Remember how mind blowing the movie Avatar was? Not only did it kickstart the era of 3D blockbuster movie, but it also might have inspired our U.S. Department of Defense. In DARPA's 2013 budget, the research agency has set aside $7 million out of the total $2.8 billion budget in order to pursue an Avatar-like program for soldiers.
The program, dubbed 'Avatar,' according to Wired, will focus on the development of a bipedal surrogate robot.
"The Avatar program will develop interfaces and algorithms to enable a soldier to effectively partner with a semi-autonomous bi-pedal machine and allow it to act as the soldier's surrogate," says DARPA.
These surrogate robots would be a soldier's liaison to the field and should be able to perform all of the tasks that a human counterpart could do. The avatars will do "room clearing, sentry control [and] combat casualty recovery."
It's not hard to see the benefits of robot surrogates in the battlefield. The human cost of conflict can be reduced, and robots will be able to withstand far more damage in order to carry out a mission. With a semi-autonomous surrogate robot, the human soldier behind the wheel can pay closer attention to the finer details on the battlefield, leaving the mundane and routine tasks to the surrogate.
Of course, there would applications in everyday life. The handicapped might be able to live out a mobile lifestyle through their surrogate, running and seeing the world even if they are physically unable to do so. A new form of robo-sports could evolve with mind-numbing acrobatics - the possibilities are virtually endless.
There's no doubt this is one of the most sci-fi endeavors being undertaken, and could change the way warfare is conducted if it comes to fruition.
You can view DARPA's 2013 budget to see what other projects are being developed.
Check back tomorrow for another installment of our Applied Robotics series titled: "Applied Robotics: DARPA's Pet-Proto Robot Could Save You One Day."
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