io9 is a just wonderful resource for pictures and links. I found MORAV that way. They have some great “Giant Robot” Art:
Ain’t they cool? Check out the MORAV site for more great art.
cherry flavoured atrocities
I don’t have time to write a real post, Youtube is my rescue. Did ya see this?
[youtube D99NHb6B03s]
You may have heard one bit or the other about the “Future Combat System” project of the US military. Now, there is a new and completed article in the English wikipedia that gives a good overview about the current development of the Future Combat System and the very heart of it, the Future Force Warrior:
“The Future Force Warrior project seeks to create a lightweight, fully integrated infantryman combat system. (…) (It) envisions the radical use of technologies such as nanotechnology, artificial powered exoskeletons, and magnetorheological fluid based body armor to provide the infantry with significantly higher force multiplier than the opposing force. (…)
The first phase of the project involves a development of the technologies to help reduce the soldier’s fighting load and power requirements and improving the soldier’s protection, lethality, and environmental and situational awareness, with planned deployment in 2010, to serve the Army’s short-term needs. The Army’s plan is to introduce the subsystems in “spirals” every two years, instead of one large rollout every ten years. The U.S. military hopes to develop a fully realized end product sometime in 2032, incorporating research from U.C. Berkeley’s BLEEX exoskeleton project and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies into a final design.“
I guess the next time my PCs are going to infiltrate some corp compound, they will meet this little enemy:
I’m at a loss to stat this thing. Speed maybe 20 km/h? Would that gun be a 7.62? Looks like it carries at least a 100 rounds. I would give it a 10+d10 to attack and 7+d10 for Initiative. Remotely controlled it would gain the skill of the operator. A netrunner could hijack it, if the right controller program is available.
DARPA (who accidently invented the internet) has spend millions to create autonomous vehicles. Their newest toy is the crusher:
Carnegie Mellon University/National Robotics Engineering Center
Itf weighs nearly 7 tons, has a top speed of about 25 mph (its engine is a diesel from a VW Jetta!) and is designed to be totally autonomous, but can be operated remotely if necessary, foxnews.com writes.
It can go from one point to another useing its GPS sensors and internal maps to plot out a route. Only obstacles over six feet tall or deep force it to detour. With a camera it can spot troops 4 kilometers away.
[Otherwise, its a nerds dream. You] “drive” it with controllers for racing video games. A hacked Apple iPhone gives remote updates of the Crusher’s internal diagnostics. And a standard Xbox 360 controller raises the mast antenna, rotates the cameras and, given the situation, fires the weapons.
Good job news for xbox gamers, I would say.
Have a look at the vids.
I found another video report about a “current-day” Cyberarm. It’s amazing what “we” can do today. Now process this thing on to a designer to give it adecent style, add some of the hydraulics of the exoskeleton mentioned elsewhere here on cyberpunk2020.de, and we’re good to go :)
Here’s the Link to the Video
io9 has the details. io9 is a very good sci-fi blog. Well worth watching!
The erosion of privacy has been predicted by every darkfuture writer and his dog. I saw the risk, but used to think that people (esp. my fellow germans) would never submit their data willingly. We suffered through the Gestapo (Nazi secret police) and the Stasi (East German secret police). Both collected huge amounts of data, spying on everybody. When I was a boy, the West German people almost started a revolution to prevent a census of their data. Our supreme court developed protectional rulings. Everything seemed fine. Till this year. Thinly veiled as protection from terrorist attacks, they spy on everything. Modern tech makes it possible.
Now I learn that even emigration isn’t an option:
More and very detailed information can be found here (the’re also the source for this great map).
You got to watch this amazing movie! He can pick up a screw with this arm! It has enough feedback for the user to drink from a glass bottle without breaking it.
[youtube 1hzRja9eunY]
Via bookofjoe
Older news showing todays technological advances as predicted by the Cyberpunk Writers: