Robot Sniper Spotter

There's an interesting article (HERE) in the Boston Globe about a "Sniper Spotter" mounted on to of an iRobot PackBot being developed and tested by a joint effort of IRobot Corporation, the maker of the robotic vacuum cleaners, and Boston University.

It's called REDOWL (for Robot Enhanced Detection Outpost with Lasers).

Here's some excerpts:

"REDOWL is based on iRobot's PackBot, a battery-powered lightweight robot already in active service with the armed forces. PackBots are used to explore dangerous terrain or enter buildings to search for booby traps.

In theory, a REDOWL system could fire back at an enemy........

........it would be dangerous to have a weapon-toting robot that could open fire on its own."

No Kidding!!

Hat tip to Slashdot for the story