Salute to the Urban Challenge

["Harold Fox" <hfox@>]

Robotic cars are hot. This week, MIT's DARPA Urban Challenge vehicle heads
to California for some Grand Theft Auto style urban hot rodding. This
summer, the Transformers brought helpful robots back to American pop
culture. With your own automated muscle car, you can shred some blacktop,
get the girl, and save the planet. More prosaically, with a robot doing the
driving, you can concentrate on more important things, like writing your
thesis, knocking back a six pack, or loading up your glock to take down that
rival gang.

But what's the real motive behind the DARPA Challenge? DARPA head Tony
Tether explains, "The robotic vehicles will conduct simulated military
supply missions at the site. This adds many of the elements these vehicles
would face in operational environments." The Urban Challenge web site
states, "It shall be a goal of the Armed Forces to achieve the fielding of
unmanned, remotely controlled technology such that by 2015, one-third of the
operational ground combat vehicles are unmanned...Every dull, dirty, or
dangerous task that can be carried out using a machine instead of a human
protects our warfighters and allows valuable human resources to be used more
effectively." The Urban Challenge takes place at the George Air Force Base
in Victorville, CA, currently one of the major urban warfare training sites
for the Marines.

Gee. So it's not about handling your car while you put the moves on that
coworker you're gallantly driving home? We really are talking Transformers.
Robotic cars with mounted artillery and rocket launchers. THAT would be an
exciting DARPA Challenge. Picture the announcers: "MIT and Stanley are
squaring off against each other...Stanley's coming around to the side...It's
aiming for MIT's generator!...MIT's been hit!...There's a huge
fireball...Computer parts are raining down everywhere...Look out!...Oh,
that's a major setback for MIT."

Now, I'm all for robotic military vehicles. You never know when those
Decepticons will strike, and you have to be prepared. I'm just concerned
with the use such vehicles will be put to. Most of the casualties in Iraq
have been road-side bombs, so  it's clear the military wants to build
autonomous transport vehicles that could also automatically return fire if
shot at. Such technology would make it that much easier to occupy hostile
countries.

But it's probably nothing to worry about. Good luck, MIT Land Rover!
Hopefully, we'll see you on patrol in a few years in Baghdad...or will it be
Tehran?

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