How feasable would it be to use robot probes in Afghanistan? I’m talking about using Sojourner-like automated rovers to scout around the Afghan countryside (as well as the miles of tunnels in the mountainous regions) to find the terrorist cell hiding places. I’m not talking about just 1 or 2 probes. I’m talking about hundreds, even thousands. Can we cheaply make automated rovers to fit the requirements? If we can, it could prevent massive military casualties on our side. (Especially if the land is covered with boobytraps).
I’m sure the military has looked into the idea, though I have no idea how much R&D they may have done. However, I’m sure we all know that the Mars rover was nowhere near cheap enough to build hundreds of 'em. They would have to have something almost as smart as Soujourner, but a lot easier to make.
Would such a probe have to be all that smart, though? There’s no time delay, so you operate them by remote control. And the cost of delivery is obviously much smaller than the Mars probe. If you could deliver literally thousands of them, you wouldn’t care so much if a certain percentage of them got stuck or broke down.
I am now inapprorpiately reminded of the end of STAR WARS: EPISODE I.
Land roving robots would be too expensive and too vulnerable to be of any use.
Flying drones, on the other hand are already being used, and more advanced versions are under development. Of course they have weaknesses too…
http://www.af.mil/news/factsheets/RQ_1_Predator_Unmanned_Aerial.html
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2000/0410/news-kosovo-04-10.asp
http://www.plastic.com/tech/01/04/20/1926215.shtml
Much quicker, agile, and cheaper to build. And harder to kill.
Oh, and this, which shows that they ARE vulnerable.
They may be expensive to build, but if we do this right, we could build probes that are silent, camouflaged(sp?) against a desert backdrop, and leave a miniscule heat signature. They would also be a small target for weapons, and they may be equipped to explode when given the proper command code (not only to possibly hurt the enemy, but also to prevent this technology from falling into the worng hands). How much would a robot of this capability conceivably cost as opposed to a soldier’s life?
The other idea of course is to use camera equipped animals (such as dogs), but that would be inhumane.
sorry about the spelling, I meant wrong 
I don’t see how this is practical. I haven’t heard of such robots actually being available in large numbers at the moment, and you’d need tens of thousands to cover an area the size of Afghanistan. I don’t see how they could easily traverse mountainous terrain.
Most important point: I also don’t see why bin Laden’s soldiers wouldn’t just take one look and pop a few rounds into them, then scarper before the US cavalry steams in.
Problems with land-based probes, as I see them;
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Terrain. You would need to build it to accomodate all types of terrain. It would have to be able to move on rocky, sandy, rutted, plowed, over-vegatated, muddy or icy land. It would have to float in water. It would need some system to get itself unstuck from ruts, crevaces, etc.
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Speed. In order to be undetectable, it would have to know when to move and when to sit still. It would be Slowwww. Even at relativly high rates of speed, it would take hours, if not days, to reach its target.
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Power. Whay kind of power would it use? We don’t have batteries that last long enough to make it useful, especialy if you factor in that it’s going to take days to reach a target, if deployed from a base. Solar cells are kind of shiny, and would detract from any camaflauge. Fossil fuels produce heat and fumes, also detracting from any stealthlyness.
If you are deploying them from the air, why use them at all? I already showed you the far supperior air-based drones. The air based drones are quick, and can provide immense recon data. Ground based drones would just be target practice for the opposition.
Life is not like the movies. There is a reason why robots like those in “Star Wars” don’t exist. They are impractical.
I agree that you would need thousands of robots to get the job done, and I haven’t heard of such robots being produced, but still I wonder if research into this type of solution wouldn’t be something we could accelerate and possibly put into practice soon.
I don’t agree. bin Laden’s soldiers would have a hard time finding the camouflaged, silent probes in the first place.
To be that well camouflaged and that silent they’re going to have to be damn slow. In which case you’ll need even more to cover the same area in a reasonable length of time. I submit that in areas where anything moving will attract attention, a moving robot is still likely to be noticed.
About the air drones: Back in the Balkan War, there were a bunch of reports of Serbs downing them with just a sniper rifle. Apparently, they’re not very rugged.
I swear I saw that rock move.