@LockheedMartin SMSS Robotic Mule vs modified Traxxis Stampede Toy Truck - Remote Control Toy Story

Into the Jaws of Death,

Into the mouth of Hell

Rode the six hundred

Tennyson, The Charge of the Light Brigade

The US Army is possibly the biggest spender on Technology and Telecommunications Gear and can in essence be considered the Fourth Branch of the Telecommunications Sector. And their stuff is the best stuff Telecoms Research and Development money can buy. So when this story of an automated mule, developed by Lockheed Martin named the SMSS as CNET News reported in the article “Army sending robo-jeeps to Afghanistan”, by Chris Matyszczyk, Technically Incorrect - CNET News, I lamented in my mind: yet another overpriced US Army innovation.

I love army tech, as it the best of the best and designed for the Harsh Realm of Warfare and Combat. However, I have no aspirations to serve in the Army in my own country as I would be ineligible due to my dependence on Salbutamol to get thought a ten (10) mile hike without dying from an attack of asthma.

So, albeit I love Military contractors such as Lockheed Martin, it’s great to see every once in a while an example of off-the-shelf tech used in the battlefield that should make the Military Contractors stand up and take notice.

Such is the story of Staff Sgt. Christopher Fessenden and his modified Traxxiss Stampede Toy Truck as stated in the article “Hacked toy truck saves soldiers’ lives”, published AUGUST 8, 2011 by RICK MARSHALL, DigitalTrends.

My many articles display my love for the US Army cutting edge technology, which often winds up as products we use after they get tired of blowing things up. So using this logic, products I am on the watch for in the next five (5), based on my previous blogs about army tech are:

1. Solar Powered Commercial Passenger Aircraft based on my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy and Aviation - of Airplanes and the Sun God Ra”
2. Truck mounted or even Handheld Laser Weapons as per my blog article entitled “Boeing and the HELTD Direct Energy Weapon  - StarShip Troopers Death Star in Revenge of the Sith”
3. Laser Weapons mounted on speedboats and ships as stated in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers and Raytheon - Star Wars on the high Seas”

However ever once in a while, Silicon Valley and Toymakers get the upper hand in products such as the Quadricopter/Augmented Reality (AR) Drone from Parrot that only need a better battery to be US Army ready as stated in my blog article entitled “Broadcasters and The Parrot AR.Drone”.

Then there are stories of actual toys being used in the battlefield, which in my mind should make Military Contractors out of Toy companies for sheer innovativeness, especially on the part of soldiers. The example of the use of a modified Traxxiss Stampede Toy Truck modified with a remote camera as stated in the article “Hacked toy truck saves soldiers’ lives”, published AUGUST 8, 2011 by RICK MARSHALL, DigitalTrends.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Fessenden used the modified Traxxiss Stampede Toy Truck built for US$500 by Rochester, Michigan hobby shop owners Ernie, his brother and Kevin Guy. Alas the truck met its untimely end, after serving its purpose of spotting IED (Improvised Explosive Devices). This as relayed by Staff Sgt. Christopher Fessenden to his brother Ernie (as in Sesame Street?) back home in 2007AD as explained on ABC News, quote: “Hey, man, I’m sorry, but the truck is gone. The neat thing is that the guys in the Humvee were all right.”

Thus a perfect example of a Toy that has Military applications, to quote Staff Sgt. Christopher Fessenden letter to his brother Ernie: “We do mounted patrols, in trucks, and dismounted by foot. The funny thing is the Traxxis does faster speeds than the trucks we are operating in under the governing speed limit… so the traxxis actually keeps up with us and is able to advance past us and give us eyes on target before we get there.”

I like both gadgets, but I like the modified Traxxiss Stampede Toy Truck better!

And like the modification by Raytheon of their ship based Centurion 20mm anti-aircraft gun to use a Phalanx Laser as stated in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers and Raytheon - Star Wars on the high Seas”. A bit of military funding for such as simple of-the-shelf bit of American ingenuity may go a long way Toy Story (1995) Style on the cheap, in saving lives in other theatres of operation, Remote Control (2001) Style.