The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 18, May 6, 2007, Article 24

WILL A ROBOT EARN A PURPLE HEART?

A very interesting question was raised by an article in today's Washington
Post.  It discussed the growing importance of robots in the U.S military
and notes how many soldiers have come to feel like the machines are comrades
in arms.  Will the day come when the military awards an official medal to
a valiantly-performing machine?  You read it here first - troops are already
awarding unofficial "purple hearts" to their valiant helpers.

"The most effective way to find and destroy a land mine is to step on it.

"This has bad results, of course, if you're a human. But not so much if
you're a robot and have as many legs as a centipede sticking out from your
body. That's why Mark Tilden, a robotics physicist at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory, built something like that. At the Yuma Test Grounds
in Arizona, the autonomous robot, 5 feet long and modeled on a stick-insect,
strutted out for a live-fire test and worked beautifully, he says. Every
time it found a mine, blew it up and lost a limb, it picked itself up and 
readjusted to move forward on its remaining legs, continuing to clear 
a path through the minefield.

"Finally it was down to one leg. Still, it pulled itself forward. Tilden
was ecstatic. The machine was working splendidly.

"The human in command of the exercise, however -- an Army colonel --
blew a fuse.

"The colonel ordered the test stopped.

"Why? asked Tilden. What's wrong?

"The colonel just could not stand the pathos of watching the burned,
scarred and crippled machine drag itself forward on its last leg.

"This test, he charged, was inhumane."

"The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have become an unprecedented field
study in human relationships with intelligent machines. These conflicts
are the first in history to see widespread deployment of thousands of
battle bots.

"Even more startling than these machines' capabilities, however, are
the effects they have on their friendly keepers who, for example, award
their bots 'battlefield promotions' and 'purple hearts.' 'Ours was
called Sgt. Talon,' says Sgt. Michael Maxson of the 737th Ordnance
Company (EOD). 'We always wanted him as our main robot. Every time he
was working, nothing bad ever happened. He always got the job done. He
took a couple of detonations in front of his face and didn't stop working.
One time, he actually did break down in a mission, and we sent another
robot in and it got blown to pieces. It's like he shut down because he
knew something bad would happen.' The troops promoted the robot to
staff sergeant -- a high honor, since that usually means a squad leader.
They also awarded it three 'purple hearts.'"

"When we first got there, our robot, his name was Frankenstein" says
Sgt. Orlando Nieves, an EOD from Brooklyn. "He'd been in a couple of
explosions and he was made of pieces and parts from other robots." Not
only did the troops promote him to private first class, they awarded
him an EOD badge -- a coveted honor. "It was a big deal. He was part
of our team, one of us. He did feel like family."

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

[There is precedent for awarding medals to non-human soldiers - the
Dickin Medal, created in 1943 to honor acts of outstanding animal bravery.
Pigeons, dogs, horses and a cat have received the honor, which is still
given today.  Is a medal for a robot so far-fetched?  Mark my words, the
day will come. -Editor]

 DICKIN MEDAL: THE VICTORIA CROSS FOR ANIMALS
 esylum_v07n48a15.html

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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