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2020-09-09 Science & Technology

How US Army spent millions developing Star Wars-like walking robots to navigate rough terrain in the 1980s

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Posted by Skidmark 2020-09-09 00:00|| || Front Page|| [5 views ] Top

#1 Why am I thinking 400$ hammers?

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2020-09-09 05:20|| 2020-09-09 05:20|| Front Page Top

#2 ..having worked some contracting, you understand the graft Congress works into the process. One can not just go down to HomeDepot or Lowes and buy your hammers and provide them to the contractor. No, no. The contract has to provide it and in doing so adds all sort of overhead and administration costs in the process. If you try to husband resources and look after the taxpayers money you go to jail. You must follow the laws, rules, and regulations that flow out of Congress. Of course that doesn't stop Congress from grandstanding and denouncing the results by using others to take the blame. Got to protect their phoney baloney jobs.

Posted by Procopius2k 2020-09-09 06:40|| 2020-09-09 06:40|| Front Page Top

#3 ^Ah well - remembering the Romans - could you trust unit commanders with discretionary funds?

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2020-09-09 06:49|| 2020-09-09 06:49|| Front Page Top

#4 Especially near the end of a fiscal year with their perverted belief that they had to spend the excess money or lose it next FY.

Posted by Clem 2020-09-09 07:25|| 2020-09-09 07:25|| Front Page Top

#5 Not to mention hiding the Black Budget expenses.

Where do you think all the UFO facilities get their cash? (see Independence Day for details)

Posted by AlanC 2020-09-09 08:13|| 2020-09-09 08:13|| Front Page Top

#6 They're here. The Air Force just tested robot dogs as backup for security forces.

Posted by Thraling Munster5941 2020-09-09 10:55|| 2020-09-09 10:55|| Front Page Top

#7 A friend of mine who used to work for IBM Federal Systems explained why things cost so much for the government: Suppose IBM develops a new circuit board. It costs a million dollars just for the development. Now, if IBM is going to put that into a regular computer, they will make a million of them. So, the added cost for the circuit board is $1. However, if the board is for the government, the government might only get 500 or so. So the development cost adds $2000 to each board. Plus, because the circuit board has to meet all the milspec and other government regulations, the development cost is likely to be upwards of $2 million.
Plus all the stuff thatP2K mentioned.

Posted by Rambler in Virginia 2020-09-09 18:13|| 2020-09-09 18:13|| Front Page Top

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