US
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel got a first-hand look at a life-size
robot Tuesday that resembles Hollywood's "Terminator," the latest
experiment by the Pentagon's hi-tech researchers.
But unlike the
cinematic version, the hulking Atlas robot is designed not as a warrior
but as a humanitarian machine that would rescue victims in the rubble of
a natural disaster, officials said.
The 6-foot-2-inch (187
centimeters) Atlas is one of the entrants in a contest designed to
produce a man-like life-saver machine, the brainchild of the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The competition, which
will require the bots to navigate rough terrain and enter buildings, was
created in the aftermath of Japan's Fukushima quake and tsunami
disasters.
DARPA, the Pentagon's research arm known for futuristic
projects often evoking science fiction, showed off the Atlas robot to
Hagel, but except for LED lighting, the humanoid was apparently switched
off on a "static" display.
Brad Tousley, head of DARPA's Tactical
Technology Office, told Hagel that Hollywood has created unrealistic
expectations of what real robots can do.
Building robots that can
climb ladders, open doors and carry objects requires daunting feats of
engineering and computer science, he said.
Scientists also showed
Hagel the latest technology for prosthetics, including a mechanical hand
that responds to brain impulses and a prosthetic arm controled by foot
movements.
A wounded veteran who once worked with Hagel in the
1980s demonstrated one of the devices, giving the Pentagon chief a
thumbs up with his prosthetic left arm.
"It's the first time in 45
years, since Vietnam, I'm able to use my left hand...," said Fred
Downs, who lost his limb in a landmine explosion during the war.
He controled the device using two accelerometers strapped to his feet, manipulating the elbow, wrist and fingers.
Hagel hugged Downs and shook his mechanical hand.
"He
and I worked together many years ago," said Hagel, referring to a stint
in the Veterans Administration during Ronald Reagan's presidency. "How
you doing, Fred? How's your family?"
Hagel said the new technology would have a dramatic effect on the lives of wounded soldiers.
"This is transformational," he said. "We've never seen anything like this before."
Justin
Sanchez, a medical doctor and program manager at DARPA who works with
prosthetics and brain-related technology, showed Hagel a video of a
patient whose brain had been implanted with a sensor, allowing her to
control a mechanical arm with her thoughts.
Scientists then
displayed a shiny black mechanical hand and arm that responds to brain
impulses, and said sensors would be attached to allow the fingers to
send sensations back to the brain.
The tactile feedback system should be operational within a few months, officials said.
"People said it would be 50 years before we saw this technology in humans," Sanchez said. "We did it in a few years."
DARPA
managers showed Hagel other technologies, but reporters were ushered
out after the first three demonstrations due to concerns about revealing
military secrets.
A US defense official who spoke on condition of
anonymity said Hagel was given an update on "PLAN X," a cyber warfare
project, a system to link tactical air controllers using tablets and a
new long-range anti-ship missile that would be less dependent on global
navigation systems.