As a huge fan of real dogs, I support this.

cant wait to enlist again as a robot dog operator.

like playing call of duty with a gunned up machine robot dog.

wp skynet

Right, but that would cut into the CIA’s domestic distribution supply. Can’t have that.

Me who has worked both as an IT and Engineer in the Navy.

What do I know lol?

There are robotic mules. Robots designed to carry equipment, water, food, etc over rough terrain.

Anyone Remember «Big Dog» ?

Boston Dynamics had this large quadruped robot like 10 years ago that they abruptly stopped showing videos of. I wonder why.

I think comparing these things to dogs kind of sets them in a certain light.

They aren't dogs, they won't be used as you'd use a dog, they don't have the same capabilities as a dog.

A stock Boston Dynamics Spot robot has a runtime of 90 minutes. Of course the battery can be swapped out, but in a standard work day that would be six enormous batteries. For the sake of argument let's say that the military model has two batteries to run at the same time. That's a minimum of three battery swaps a day and someone who has to carry all of those around. News flash, the operators also need food and water and are going to have that on them anyway. A donkey can also eat and drink pretty much anywhere in the world that's not covered in snow or sand.

Edit: each Spot battery is 5.2kg/~11.5lbs. With two batteries on the robot and four in reserve, that's 20.8kg/46lbs of weight to support a robot that can only carry a 14kg/30lb payload to begin with. Each battery is also the size of a mid-range quadcopter, meaning that someone's job on the team is just dealing with the drone and carrying its luggage. All for a drone that can't smell, can barely hear, and can barely carry anything. Might be able to provide early warning if it happens to spot someone using FLIR from two feet off the ground. Maybe. This is just one tiny slice of the taxpayer's pie being served up to the military industrial complex on a newer, shinier platter with nothing but prop pieces to show for it.

One day, they‘ll be running the Navy!

That’s the real question. Who would win, robot Wolverine or robot honey badger?

Oh no. I saw this episode of Black Mirror!

A donkey needs a person with them. A robot does not.

Robot honey badger.

Robot cocaine bear

Yeah, based on their logic, we should go back to ox ploughed fields.

If we’re lucky, soon. Cause we already have an armed police force present pretty much everywhere, and they have regularly demonstrated that you can never be sure when interacting with one if you are in danger or not. At least with bots you can actually see what it was thinking when it opens fire on someone, rather than “I smelled pot in the air”, “I thought they were reaching for a gun”, etc.

Sounds like something out of Metal Gear Solid 4.

A robot bear would be too Russian though.

A cat. Meow that isn’t funny. Get it. Cat or pu… I mean you get and so do I. I had one of those but these modern ladies. I honestly think the push of women working is a big plunder of our society. There is nothing wrong with making a house a home for kids and pets and a family to thrive but instead we all think we need to work and earn money and chase an American dream

A robot cat would be giving orders just a like regular cat.

Depends on the use case, and materials required

And it's all due to the Millenials...

Sorta. Dogs, and donkeys, need water, food, and shelter pretty frequently. A robot will need maintenance but the depth and frequency will not be frequent (or at least can be designed to not be frequent). Also, if your dog breaks their leg there is a considerable amount of time for the dog to heal. A robots leg could be made to be replaceable in a matter of minutes.

The upfront cost of a dog (or donkey) is considerably low compared to a robot but at a point in the not-too-distant future, the accumulated cost for a robot would be less.

A Robot cat would never work for The Man, just sayin’.