Ever had a burning desire to depart your own golem United States Army ? Well , now might be your chance , provided you have $ 55,000 to spare . Someone is selling an observational unmanned military vehicleon eBay . ( Death ray of light not include . )
In the former nineties and other 2000s , the U.S. military had a renew push to develop unmanned vehicle . Most Americans , of course , are conversant with the unmanned aerial vehicle ( ordinarily called drone ) that are so commonplace in the military today . But we often forget about the experimentation with soil fomite which were being developed to act as surveillance , supply , and even battle support on the field of battle .
ThisDEMO IIIunit was an experimental unmanned earth fomite ( UGV ) , which was part of that former 2000s exploit . The military’sgoalwith the DEMO III program was to develop small vehicles capable to , “ drive autonomously at speeds of up to 40 mph on roadstead , 20 mph off route by sidereal day , and 10 miles per hour off road by night or in foul conditions consideration . ”
Like many UGVs of the menstruation , it was a stepping Harlan F. Stone to the remote-controlled vehicles of the hereafter . But it ’s unclear precisely what this short guy might be capable of , given the fact that the seller has n’t even had a probability to toy with the affair since acquire it from the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg , Maryland .
“ I bought it because it was unique and one of a kind . I ’m not sure what sort of software package it has or need , because I have n’t had the time to experiment with it yet , ” the seller secern me over email .
The eBay listing explains : “ This will not be sold or shipped to anyone who can not prove to me that : ( 1 ) it will not be sent abroad and ( 2 ) it will not be used straight or indirectly for anything that will stimulate the FBI to show up at my room access . ”
I inquire the vendor if he had to sign anything that said he would n’t betray it to anyone who might send it overseas . amazingly , he did n’t .
“ I did n’t have to sign anything like this , ” he said through electronic mail . “ I ’m taking it upon myself to take this precaution , because it seems to me that I should have had to sign something . ”
As an experient purchaser of administration surplus , he ’s accustomed to signalize these kinds of documents . Including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations ( ITAR ) statements , which even apply to exercise equipment .
“ I mean really , if I have to contract ITAR conformity command to pick up a used stair master from NASA Goddard , then this should have been a no - brainer , but the GSA is not a very competent governing body if you know what I signify , ” he said .
But this DEMO III building block is n’t move to go full Skynet anytime soon . It ’s not weaponized and it does n’t come with theLidarthat might allow for autonomous driving capableness . Even if nobody buys the vehicle , the seller just wants to instruct how to play with the thing .
“ If nothing else , I ’m hop to make contact with someone who can help oneself me to operate it . ”
EBayRobotRobotsSkynet
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , science , and polish news in your inbox daily .
news show from the future tense , redeem to your present tense .
You May Also Like
