Somewhere Kieth Laumer is smiling. Carnegie Mellon’s latest contract to build a remote controlled tank.
The next generation Autonomous Platform Demonstrator (APD) ill make use of the latest suspension, vehicle frame, and hybrid-electric drive technologies to improve upon its predecessor’s performance. Enhanced mobility capabilities will push the envelope for autonomous and semi-autonomous operation, the engineers said. The engineers will develop a comprehensive control architecture that makes use of hardware and software components as well.
Ultimately unmanned ground vehicles would be outfitted with anti-tank or anti-aircraft missiles and anti-personnel weapons to make them lethal.
Hat Tip Instapundit
Keith Laumer also wrote a series of stories with a character called Retief which did a pretty good job of skewering our (and our adversaries) diplomatic efforts during the Cold War.Â
