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Engineers at the US Department of Energy's Idaho National Lab in Idaho Falls have been trying out using a Wii Remote to control their bomb disposal robots, reports New Scientist.
David Bruemmer and Douglas Few have modified the military Packbot robot so that it can be controlled using Nintendo's motion-sensitive Wii Remote.
The Packbot, which is made by iRobot, hunts down explosives, disposes of bombs, and checks for land mines to make areas clear for US soldiers.
Packbot can do some tasks autonomously but is generally controlled by a soldier using a joypad, similar to a standard console controller. However, doing things this way requires a lot of concentration, believe the two engineers, and a Wii Remote is much better suited to the task.
Bruemmer said, "Our tests show 90 percent of the operator's workload goes into driving the robot rather than keeping an eye on the sensor data. The Wii Remote is far more intuitive because movements of the hand directly translate into movements of the robot." This would therefore allow the soldiers to be able to pay closer attention to what they're seeing.
iRobot CEO Colin Angle agrees, and said, "Using the Wii Remote to control various aspects of the robot makes a lot of sense."
New Scientist also mentions that the Wii Remote has been used in a variety of other unconventional ways, including manipulating ultrasound images and monitoring movement deficiencies in people suffering from Parkinson's disease.
great. so now bomb disposal teams will get to waggle their wii mote around too
a lot of wiimotes will be sold
Congrats to nintendo for their their controller being used in the military. Nintendo probably must be proud. they're the 2nd company (other then microsoft) to have a controller used as a military tool.
Nice recruitment strategy.
I already see a new game title upcoming for Wii 
Nintendo.
Automatic Win Button.
Even you would go "WTF?" if you saw a nerf football and two darts stuck in the ground. You probably wouldn't suspect it to be an explosive, but it happens. Using Wiimotes to detect IEDs makes military EODs jobs much easier so that as many soldiers as possible come back home.
So... hold on... the tilt control will be manipulating the movement of the robot? What other things would it do? Control the arms of the robot? and so on via motion control? If that is so, I guess two Wii Remotes would be used? to manipulate the arms? Still not sure how this whole thing works, and I don't want to downplay the idea if it supposedly will be more effective, but how does manipulating a joypad remove one's eyes from the sensor data and how will the Wii Remote be able to reduce this?
I remember on Futureweapons on the Discovery channel, they had this "APC" like device that can carry units, equipment and the like, and has some serious off roading tricks where it can go almost anywhere being manipulated via 360 Wired controller and I don't know how a motion controller would help with that... but I guess a robot is more "human" like that natural movement is better?
congrats to nintendo.
The Wii can do anything. It did my taxes, gave me ripped abs and it makes a mean Captain and Coke. It also talks to me when I feel bad and walks my dog when I don't have time. IN YOUR FACE SONY.
lol. wow. i wonder if they change the remote from white to army green! it would look nice.
Hell no, the Wiimote has less precision than any console controller. We're all going to die.
So a Japanese company whose country no longer holds a standing army, has an electronic device now made just for modern warfare. Talk about irony. Next thing you know we will be dropping laser guided xbox360s instead of bombs.
I bet the next batch of Wiis will be packaged in camoflage and come with a free RPG.
Wow thats amazing! The Wii is defenetly raking in success
wow this is amazing mabye we will get a good shooter like call of duty 4 maybe call of duty 5
The concept of using game controllers to control remote drones for the military has been around for a few years. The US Armed Forces and Israeli Defense Force have been using 360 controllers for a while to control small recon drones, some of which are in the field already. So the concept of using game controllers for robots in the military isn't new, just the concept of using the Wii's motion-sensing technology.
And for the curious, you can find pictures and more information on the Packbot here: http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=109
Just imagine what they'll be able to do with the Wii Fit Balance Board!
ps3 cures cancer but the wiimote saves the whole ****ing world
If only they could train my Wii to go grab me a beer from the fridge...
Hey little kid, wanna play with my robot! but i dont know how...
oh sure you do! it uses a wii remote, your grandmother can do it! COOL! eh... dosn"t quite fit with nintendos marketing but it sure is cool
So when the Wii Remote starts saving lives I bet you dimes to doughnuts that the PS3 and X360 fanboys will still be calling it a gimmick and last gen.
oh that's awsome. Once again someone found a good feature the wii can be, therapy, exercising, now the military. Nintendo props big time
Awesome.
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