Wii-Controlled Robots Made for
Combat
Eric Bland, Discovery News
Dec. 19, 2008 -- For kids, a new way to control virtual characters is all fun and
games. For soldiers, more intuitive controls for robots could mean the difference
between life and death.
Using the controller from the popular Nintendo Wii gaming system (the
"Wiimote") scientists from the Idaho National Laboratory, working with engineers
from the U.S. Army, Foster-Miller, and iRobot, are developing novel ways to
control military robots.
"If a soldier wants to find a bomb [with a robot], 95 percent of their attention has
to be focused on the screen," said Doug Few, an engineer at the Idaho National
Laboratory working on the project. "Using the Wii remote reduces the work load
on the operator and also extends the numbers of domains that the robot can be
used in."
The current laptop interface that controls the military robots can have up to 50
hard buttons and requires a soldier to place all attention to the monitor, a
potentially deadly distraction in a war zone.
The white, Snickers-sized Wiimote is more intuitive, say the researchers, as
evidenced by its popularity among gamers.
The Wiimote is equipped with buttons, an infrared beam and accelerometers. A
player can point it at the television screen to aim and fire at objects like a gun, or
swing it to play games like virtual tennis.
"It's very easy to drive the robot with the Wiimote," said Slater.
The various buttons and physical actions on the Wiimote would activate certain
responses, such as throwing a grenade or sweeping for land mines, faster than
having to look down and operate a specific key.
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