Roma - Porta 300 chili di carico senza discutere, fa turni di oltre 24 ore senza stancarsi, vede a 360 gradi e svolge i servizi più disparati grazie alla flessibilità del proprio software. Sa usare perfettamente le armi e lo può comandare anche un infante che sappia usare la PlayStation.
Cos’è? È Guardium, il nuovo robot-soldato sviluppato da G-nius Unmanned Ground System per il Ministero della Difesa israeliano. Si muove su quattro ruote ma funziona esattamente come un soldato vero: può sostituire un milite reale in moltissime missioni, riducendo il rischio di perdita di vite umane.
Esattamente come molti droni (velivoli privi di pilota), Guardium agisce sotto il controllo di una postazione remota, distante dalla linea del fronte operativo. Può montare telecamere aggiuntive, visori notturni ed altri sensori, nonché impiegare strumenti letali come armi automatiche.
Stavolta non si tratta di un concorso, come accaduto a Singapore, o di insettoidi dall’aspetto sinistro. Pochi ed ermetici sono i commenti dei generali israeliani: hanno riferito solo che ancora non è operativo, null’altro. L’unico mezzo simile sinora attivo è quello impiegato per pattugliare la zona smilitarizzata che separa le due Coree. Ma rispetto ai primi esemplari simili, sviluppati da Samsung per la Corea, costa di più: ci vogliono 600 mila dollari (circa 385 mila euro) per averne uno e il prezzo varia a seconda del software in dotazione.
Marco Valerio Principato
.
Israeli army eyes robot patroller
Tue, April 29, 2008
By AP
.
NES TZIONA, ISRAEL — Israel’s newest “soldier” can see at night, never nods off on sentry duty and can carry 300 kilograms without complaining.
The Guardium, a remote-controlled, unmanned vehicle commissioned by the Israeli military and shown off yesterday, is among the first such machines to be ready for the battlefield. The army said the vehicle had not yet entered service, however, and declined further comment.
The four-wheeled vehicle is designed to replace soldiers in dangerous roles and tedious missions, cutting casualties.
Like the pilotless drones that have become a mainstay of air forces in Israel, the U.S. and elsewhere, the Guardium is operated from a command room far from the front line. It can carry cameras, night-vision equipment and sensors, as well as weapons like machine-guns.
The Guardium even has a limited capability to operate on its own. Following programmed routes, it can navigate on patrol along a barrier fence or make its way through a city — the vehicle knows how to deal with intersections, traffic and road markings.
Relying on cameras that scan 360 degrees at all times, the vehicle’s sensors send alerts of anything suspicious to the remote operator, who can take control at any time.
The Guardium never mentally wanders or falls asleep during mind-numbing guard or patrol missions in dangerous war zones.
“Representatives of armies with troops who are taking high casualties in asymmetric warfare, from threats like roadside bombs, get excited about this product,” said Erez Peled, general manager of G-Nius Unmanned Ground Systems, the company that developed the Guardium.
The operator works with two large video screens and a joystick as well as a steering wheel and gas and brake pedals that lend the control console the look of a video arcade game.
“Any kid who grew up with a PlayStation will be able to come in here and learn this in seconds,” Peled said.
A single Guardium costs approximately US$600,000. With the control system, the price runs to several million dollars.
fonte:http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/International/2008/04/29/5416051-sun.html
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