Remote control has had a significant impact on the way that we live our lives. Think about how inconvenient life would be if we had to get up to change the channel. But remote control reaches far beyond time drains in the living room.
Manufacturing would be just a shadow of what it is today if it weren’t for remote control, automation, and the servos that we implement in production. While remote control has been helping us get our butter for years, it’s now starting to play a role in how we build our guns.
Children have known the joys of remote controlled battle tanks for decades now. The first RC car was made in the 1960s, and the RC tank followed soon after. Needless to say, these remote controlled tanks are mere playthings, and incapable of damaging much more than an unsuspecting toe.
However, military organizations across the globe are now implementing remote control in fully functioning battle tanks. These tanks aren’t toys, and are capable of the mayhem and destruction one would expect to find in a mobile war machine.
Russia is working on the Uran-9, which is a small and relatively affordable – it falls within the price range for NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB average annual earnings – unmanned, robotic tank that is fully equipped with machine guns, an automatic cannon, and anti-tank missiles.
A British firm has designed the remote controlled Terrier tank. This is a tank that seems to be geared more towards making battle fields safer, or even civil engineering, rather than causing mayhem. The Terrier is armor-plated and equipped with a robotic arm, bucket, plow, and hydraulic hammer, and is designed to unearth explosives, clear land mines, split rocks and concrete, and tear down roads and runways. It can be man-operated or controlled remotely.
There are many other remote tanks out there in various stages of development. Anyone who lies awake at night worrying if and when robots might take to the battlefield can stop worrying, because that day is here. Don’t worry about a robot uprising, though. These tanks are not automated, and won’t be turning against humanity anytime soon.