As global tensions rise — particularly between the United States and Russia — every move that could even be perceived as a military one is receiving increased scrutiny.
And everyone appears to be ready to play…
North Korea ran several missile tests — which failed — and threatened the possibility of nuclear tests in the near future. They blamed President Trump for the escalation in competitive displays.
In response, the United States delivered a surprise armed exercise over Japanese airspace — and publicized a successful test of an unarmed nuclear warhead just days later.
On April 13, Russia jumped into the mix when a few tweets from Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin began raising eyebrows:
Робот платформы F.E.D.O.R. показал навыки стрельбы с двух рук. Идёт работа над мелкой моторикой и алгоритмами принятия решений@fpi_russia
His caption, translated, reads:
Robot platform F.E.D.O.R. showed shooting skills with two hands. Work on fine motor skills and decision-making algorithms.
Another tweet, translated, reads:
Combat Robotics is key to making intelligent machines. It concerns including aviation and space. Training in shooting…
… way of teaching machines to allocate priorities and instantly, and make decisions. We do not create a terminator, and artificial intelligence.
The final tweet in the series includes additional images:
…который будет иметь огромное прикладное значение в самых разных сферах
And translated, reads:
… that will be of great practical significance in various spheres.
The robot’s name is FEDOR (Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research), and was designed for space exploration. But a recent video shows FEDOR “learning” to shoot with both hands — and the robot appears to be an excellent shot:
FEDOR’s creators claim that the shooting training is designed to “help improve their motor skills and decision-making abilities,” but the timing of the video’s release may leave some wondering whether space exploration will truly be its only application.
Dr. Hans C. Mumm