us army remote vehicles using xbox 360 controller?
filed under: robotics | strange and unusual | video games
posted: June 5th, 2007 20 comments by technabob
Most video game enthusiasts will tell you that the Xbox 360’s joystick is one of the best designed gaming controllers of all time. Now it appears to have gotten the “thumbs up” from the U.S. Army.
From the looks of these photos taken in article over at ZDNet, at least some of the Army’s remote SUGVs (Small Unmanned Ground Vehicles) are controlled by what sure looks like an Xbox 360 controller to me.
The unmanned ground vehicles are part of the Army’s Future Combat Systems initiative, providing individual troops with improved accessibility to dangerous locations.
The fact that the Army would at least prototype these systems using the 360’s controller makes perfect sense to me, given the familiarity of the design to its likely users.
[via Xbox-Scene]
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20 comments comment
1. The US Army is using the &hellip | June 5th, 2007 at 6:28 am
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2. Fubiz | June 5th, 2007 at 8:44 am
Very nice pics!
3. mookie | June 5th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
LOL, can anyone say photoshop? Like it ain’t obvious.
4. technabob | June 5th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Actually, the only thing photoshopped was the orange highlight to call out the image. Be sure to check the original images over on ZDNet:
http://content.zdnet.com/2346-9595_22-67546-1.html
5. Xbox Skillz Good in Warzo&hellip | June 6th, 2007 at 8:45 am
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6. Mark Franzen | June 6th, 2007 at 11:38 am
And here’s an image directly from the US Army homepage that clearly shows the same controller, but a totally different and high-res version of the system in question.
People are too quick to throw down the “photoshop” moniker on anything they can’t even fathom today.
Link
[Technabob: Mark, thanks for this link!]
7. veganoob | June 6th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Its obviously photoshopped because the first picture displays a wireless controller and the second shows it with a wired controller.
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9. omegagz&hellip | June 6th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
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10. Fraggin': Xbox Controller&hellip | June 6th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
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11. Bob | June 6th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
It looks like the soldier is holding the controller by its wire in the top picture.
They are wearing black gloves so the hands are not very visible. If he was holding the controller itself then it would have portions obscured by the glove.
It looks just like a controller being dangled by its cord.
http://content.zdnet.com/2347-9595_22-67546-67555.html?seq=9
12. meneame.net&hellip | June 8th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
[EN]El ejercito de los EEUU usa mandos de la 360 para manejar robots en Irak…
Segun esta noticia, parece ser que el ejercito estadounidense en Irak esta utilizando el mando de la Xbox360 como ayuda para manejo de robots. Foto incluida. Ingles….
13. Francisco | June 13th, 2007 at 3:34 am
I hope they just use the controller and don’t try to use the console for anything because it’s the most unreliable system I’ve ever seen. I’m on my third X360 in six months…
14. ryan | September 14th, 2007 at 6:51 am
cool
15. louis | November 30th, 2007 at 4:38 am
look, in england(where i am) we have an advert for the british army, and in the advert, they use a spy plane to look over some troops, and that is controlled by an x-box 360 controller….so i dunno why u think its fake wen we use it for silly things like that….
16. ya mama | November 30th, 2007 at 8:23 am
its not photoshopped returds, there are other pictures of this aswell and not just this one.
17. Unknown | January 11th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Yep the British army does indeed use a 360 controller in their adverts like Louis said and they advertise it on TV, doing a close up on the controller so just accept it. i dont see why people are hell bent on believing its not real, the world wont end from this so stop crying.
18. Hildecrand7000 | March 16th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Can it T-bag?…..
19. zack spencer | March 22nd, 2008 at 11:26 am
Hi every one i got a question why would the army fake something like that they have better things to do like saving there contry this is not photoshop use . why is it not possible to use an x box 360 controller in war but i’m 100% positive it’s true
20. A Soldier | April 16th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Take it from one who knows, it’s for real, real shape, real controller, but not made by microsoft.
It is an excellent design of controller.
Would you fit your car with anything other than round wheels when you know that it’s a tried and tested design?
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us army remote vehicles using xbox 360 controller?