Embedded Mac OS X Projects Series

This has got to be the coolest ’bot ever. I fully intend to replicate this someday. In the meantime, if anyone has any details about this device, like who developed it, are there available resources discussing it (white papers, etc.), please let me know: rmann AT latencyzero DOT com.

Thruster Interceptor

This video clip comes from a program on TLC possibly called “Future Flight.” I don’t remember when it aired, and I apologize for any copyright infringement, but I really want to learn more about this device.

I’ve had a lot of people ask me to speculate about what this thing is. I know very little about it: it was originally designed as a kill vehicle for missile defense applications. It’s about 12" long. Here’s what I’m speculating: the thrusters are small, liquid propellant rocket motors designed for rapid duty cycle use. That is, they can start and stop very quickly, and that’s how they vary their thrust. The vehicle uses inertial sensors to determine its motion, and fires thrusters as necessary to obey commands given to it. I suspect it’s very loud, and the fumes from the propulsions system are very smelly, probably noxious.

Thank you!

P.S.—Sorry for the crappy video. I couldn’t get a larger size that looked decent after a few minutes of trying, and I really didn’t want to spend a lot of time doing this. This was originally recorded off DISH Network by a ReplayTV, dubbed to standard VHS, then captured with a Sony DV codec. Quality was going to suck regardless of what settings I used.