8 replies to this topic

[Myth]

US Military use Wii to blow up bombs
Thursday 27-Mar-2008 12:01 PM Motion-sensitive controllers operating mine-defusing robots

The United States military has adapted the motion-sensitive Wii Remotes to operate bomb-defusing robots in war-zone situations, it's emerged.

The Packbot, which looks a lot like Johnny-5 in Short Circuit and is made by iRobot in Burlington, Massachusetts, disposes of bombs, finds explosives and locates landmines for soldiers in the field.

It's also controlled by the Wii Remote. "Wiimotes are more instinctive, allowing users to focus on data processing," US Department of Energy scientists told New Scientist.

Unfortunately, there's no word yet on whether we can see a home edition from the US Government, ala America's Army.

rofl... what do they do, shake the wiimote to cut the red wire? shake the nunchuk to cut the blue?

sauce





Wii. Serious business eses.

[SN3S]

rofl... what do they do, shake the wiimote to cut the red wire? shake the nunchuk to cut the blue?

Well, it's probably the exact same mechanism that they use for a normal mine-defusing robot, which is pretty much that they set off the bomb but do it in a controlled manner when no one's around.

It's an excellent idea because when you think about it, wii remotes only cost like 20$ to manufacture, and they are quite user-friendly. Compare that to the price of a complex remote control, and you can see why they're doing it.

[way2lazy2care]

It's an excellent idea because when you think about it, wii remotes only cost like 20$ to manufacture, and they are quite user-friendly. Compare that to the price of a complex remote control, and you can see why they're doing it.

$20 at most. I wouldn't be suprised if the US got a contract to get a bunch of them for supa cheap.

[inst1nct]

Meh, I'd cut the wrong wire on accident using a wiimote...

[Squatchface]

They better boost the range and reception lol

[technoDave]

The Wiimote strikes me as something more suited to be used as a control device for a gun turret of some sort.

[AlbenoEpiX]

I'd imagine that the control scheme would resemble that of Wolf-link in TP.

Right button on the d-pad to sense the bombs and down on the d-pad to dig them up.

[Vorrik]

rofl i can imagine a wii game based around this, much like america's army on the pc : to get people interested in joining the army

[Jengerer]

Does it auto-target the bomb if you press Z while facing it?

The Wii seems to be becoming more than just a video game console; it's sparking lots of creativity with developers in general, like the robotic arm controlled by the Wii, the home-made head-tracking, and tons of really creative stuff that could be used in the real world.

They'd just better hope that the battery doesn't run out while they're carrying the bomb! Damn Nintendo had better make some official batteries and charger for the Wii, I feel so ripped off if I buy the ones by Nyko, and Super-Tech or some stupid stuff like that.