A Boston Dynamics robot has been videoed taking part in military training sessions in France, and shown in reports published by France Ouest, via The Verge. While robots like Spot were funded by the US Military via DARPA, the current T&Cs of Boston Dynamics bar use of the robots from being used to harm or intimidate any person or animal, as a weapon, or to enable any weapon. Thus, Spot is tiptoeing along a controversial boundary here.
In the video embedded above (in French) you can see Commander Jean-Baptiste Cavalier explain the scope of the training exercises and how robots were used. He describes how the activities were integrated into manoeuvres by the EMIA (combined arms military school) to measure the value of the contribution of robots in combat action in several scenarios during both day and nighttime.
A Boston Dynamics robot has been videoed taking part in military training sessions in France, and shown in reports published by France Ouest, via The Verge. While robots like Spot were funded by the US Military via DARPA, the current T&Cs of Boston Dynamics bar use of the robots from being used to harm or intimidate any person or animal, as a weapon, or to enable any weapon. Thus, Spot is tiptoeing along a controversial boundary here.
In the video embedded above (in French) you can see Commander Jean-Baptiste Cavalier explain the scope of the training exercises and how robots were used. He describes how the activities were integrated into manoeuvres by the EMIA (combined arms military school) to measure the value of the contribution of robots in combat action in several scenarios during both day and nighttime.
April 8th, 2021
Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan / @SaintCyrCoet
Boston Dynamics robotic dog Spot was one of several robots tested by the French army during training sessions at a military school in the northwest of France,
France Ouest have reported. It was used during a two-day training session with the aim of measuring the added value of robots in combat action, said school commandant Jean-Baptiste Cavalier.
The exercises aimed to get students thinking about how robots might be deployed in future combat situations. The students designed three offensive and defensive missions, with Spot used primarily for reconnaissance. The scenarios were performed by students first without and then with the aid of the robots. Other bots deployed were a remote-controlled tank-like vehicle called OPTIO-X20 armed with a cannon and Barakuda, an armor-plated wheeled drone designed to provide cover to advancing soldiers.