14 DAY TRIAL // Street fights, sea hunt or secret development seem to be not enough for some evil minded robo addicts. It's not a secret anymore that the latest technology allows the cars to drive by themselves these days. And the next fetish in the robotic vehicle industry is to equip those with real ammunition, just like giving Robosapien new toys.
Wired reports about this new trend in the robotic world. As romantic as it may sound, the Black Knight is the early prototype of the " unmanned combat vehicle", a very advanced machine which was developed by arms-maker BAE Systems for the US Army, therefore there are slight chances to see these robots outside the US combat space.
Anyway, as the fellows from Wired appreciate, the Kinght doesn't bring anything really original from the regular armored vehicles used by the mighty American military forces in almost every combat zone worldwide. Even if there is leaked info on the matter, the Army still refuses to have an open talk about the new technology war it started, for safety issues, of course.
As for the Knight, it's true, it doesn't look very friendly. But, what's really scary about it is its ability to be fully controlled from the outside, just like kids control their RC cars. The best part comes now: the soldiers won't be able to control just the vehicle motion, but also a 30mm gun and coaxial machine gun, which is not such a good idea if you ask me.
According to Wired, BAE officially stated that the Knights are using exclusively "advanced robotic technology for autonomous mobility. This capability allows the Black Knight to plan routes, maneuver on the planned route, and avoid obstacles - all without operator intervention."
All in all, it's up to you to imagine just how bad things can go, if these cute robo vehicles get into a mad terrorist 's hands. But, hey, at least they're visible this time!