Popular Articles
Today Week Month Year


French Army testing Boston Dynamics’ robot dog in combat scenarios
By Arsenio Toledo // Apr 12, 2021

The French Army has acquired Spot, the robot dog built by American robotics firm Boston Dynamics, and is now testing its capabilities in combat situations.

Brighteon.TV

France's main military academy, the Saint-Cyr, located in the northwestern region of Brittany, shared several images of soldiers with Spot during military exercises.

Spot is a nimble, four-legged robotic dog that is built for both outdoor and indoor use. It can map out its environment, sense and avoid obstacles, climb stairs and open doors. (Related: FREAKY: Boston Dynamics' SpotMini robo-dogs can coordinate, navigate, open doors, climb stairs and even load the dishwasher.)

According to Michael Perry, vice president of Business Development at Boston Dynamics, the company is learning more about Spot's potential military application at the same time as the French Army.

"We're not clear on the exact scope of this engagement," said Perry.

https://twitter.com/MelanieRovery/status/1379720473416720385

Spot's military capabilities are promising, but may be limited

French newspaper Ouest-France said that Spot was one of a number of robots tested alongside students of Saint-Cyr in a series of military exercises intended to assess the usefulness of robots in future battles.

The military academy said Spot and the other robots will help Saint-Cyr's students become more aware of the challenges they may face in future, more technologically-driven conflicts.

Spot was used during a two-day exercise. Daily French newspaper Ouest-France said the Saint-Cyr students ran a number of different scenarios with the robot, including an urban combat test, multiple defensive actions during day and night and an offensive action meant to simulate capturing a crossroad.

Each scenario was performed using humans first, and then using humans and robots together to see what difference the presence of the machines can make.

Sources who participated in the exercises quoted by Ouest-France said the presence of the robots helped keep troops safe, but slowed down operations.

"During the urban combat phase where we weren't using robots, I died," said one soldier. "But I didn't die when we had the robot and he conducted reconnaissance first."

Other soldiers added that they had a problem with Spot's battery life. During one exercise the robot ran out of power and had to be carried out.

Saint-Cyr has not published any statement regarding their assessment of Spot's capabilities. Ouest-France suggested the robot dog may be used for reconnaissance purposes since it is equipped with multiple cameras and its four legs allow it to navigate areas that might be difficult for treaded or wheeled robots to access.

One problem that may hinder Spot's potential is its terms and conditions. Spot is barred from being used "to harm or intimidate any person or animal, as a weapon, or to enable any weapon."

This means that reconnaissance missions intended to scout buildings for soldiers is allowed, but surveillance missions done to help military units locate targets to engage are not. Boston Dynamics is clear in that any modification of Spot cannot include its weaponization. The firm is still figuring out whether or not to ban non-weaponized deployments by military customers like the French Army.

"We think that the military, to the extent that they do use robotics to take people out of harm's way, we think that's a perfectly valid use of the technology," explained Perry. "With this forward-deployment model that you’re discussing, it’s something we need to better understand to determine whether or not it’s actively being used to harm people."

But critics of the use of robots in warfare say it is inevitable that machines like Spot will be weaponized.

Some of Spot's other owners have already done this. In February, a Brooklyn-based company called MSCHF strapped Spot with a paintball gun that could be controlled by the public.

Learn more about the potential application of different robotics systems in warfare by reading the latest articles at MilitaryTechnology.news.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

TheVerge.com

TheNextWeb.com



Take Action:
Support NewsTarget by linking to this article from your website.
Permalink to this article:
Copy
Embed article link:
Copy
Reprinting this article:
Non-commercial use is permitted with credit to NewsTarget.com (including a clickable link).
Please contact us for more information.
Free Email Alerts
Get independent news alerts on natural cures, food lab tests, cannabis medicine, science, robotics, drones, privacy and more.

NewsTarget.com © 2022 All Rights Reserved. All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. NewsTarget.com is not responsible for content written by contributing authors. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. NewsTarget.com assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms and those published on this site. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.

This site uses cookies
News Target uses cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using this site, you agree to our privacy policy.
Learn More
Close
Get 100% real, uncensored news delivered straight to your inbox
You can unsubscribe at any time. Your email privacy is completely protected.