Robomule Rex follows soldiers, voice commands

The Rex is designed to take a huge load off of foot soldiers' shoulders.

(Credit: Israel Aerospace Industries)

"Fetch" and "heel" may be the latest commands to join the military lexicon, with the arrival of Rex, a small, six-wheel-drive load-bearing robotic vehicle designed to follow squad-size units in response to voice commands.

Envisioned as a robotic "beast of burden" for the modern soldier, Rex can carry more than 400 pounds, a typical load for groups of 3 to 10 ground soldiers, for 72 hours at a time without refueling, according to developer Israel Aerospace Industries.

"The robotic vehicle follows the lead soldier from a given distance, utilizing technology developed and patented by IAI. Using simple commands (one might give his pet dog), including 'stop,' 'fetch,' and 'heel,' the lead soldier controls the robot without being distracted from the mission at hand," IAI's Ofer Glazer said. "Controlling the robot in this way allows for intuitive interaction and rapid integration of the product on the field within a short time frame."

IAI says it developed the platform in response to "an urgent operational need," estimating that military and civil demand could amount to tens of thousands of orders, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

"The Rex platform is unique in its state-of-the-art operational capabilities and its user-friendly interface, both of which are central to the platform's superior performance," Glazer boasted.

Rex is but one of the robocaddies appearing on the military market. Aimed at infantryman, it's unclear whether these present-day pack mules may take a load off the grunt or just end up as more junk to haul--and ultimately leave behind.

[DemonDuck000]

So the robomule needs a trail at least. I could get it stuck walking to our local market.

So if the robomule needs a trail, then all the the bad guys need to do is mine the trail and/or wait in ambush (by the trail) for the guys that are talking to a robot.

Oh yeah, that's going to work just fine. Bet they sell a million of them...

[ghostofitpast]

I am reminded of what Amundsen said to Scott when showed the vehicles Scott planned to take on his South Pole expedition: "Take dogs. I always take dogs. When they break down, you can eat them."

[man_w_balls]

answer: make the robo-mule out of bacon

... and why are their boots purple?

[panthecat]

Maybe they like the purple green FedEx look.

It may have been from a dioxazine purple dye, which appears black at maximum intensity, but eventually fades to purple.

[c|net Reader]

I, too, was thinking verbal commands are stupid in a military context. If the thing doesn't recognize hand signals, it won't get far.

Presumably, the robot stops when its leader stops and continues when its leader continues. Otherwise, in the heat of the moment, the leader will forget to tell it to stop and it will run over soldiers that drop to avoid detection or enemy fire.

Either the story is incomplete or the manufacturer is idiotic.

[carlv888]

why don't they come up with something that can float behind the troops, antigravity or something; in this setup, all we need is for something important/expensive to be sitting on that bot and some ied blowing it all away.

[chomxxo]

Why not just buy a mule?