Robotics and humanoid robotics & civilian drones discussion

GulfLander

Captain
Registered Member
"China’s first 300t omnidirectional outdoor AGV debuted in Tianjin on January 8, combining unmanned driving, AI navigation, and obstacle avoidance for heavy cargo transport in engineering, ports, and logistics. Developed by Tianjin Lonyu, a typical tech and innovative enterprise, it follows their 600t indoor AGV record, with plans for models up to 1,000t. This milestone reflects China’s support for tech innovation, fostering 14,600 tech and innovative enterprises and boosting high-tech manufacturing growth by 9% year-on-year."

 

GOODTREE

Junior Member
Registered Member
Still, what is the use case scenario? It's seemingly something really specific like "a patrol suspecting there are militants hiding at least 50 - 100m deep inside a mountainside cave".

A soldier might need to carry an explosive skateboard, and the dog can move itself, but then the range of the dog is limited the further you move from base. How do you plan for this? If the load the soldiers are carrying is a concern, then you might even get more utility from the dog carrying a bunch of rockets/mortars than exploding itself. This is even more relevant considering this discussion is centered around the idea of needing to fight in Taiwan provincial highlands.

Many of the "war on terror" suicide bombers were attacking checkpoints and forward operating bases. In the Taiwan scenario, it would be the PLA that would be operating the checkpoints and FOBs, so the requirement for suicide attacks is less relevant. Opposition would be the ones setting up ambushes. Not the other way around.

If a patrol is caught in an ambush attack, is the dog more useful as a suicide bomb or could it better utilized carrying sensors and providing soldiers with some kind of non-line of sight counter measure? Something like a acoustic/thermal/electro-optical sensor fusion + grenade launcher.


It could be. I'm not debating whether a dog can carry an explosive, just it doesn't seem like the best or most useful of options. The list price for the B2 is $100K USD. The Go2 which is less capable is $3K. Therefore we already have an idea of the cost of a "simplified version". Furthermore, you would need a support chain for these, technicians/chargers/generators/etc. Does it present a big increase in capability over "give people a GPS/laser designator and call in a drone/artillery strike?". Again, in the Taiwan scenario, if resistance has retreated to the mountains, then the PLA should have total air dominance. Persistent drone support should be available to combat patrols. FOBs should have artillery support available.
Thank for reply.
As it stands now, in my vision, it's suitable for clearing out stubborn strongholds in enemy woods/building complexes, and attacking local transportation convoys. Especially if occupying high ground, I think he could be very effective.
Yeah, I recognize that the charging base station required for the robot dog itself has a certain weight to it, and I'm curious to see how the PLA will go about handling that. Because assuming they'll use the dog as some sort of mobile turret, they'll have to think about that as well.
I'm not saying it's bad to have a robot dog as a mobile turrets, but is there a way to make the robot dog some kind of special complementary countermeasure against a stronghold? There are a few routes in that direction, one is to become some sort of ground based FPV of sorts, the other is to become a means of ground demolition for large fortifications, or to become a large grenade that constantly fires shrapnel around the area and kills people, etc., mentioning specialized demolition because I happened to be thinking of that example at the time.
For the high ground look, I personally think the route I mentioned can still be very effective.
Assuming an ambush, the personnel have to make the first response, whether it's an early warning or an immediate response, the personnel have to make it themselves. The means you mentioned such as acoustic/thermal/electro-optical sensor fusion are great, but if the soldier is going to be relying on a robot dog to understand it's too slow. I think these are the job of the individual equipment.
(Instead of a grenade launcher, I was actually expecting a mortar-like device)
Yeah, at the end of the day it's all about cost. I'm actually looking forward to a company that can design them more miniaturized and use the numbers to ensure kills (but that's another story). Actually, $3000 seems like a bargain price for a ground-to-ground missile, (I'm not well versed in this area, so feel free to correct me). Of course, it's not necessarily more powerful than a surface-to-surface missile, but for the most part, the missiles hit the top of fortifications, which tend to be the relatively strongest places. And there are also cases where the enemy is in a building. Assuming the robot dog can blast with a ground oriented attack/or in buildings, it might have a different effect.
 
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