New weapon against bomb threats: waggle
The U.S. government is apparently experimenting with using the Wii remote to control a bomb-defusing robot. They've adapted Packbot, made by the company that built my vacuum cleaner, to accept commands from a Wiimote -- we assume that includes motion input as well, otherwise there'd be no point in using the Wiimote.The idea behind the experiment is that the Wii's "more instinctive" controls allow for better maneuvering of Packbot and thus more effective (and less dangerous) bomb disposal. As long as nobody on the Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz team is involved with programming the controls.
We're a little bummed that we'll never get a chance to play with the exclusive "Bomb-Defusing Robot" peripheral, although we know the accessories would get expensive, and also we'd probably die.
[Via Game|Life]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jonathan Tran @ Mar 28th 2008 11:28AM
Personally I would rather have such robots being operated by technicians with 10+ years of training and a "Steel Battalion" style controller.
jsa3mm @ Mar 28th 2008 12:46PM
It's a decent idea except for the fact that the range may be limited and one would still be annihilated in the blast.
LV426 @ Mar 28th 2008 6:33PM
Wii mote not accurate? Who said that? CLEARLY governmental people think otherwise....
Nii @ Mar 29th 2008 6:04AM
The wiimote is not accurate, and is not suited to this application (except to save costs). The government isn't always right ya know!