New from MIT: Intelligent robot forklift for war zones

Fri, 01/16/2009 - 20:15 - NLN

The new, U.S. Army–funded forklift robot recognizes voice commands, can learn the layout of a makeshift warehouse and operate out of doors. It may be able to save lives on the field and make warehouse work more efficient at home.

Robots are becoming more common—they may not have scary lasers and godlike artificial intelligence, but they're taking over all the same. The proliferation of autonomous machines—the robot uprising, if you will— has brought nothing like the hostile army feared by science fictions writers. Rather, uncomplaining machines have taken over the jobs we'd rather not do: disarming bombs, barging into hostage standoffs, and cleaning floors and gutters. Now, MIT's latest robot tackles another unsavory task: driving forklifts in a war zone.

Read entire story at Popular Mechanics.

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