March 21, 2011
The spy approaches the target building under cover of darkness, taking a zigzag path to avoid well-lit areas and sentries. He selects a handy vantage point next to a dumpster, taking cover behind it when he hears the footsteps of an unseen guard. Once the coast is clear, he is on the move again - trundling along on four small wheels.
This is no human spy but a machine, a prototype in the emerging field of covert robotics. It was being put through its paces at a demonstration late last year by Lockheed Martin's Advanced Technology Laboratories at Cherry Hill, New Jersey. With an aerial drone to their credit (see "Unseen watcher in the sky"), the company now wants to design autonomous robots that can operate around humans without being detected.
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