Shoot to Kill: Autonomous Robots Developed By DARPA Will Not Question Orders
by Susanne Posel
theintelhub.com
September 4, 2012
The Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) Autonomous Robotic Manipulation (ARM) program seeks to find ways to utilize different remote robotic manipulation systems that are controlled by humans. This program is divided into 3 aspects:
• Hardware: to design dexterous multi-fingered robotic hands
• Software: develop complex algorithms for grasping, manipulation and sensory perception
• Outreach: beta-testing robotics in public forums to further study robotic autonomy
In 2010, DARPA revealed a robot at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Conference in Denver that was interactive in a public forum. Participants would write software and have the robot preform specified tasks. The goal of this event was to show that robots were being developed by the US government to preform “dangerous tasks” such as disarming an explosive device thereby reducing “significant human interaction”.
Universities and other government-controlled agencies such as Carnegie Mellon University, HRL Laboratories, iRobot, NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory, SRI, and the University of Southern California, provided teams of researchers to write software for DARPA.
Boston Dynamics, Inc., has been awarded a $10.9 million contract to manufacture humanoid robots that are bi-pedal, built like humans and have a sensor head with on-board computing capabilities.
These robots are being created to assist in excavation and rescue missions, according to DARPA.They could also be employed to evacuation operations during either man-made or natural disasters.
This week, the Project Offices for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), Apache Attack Helicopter and Armed Scout Helicopter revealed the Manned Unmanned System Integration Capability (MUSIC) at Michael Army Airfield, Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. During the exercise, MUSIC showed that the US Army could use drones armed with lethal weapons that were wired for precise communication with their operator.
The RQ-7 Shadow is another enhanced drone with weapons capabilities. As the US Army endeavors to combine ground forces with drone technology, their tactical operation’s success is multiplied.
The use of government-sponsored universities such as Cornell, MIT and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands has created prototypes for bi-pedal robots that will someday be the synthetic army or police force.
Stanford University’s Aerospace Robotics Laboratory (ARL) wants to introduce autonomous robots into law enforcement situations; such as response in lieu of police SWAT teams.
Drones for law enforcement are being developed with the creation of the Talon SWAT/MP that can be configured with a multitude of weaponry. Some include a multi-shot TASER, LRAD, 40mm grenade launcher, and a 12-gage shotgun.
An earlier version of Talon, developed for the Israeli Defense Forces and the Israeli Ministry of Defense’s Directorate of Defense, was of the VIPeR series that were equipped with a 9 mm mini-Uzi with scope and pointer, or grenade launcher.
In 2006, Los Angeles began using aerial drones to spy over citizens under the guise of tracking suspects. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) subsequently ended that program. The police force retaliated citing that “there is an immediate need by state and local public safety personnel for unmanned aerial systems.”
The Naval Research Laboratory has developed SAFFiR, the Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot. SAFFiR is an autonomous bipedal humanoid robot, based on the CHARLI-L1 robot created at Virginia Tech. This robot can interact with humans with a comprehensive response system that utilizes language – including slang to make it more familiar. A robot that can hold a conversation and fight fires is quite impressive.
In 2009, with funding from the Pentagon, DARPA created the Multifunction Utility/Logistics and Equipment (MULE) which was a size of a Humvee. This robot car used sensors to drive autonomously and calculate its target, await remote instructions or decide to fire.
MULE’s potential has been in the works for the last 3 years. Its advancement and use as a battlefield vehicle is being tested and readied for deployment. The remote controls mirror those of a gaming console which gives the operator the ease of playing a “video game” while at the same time instructing a deadly piece of equipment on targeted missions.
Unmanned ground vehicles have been in use since Iraq and Afghanistan. They are armed for combat with the same capabilities as ground troops. MULE’s development as an autonomous weapon for the purpose of allowing a robot to decide on whether or not to carry out a mission is advantageous to the US military.
A force of robotic “peacekeepers” that are programed to become violent without remorse – will enable the government to organize and act where human law enforcement and/or trained soldiers may hesitate.
Susanne Posel is the Chief Editor of Occupy Corporatism Our alternative news site is dedicated to reporting the news as it actually happens; not as it is spun by the corporate-funded mainstream media. You can find us on our Facebook page.
Hands off Syria! Frankfurt protests against military intervention [video, photos]
End the Lie – Independent News
September 2, 2012
The UN Security Council’s push for a human corridor in Syria, which critics say could bring military intervention, has sparked protests in Germany. About 1,000 people gathered in Frankfurt demanding an end to foreign meddling in the Syrian conflict.
A crowd of around 1,000 people have gathered in front of the Opera House in Frankfurt to demonstrate against foreign military intervention in Syria. They waved the flags of the Syrian government and signs with photos of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
They shouted slogans in favor of the president and his Baath Party.
A small group of anti-Assad protesters also appeared at the scene, prompting police to move in and separate the groups.
But the majority of the people came to the square to voice their support to the government and speak against military intervention, RT’s Peter Oliver reported from the scene.
“We are here to expose the lies about Syria that are being shown to the rest of the world,” one of the protesters told RT. “The dead that are being shown were killed by terrorists and blamed on Assad. They are sponsored by NATO, the US, Turkey and Qatar.”
Image from Twitter / @PeterGOliver_RT 
Protesters waving flag of Hezbollah say they do not want international intervention in Syria (Image from Twitter / @PeterGOliver_RT) 
A small group of anti-Assad protesters isolated by police (Image from Twitter / @PeterGOliver_RT)
Source [and video]: http://rt.com/news/frankfurt-protest-syria-military-intervention-159/
Ryan Dawson on RT: U.S. Drone Strike Kills 14 Civilians In Yemen [video]
YouTube — Rys2sense
September 4, 2012
http://rt.com/news/yemen-us-drone-warfare-291/ a lot more was said go read the text.
Al-Hadi the president of Yemen was elected in Feb after being the only name on the ballot. This is a political struggle not just some strife between religious tribes as the West likes orientalize it. .
“I don’t really agree that this is a conflict between Islamic militants versus the government. Yemen was just unified in 1990; they had a civil war in 1994. South Yemen has had its accession movement since 2007, and it wasn’t about religion or ethnicities, it was about resources. The majority of the oil is on that side of the country, although the majority of the profits have been allocated to the north. These are monetary issues. It has become more of a religious issue because of the press and because the US policy of killing civilians drives people in that direction. They don’t even have to see eye to eye ideologically, they just have a common enemy. “
New Zealand Troops Withdrawing from Afghan Early – Evelyn [video]
108morris108
September 4, 2012
Evelyn is a very knowledgeable Blogger from New Zealand – She offers many insights beyond New Zealand’s involvement.
http://aotearoaawiderperspective.wordpress.com – Evelyn’s blog – well worth subscribing to!
And this is her posting on the New Zealand troops withdrawing:
http://aotearoaawiderperspective.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/new-zealand-to-leav…
TSA liquid testing inside terminal at Columbus OH Airport [video]
White Owl Conspiracy
September 4, 2012
A video clip shot yesterday at Columbus Ohio Airport illustrates how the Transportation Security Administration has dreamed up a bizarre new way to waste time and taxpayer dollars – by testing drinks purchased by travelers for explosives inside the airport long after they have already passed security.
Syrian terrorist reveals torture and murder of kidnapped women
Voltaire Network
August 22, 2012
A Syrian 22 years confessed on national television to working with armed terrorist groups in Douma, a town in the province of Damascus, and being an accomplice to the abduction, torture during interrogation and murder of women.
In confessions broadcast by the Syrian TV, 22 year-old Sabah Othman said that she is originally from Douma and that she was married at the age of 14 and abandoned by her husband three years later.
She met a man named Ala’a Mahfoud from Harasta on the pretext that he wanted to marry her, and he introduced her to two militants from a group referring to itself as Loua’a al-Islam, linked with the Free “Syrian” Army (FSA).
The group’s leader Zahran Alloush employed the young Sabah Othman as an interrogator of the women they abducted. She explained to the cameras that her role was to beat the prisoners who refused to answer during interrogation and that she was assisted by another woman.
She also revealed that after the interrogation, members of the FSA would “slit the throats of the abducted women and dump their lifeless bodies near a slaughterhouse.”
The young Sabah Othman remembered the women she interrogated perfectly well. The first was Samira Assaf, a mother of four. Like other victims, Samira Assaf had her throat slit and was cast near a slaughterhouse where her body was eaten by stray dogs.
Othman noted that the terrorists had recorded it all on video. Dunya Omar, the second woman she interrogated, was shot in the head and her body was abandoned near a sewer. Another woman, Fadya Daher, was raped and tortured for days by the group’s leader before being murdered.
The young accomplice said that members of Loua’a al-Islam would pretend to be religious in front of people while in fact they used drugs and abducted women without showing any sign of remorse.
Sabah Othman concluded by warning other women associated with the terrorists of the danger to which they are exposed. She felt that, in addition to the cases she mentioned, many other women have been murdered to prevent them from revealing the crimes of the FSA.
Source: RT in Spanish, 21 August 2012.
Tucker Carlson Doesn’t Know Anything About The NDAA? [video]
We Are Change
September 3, 2012
Luke Rudkowski talks to The Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson who claims he doesn’t know anything about the NDAA.
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