Robots Go To War To Go To War

I’m one of the slim minority who dislikes Terminator.

Don’t get me wrong, Schwarzenegger is nothing if not a vastly-talented thespian, I just don’t sit well with armed robots coming after me in the night.

That said, this is pretty cool. MAGIC 2010 (that’s Multi Autonomous Ground-robotic International Challenge) is a joint venture between Australia’s Defense Science & Technology Organisation and the Research Development & Engineering Command in the States, to help develop the next gen in sweet-ass robotic killing machines.

Okay, so not exactly. But it’s still pretty cool.

The idea is for teams of robotics engineers to build subsequent teams of robots to find targets and threats for neutralization. This includes moving targets.

As in, soldiers.

As in, human beings.

Yikes.

Of course, the challenge is entirely simulated via computer (video below). Robots are expensive to build, y’know. The top finishers in MAGIC will win money and contracts from the US and Australian governments to help build their robots for real.

I really, really hope they’ll be on our side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS_9YDja8sE

[Via Singularity Hub]