so called rescue robots (in reality they were explosive ordinance disposal robots).


Is that a proven fact, or is that the angle you are looking at? Were the robots just multi-purpose, or are you suggesting that the robots were sent in not to locate corpses, but to dispose of any incriminating evidence that might be left behind - unexploded demolitions ordinance? Or am I reading you wrong?

Wired's article has John Blitch resigning from the Army at the Pentagon on 10 September 2001, and driving straight to Ground Zero in a pickup truck full of Tactical Mobile Robots, portraying it a bit like a wacky road movie... he was simultaneously summoning his friends and their robots from all over the country. It then says:

Over the next 11 days, the group's 17 robots squeezed into spaces too narrow for humans, dug through heaps of scalding rubble, and found seven bodies trapped beneath the mountains of twisted steel and shattered concrete. While that was only a tiny portion of the 252 victims recovered by rescue workers, the success triggered a deluge of fawning press ("AGILE IN A CRISIS, ROBOTS SHOW THEIR METTLE," announced The New York Times. "ROBOTS HELP WHERE HUMANS FEAR TO TREAD," echoed the Houston Chronicle). The publicity helped Blitch avoid a berating from his superiors for skirting regulations and passing off specious credentials (technically, he was retired).
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.05/robots.html


So, if he finished working at Ground Zero on September 22nd or 23rd, there's no reason he couldn't be at the Human-Robot Interaction Workshop on September 29th/30th. And since he had left the army to join up with SAIC, but went to the WTC instead, I suppose it's not that odd that he's listed on the invitation as an SAIC employee - although not turning up for your first day at work because you want to go do something else wouuld tend to cause problems in most jobs. Lucky for him, he became a hero.

But yeah... When they were setting up the workshop, and deciding who would be invited, how did they know John Blitch would be a person of particular interest? And how did they know in advance that he wouldn't be working out in Littleton, Colorado at the time of the Workshop, since that's where he was supposed to go prior to 9/11?

look at the invitation. when was it actually prepared? when was the darpa funding request submitted and granted?
in my line of work we might have called this an after action review, or a lessons learned review.
does no one else see this connection?


I get you - how can they plan an after-action review in advance of the action occurring, if no one knows that the "action" is on it's way.

Very interesting stuff, dbcoop. I want to learn more about all this, 'cos sadly I don't know much beyond what I just read at your links.
"The universe is 40 billion light years across and every inch of it would kill you if you went there. That is the position of the universe with regard to human life."
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Re: The robot thread

Postby dbcooper41 » Fri Dec 03, 2010 4:43 pm

Is that a proven fact, or is that the angle you are looking at? Were the robots just multi-purpose, or are you suggesting that the robots were sent in not to locate corpses, but to dispose of any incriminating evidence that might be left behind - unexploded demolitions ordinance? Or am I reading you wrong?


http://www.qinetiq-na.com/products-talon.htm

TALON Robots
TALON® military robots are powerful, durable, lightweight tracked vehicles
that are widely used for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD),
reconnaissance, communications, CBRNE/hazmat, security, defense and
rescue.
They have all-weather, day/night capabilities and can navigate
virtually any terrain.
How are they different from other robots on the market?
Man-portable—At about 115 lb (52 kg), TALON can be easily transported and
is instantly ready for operation.
Rugged—TALON robots can take a punch and stay in the fight. One was blown
off the roof of a Humvee in Iraq while the Humvee was crossing a bridge
over a river. TALON flew off the bridge and plunged into the river below.
Soldiers later used its operator control unit to drive the robot back out
of the river and up onto the bank so they could retrieve it.
Fast—TALON is the fastest robot on the market today, easily keeping pace
with a running soldier.
High payload capacity—Long-term system versatility optimizes investment.
TALON has the highest payload capacity and payload-to-weight ratio,
allowing for the incorporation of a broad array of sensor packages.
Mobile—Climbs stairs, negotiates rock piles, overcomes concertina wire,
plows through snow.
Intuitive—Easiest robot to operate; joystick controls, quad screen
display.
Outstanding situational awareness—Can hold up to four color cameras,
including night vision, thermal, and zoom options.
Withstands repeated decontamination—Demonstrated at Ground Zero after 2001
World Trade Center attack in New York City. Electronics withstood 45
straight days of being decontaminated twice a day without failing.
Long battery life—TALON robots have the longest battery life of all
man-portable robots.
Best service history—Easy to maintain and sustain; best spare parts,
service and repair history.
Attachments – Two-way hailer, universal disruptor mount, thermal camera
upgrade packages, magnetic antenna mounts.
CBRNE/Hazmat -- Configured with detection devices that check for
radiation, heat, presence of gases.
GEN IV Heavy Lift – Heavy duty rotating shoulder and longer reach than a
standard TALON.
Responder – Designed specifically for public safety applications.
SWAT/MP -- Equipped for tactical scenarios frequently encountered by SWAT
units and MPs.
For more information, please email TSGinfo@Qinetiq-NA.com
TALON® Robots Support
TALON® Robots Support



Articles
TALON Robots Meet the Challenges of Mine Detection and
Counter IED
Australian Defence Force Selects TALON
TALON Robots Get New Gear
Robots Going in Harm’s Way
Iraqi Army Engineers Train with TALON Robots
TALON Introduces Two-Way Hailer
American Platoon Dismantles Taliban Bombs

that article says they worked 45 days straight with twice daily decontamination. the official records of the robots performance shows no where near that much rescue work. this suggests that much of what they did was 'off the record"
again, i will locate proof asap.

http://www.allbusiness.com/public-administration/national-security-international/629787-1.html

Explosive ordnance disposal robots outfitted with weapons. | International Relations & National Security > Weapons & Arms from AllBusiness.com
......
http://www.directv.com/business
In a live demonstration last month, the U.S. Army Armament Research Development
and Engineering Center tested the performance of an armed robot, called Talon.
Explosive ordnance disposal experts at the New Jersey facility operated the
robot with a remotely-aimed weapons mount and a new fire control system.
The Talon has attracted the attention of several potential users looking to
supplement sensor payloads with lethal weapons. "It's small. It's quiet, and it
goes where people don't want to be," explained EOD Sgt. 1st Class David Platt.
The Talon robot, made by Foster-Miller Inc. in Waltham, Mass., is authorized for
EOD by all four U.S. armed services and has been employed successfully in
Bosnia, Afghanistan and elsewhere. The tracked robot was one of four types used
to search the World Trade Center rubble in 2001.
It carries a 300-pound payload
of sensors, tools or weapons, said Foster-Miller vide president Amis Mangolds.
The company is now integrating the Talon robot and various armament systems
under a Small Business Innovative Research contract. Electrical and
electromagnetic testing now underway will make the Talon fully safety-certified
to fire weapons and/or explosives.
Though Foster-Miller prototyped mortars, grenade dispensers and other weapons
for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the late ]990s, early
government interest in armed robots faded. Of the approximately 60 Talons in the
Army today, nearly all are used for explosive ordnance disposal
. .........


So, if he finished working at Ground Zero on September 22nd or 23rd, there's no reason he couldn't be at the Human-Robot Interaction Workshop on September 29th/30th. And since he had left the army to join up with SAIC, but went to the WTC instead, I suppose it's not that odd that he's listed on the invitation as an SAIC employee - although not turning up for your first day at work because you want to go do something else wouuld tend to cause problems in most jobs. Lucky for him, he became a hero.

But yeah... When they were setting up the workshop, and deciding who would be invited, how did they know John Blitch would be a person of particular interest? And how did they know in advance that he wouldn't be working out in Littleton, Colorado at the time of the Workshop, since that's where he was supposed to go prior to 9/11?


he wasn't the only one from the world trade center "rescue" effort to attend the HRI meeting.
robin murphy, rescue robot heroine was the HRI meeting organizer. ron arkin, "steering comittee member" was robin murphy's faculty advisor. there are several other connections between blitch, tmr robots, the wtc, and the HRI meeting which i'll need to find my documentation before i cite them.
another document shows that robots teams from spawar, and a eods group responded with blitch(who btw commanded pershing missile batteries. reckon he knows anything about explosivess?)

to me one of the oddest factoids is that dapra issued funding for the HRI meeting on sept 15,2001. keep in mind that robin murphy was still at the wtc site at that time.
Research.gov search:

Grant Detail
Awardee:CAL POLY CORPORATION
Doing Business As Name:California Polytechnic
State University Foundation
PD/PI:Erika Rogers
805-756-5526
erogers@csc.calpoly.edu
Award Date:09/18/2001
Estimated Total Award Amount:$30,000
Funds Obligated to Date:$27,554
FY 2001 = $27,554

Award Start Date:09/15/2001 Award Expiration Date:08/31/2003
Transaction Type:Grant
Agency:NSF
Awarding Agency Code:4900
Funding Agency Code:4900
CFDA Number:47.070
Primary Program Source:490100 NSF RESEARCH &
RELATED ACTIVIT
Award Title or Description:DARPA/NSF Study on
Human-Robot Interaction will be held September 29
- 30, 2001 in San Luis Obispo, California
Federal Award ID Number:0130511
DUNS ID:029326246
Parent DUNS ID:029326246
Program:ROBOTICS
Program Officer:Junku Yuh
703-292-8911
jyuh@nsf.gov
Awardee Location
Street:One Grand Ave
City:San Luis Obispo
State:CA
ZIP:93407-0035
County:San Luis Obispo
Country:US
Awardee Cong. District:22
Primary Location of Performance
Name:California Polytechnic State University
Street:One Grand Avenue
City:San Luis Obispo
State:CA
ZIP:93407-0001
County:San Luis Obispo
Country:US
Cong. District:22
Abstract at Time of Award:
This DARPA/NSF workshop will take place on
September 29-30, 2001, on the campus of the
California Polytechnic State University, San Louis
Obispo, CA. The workshop will provide a forum for
roboticists, human- computer interaction experts,
psychologists, sociologists, cognitive scientists,
and communication experts, to examine the state of
the art in the area of human-robot interaction.
About 60 participants will be invited from the
academic community, industry, and government.
and how could these people have just completed the most important event in robotics rescue history, yet the report makes NOT A SINGLE MENTION OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER except for the lunchtime entertainment.
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Re: The robot thread

Postby dbcooper41 » Fri Dec 03, 2010 5:03 pm

see if you can download this pdf. it is the "unpublished thesis" of one of robin murphy's students.
much of it is standard sales cut sheets but there's a lot of info on the actual participants and events at the wtc. also some interesting naratives from the responders.
here's a sample from the intro.

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
The September 11th attack on the World Trade Center towers resulted in a mass
casualty incident requiring the resources of search and rescue teams from across North
America, volunteers, and large equipment companies. Specialized equipment was also
required. Robots were part of the specialized equipment. For the ¯rst known time,
robots were actually used for technical search tasks in an Urban Search and Rescue
(USAR) e®ort. The robots were brought to Ground Zero by the Center for Robotic
Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR) under an invitation from Fire Department
New York (FDNY) Special Operations Chief Ray Downey
. John Blitch, the director
of CRASAR, led groups from the University of South Florida (USF), Foster-Miller,
iRobot, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR), ]Joint Programs O±ce
(JPO)
, and Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Army EOD) to join CRASAR and
help with the rescue.


one curious point is that Ray Downey, FDNY spec ops chief, was supposedly dead at this point. another "unpublished thesis" clarifies this by calling it a standing invitatiopn from Ray Downey.
later on we'll learn that John Blitch, Robin murphy, and Ray Downey had work together in the months before 9/11.
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Re: The robot thread

Postby dbcooper41 » Fri Dec 03, 2010 5:18 pm

http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sti/publications/pubs/td/3141/td3141.pdf
here's another interesting after action report from the military responders.
particularly interesting is the timeline in section 3, page 5(or page 9 of the pdf).
according to this most firefighters and rescue personnel were ordered off the wtc site at 5:25 pm on 9/11/01. they did not return to resume "rescue efforts" until 14-sept-2001.
if time is of the essence in rescue work, why was the rescue effort halted at the most critical time?
this gave the robot guys 2 full days to search, or "clear" the site.
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Re: The robot thread

Postby 82_28 » Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:27 am

I see this method of structure construction improving very soon. . .

There is no me. There is no you. There is all. There is no you. There is no me. And that is all. A profound acceptance of an enormous pageantry. A haunting certainty that the unifying principle of this universe is love. -- Propagandhi
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Re: The robot thread

Postby barracuda » Wed Jan 26, 2011 6:15 pm

The most dangerous traps are the ones you set for yourself. - Phillip Marlowe
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Re: The robot thread

Postby Pele'sDaughter » Thu Jan 27, 2011 10:32 am

http://www.gearlog.com/2011/01/the_word ... rs_old.php

On January 25, 1921, the word "robot" was introduced to the world in Karel Capek's play "R.U.R." (Rossum's Universal Robots). The play premiered in Prague in the Czech language, but it later came to New York in 1922 in English, and the term robot took off.

Although Capek used the introduced the word in his play, he gives the actual credit to his brother, Josef Capek. The word stems from the Czech word robota meaning forced labor, drudgery, and servitude. In the play, Capek's robots, which resemble humans and can think for themselves (so, today, they'd probably be called androids?), were created as a means of cheap labor. Eventualy, they rise up, kill all of the humans, and take over the world--that idea also took off: The Terminator, I, Robot, Transformers, etc.

Well, robotics have definitely come a long way since 1921 (and the fear that robots will take over the world has probably increased). We now have the ASIMO, BigDog, the Kawada HRPs, Roomba, and Pleo, and it just wouldn't be the same if we didn't call them "robots."

Happy 90th Birthday, Robot!
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And at the same time,
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Re: The robot thread

Postby Stephen Morgan » Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:04 am

Pele'sDaughter wrote:Although Capek used the introduced the word in his play, he gives the actual credit to his brother, Josef Capek. The word stems from the Czech word robota meaning forced labor, drudgery, and servitude. In the play, Capek's robots, which resemble humans and can think for themselves (so, today, they'd probably be called androids?), were created as a means of cheap labor. Eventualy, they rise up, kill all of the humans, and take over the world--that idea also took off: The Terminator, I, Robot, Transformers, etc.


Transformers are aliens, the I robots were only interested in what was best for mankind, and if a few individuals were killed along the way that was a necessary evil.
Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible. -- Lawrence of Arabia
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Re: The robot thread

Postby Gnomad » Fri Jan 28, 2011 5:19 pm

The Cylons do fit that definition, though.
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Re: The robot thread

Postby stefano » Tue Feb 01, 2011 4:55 am

Sadly it was always going to come to this.



Sex Bots: Home Of The First True Sex Robot

Sex Bots are a result of several years of research and development on specially engineered movements and countless hours testing materials. Our sexbot features life-like movements and has a specially formulated synthetic skin for a natural flesh-like feel. Sex Bots have various options such as radio remote control and/or interactive touch sensory so if you touch it correctly it will "turn on." Both options are completely wireless except for a port to charge as easily as charging your cell phone.
[...]
Our company MacMil Cybernetics, Inc., is currently looking for any investors interested in becoming part of this exciting addition to the adult entertainment industry.
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Re: The robot thread

Postby justdrew » Tue Feb 01, 2011 5:02 am

stefano wrote:Sadly it was always going to come to this.



Sex Bots: Home Of The First True Sex Robot

Sex Bots are a result of several years of research and development on specially engineered movements and countless hours testing materials. Our sexbot features life-like movements and has a specially formulated synthetic skin for a natural flesh-like feel. Sex Bots have various options such as radio remote control and/or interactive touch sensory so if you touch it correctly it will "turn on." Both options are completely wireless except for a port to charge as easily as charging your cell phone.
[...]
Our company MacMil Cybernetics, Inc., is currently looking for any investors interested in becoming part of this exciting addition to the adult entertainment industry.


guaranteed to drive you stark raving mad in only ONE! use!

I'm sure ol' uncle anton would be proud to see this coming along. :ohno:
By 1964 there were 1.5 million mobile phone users in the US
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Re: The robot thread

Postby norton ash » Tue Feb 01, 2011 11:11 am

Goldie Hawn is using too much botox.
Zen horse
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Re: The robot thread

Postby vanlose kid » Tue Feb 01, 2011 11:16 am

Image

^ ^

Zen horse

*
"Teach them to think. Work against the government." – Wittgenstein.
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Re: The robot thread

Postby Jeff » Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:44 am

At last!

Image

There’s No Hiding from New Breath-Detecting Robot

By David Axe
February 7, 2011

America’s robots make deadly weapons. But there are countermeasures to even the most fearsome bot now in service. To avoid detection by aerial drones, Taliban fighters in Afghanistan have begun traveling in smaller groups. In his excellent book War, Sebastian Junger even describes Afghan fighters covering themselves with blankets on sun-warmed rocks to erase their infrared signatures, confounding the drones’ IR sensors.

But hiding from the Pentagon’s unmanned army could get a lot harder, thanks to new ground robot that can actually hear you breathing, even through a wall. The bot’s originator calls it “enhanced situational awareness.” We call it terrifying. Still, the robot does have potentially serious limitations.

Beginning late last year, California firm TiaLinx began rolling out a suite of hardware designed to detect the most minuscule signs of human presence. The Eagle5-N, which debuted late last year, is a low-power, wide-bandwidth radar mounted on a tripod. “In addition to breath detection, it can monitor a heartbeat and, by extension, the stress level of a person,” National Defense reported. “While the device was designed to detect humans behind walls, it also makes sense for rescue missions or monitoring human trafficking at the border — above and underground.”

Next, using U.S. Army funding, TiaLinx fitted the radar to a small, tracked, radio-controlled robot, the Cougar10-L. The idea, TiaLinx CEO Fred Mohamai said, is “to operate at standoff, hence keeping the operator out of harm’s way.” But the bot itself apparently has to press its radar array against the wall in order to sense through it.

So this month, the company went a step farther, boosting the radar’s power so the robot doesn’t have to be so close to the wall. The resulting Cougar20-H “can also be remotely programmed at multiple way points to scan the desired premise in a multi-story building and provide its layout,” TiaLinx boasted.

...


http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/02 ... ing-robot/


9 February 2011 Last updated at 05:54 ET

Robots to get their own internet

By Mark Ward Technology correspondent, BBC News

Robots could soon have an equivalent of the internet and Wikipedia.

European scientists have embarked on a project to let robots share and store what they discover about the world.

Called RoboEarth it will be a place that robots can upload data to when they master a task, and ask for help in carrying out new ones.

Researchers behind it hope it will allow robots to come into service more quickly, armed with a growing library of knowledge about their human masters.
Share plan

The idea behind RoboEarth is to develop methods that help robots encode, exchange and re-use knowledge, said RoboEarth researcher Dr Markus Waibel from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

"Most current robots see the world their own way and there's very little standardisation going on," he said. Most researchers using robots typically develop their own way for that machine to build up a corpus of data about the world.

...


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12400647
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Re: The robot thread

Postby Stephen Morgan » Wed Feb 09, 2011 2:00 pm

Maybe all that internet porn will distract them from their desire to consume human flesh.

On the other hand we now have learning robots. Apart from babies, metal robots I mean. That's how human consciousness works, learning, pattern recognition. Now we need them to learn language, of which TV and the internet provide a plentiful source. Might need faster computers, we're no-where near something that can imitate the greatest of wonders, human consciousness. Wouldn't be the first time, there was all that golem business.

Here's an alarming idea, which might make a good movie, weren't Jack Parsons and L Ron Hubbard supposedly trying to breed a child without a soul through the use of magic so as to provide a vacant container for a discarnate entity, this being a so-called Moon Child? Well, if you can't breed a soul-less human body, maybe you can substitute and anthropoid robot. Perhaps the first robots we build will be possessed by demons, fallen angels, genii, ultraterrestrials, and so forth. And kill us all, of course.

Solution: give robots souls. Method: work out how to make souls. Put them in artifically sentient robots. Idea: well known fact that ball lightning imitates consciousness. That ultraterrestrials often give off UV rays. That DNA releases ultraviolet light.
Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible. -- Lawrence of Arabia
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