Since the two-hour television movie Knight Rider aired two weeks ago, people have gone self-driving car crazy!

Stars and Stripes, an independent online news source for U.S. military news, reports that the American government has a working prototype of an all-terrain vehicle that would require no supervision or human assistance whatsoever in order to operate in the field.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has finally completed work on this robotics project after nearly four years.

Enter The Crusher, a seven-ton unmanned vehicle designed to demonstrate the potential of driverless battle trucks to military planners.

Although no plans to put Crusher into action have been set, the response to the project seems to be positive. The benefits of this type of equipment would be innumerable. Its ability to barrel through or over hard-terrain like boulders make it a valuable asset regarding the military’s ability to thoroughly analyze an area under observation since the Crusher can enter into places that would leave any human seriously damaged, perhaps with spinal injuries.

Rather than entering into a situation blind or being hindered completely by natural obstructions, military personnel can “ride along” with the Crusher from a remote base. They can also collect important data from the many operating systems DARPA has equipped the Crusher with, including infrared readouts, laser sensors and mapping cameras.

But don’t get too excited about the potential for this kind of project to spill over into the private sector. The Crusher was not made to handle changing traffic patterns, rendering it useless in an urban environment. Plus, Crusher can only reach a top speed of 26 miles per hour.

DARPA and the Pentagon are enthusiastic about the future of the Crusher and similar robotics projects, so look for more developments in this field to come along in the near future.

To read more about what Crusher can do, read the full article here.

Image: Stars and Stripes

Tags: robotics, DOD, DARPA, Crusher, driverless vehicles,  military equipment, military projects

Patty Clement’s 11-year-old daughter had a problem with one of her teachers.  It appears that Rex Roland, an educator at Enka Middle School in Buncombe County in Asheville, North Carolina, had issues with her daughter.  That’s the best explanation as to why he wrote that she was a loser on her paper not once, but […]

There’s a condition unique to the human condition called default bias.  Generally, when presented with two options, the default option and a different option, most people choose the default.  Even when it’s wrong, this dithering tends to go to the default choice.  That’s why people stare blankly at hundreds of channels, then just stay with […]

As the Elvis estate could tell you, being dead is a great business deal.  Michael Jackson’s estate is living proof of that, as his heirs, controllers, and various business managers have negotiated the biggest record deal in history for the singer, who died only 9 months ago in mid-preparation for a string of comeback concerts. […]

It’s no secret that the Internet has changed how we do everything since it took hold of the world.  There’s a reason that improving the Internet is one of the FCC’s top goals.  That’s not hyperbole; from shopping to music, reading to communication, the Internet has changed everything and here are the 15 websites responsible […]

Actually, it’s not just perfume.  City workers at three different buildings in Detroit are banned from using or wearing the following:  “colognes, aftershave lotions, perfumes, deodorants, body/face lotions … (and) the use of scented candles, perfume samples from magazines, spray or solid air fresheners.”  This is part of a settlement agreement between the city and […]

While Buzz Aldrin has landed a good career post-space flight by landing on Dancing With The Stars, and John Glenn was in Congress between stints as the first man to orbit the earth and the oldest astronaut, respectively, not all astronauts are so lucky. It’s a tight job market, which is why Bigelow Aerospace is […]

If you’ve ever had a rough day, stumbled home after a bad commute, and immediately been snuggled up to by a pet, you’re not alone.  The benefits of pet ownership on emotional well being are well known, but not as well known are just how valuable those relationships are to the pet owners.  Dogs are […]