Trained dogs are smart enough to find bombs, drugs, people, and the safest way to cross the street -- but only with a capable handler nearby. Now a new system developed at Auburn University could turn canines into remotely guided ‘super dogs’ that can take on risky tasks. They designed a custom harness equipped with GPS, sensors, a processor and a radio modem that connects wirelessly to a computer system. The pack vibrates slightly on the left or right side and emits different tones to direct the dog. Unlike robots, dogs have the innate capability to get past a variety of obstacles, said Paul Waggoner, a senior scientist at the Canine Detection Research Institute who worked on the study. The challenge was to create software that took the dog's natural inclinations into account while guiding him accurately to a destination. The RC dogs are also part of a multimillion-dollar partnership with the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, or JIEDDO, to stop improvised bombs in Afghanistan. According to JIEDDO statistics, the American military locates about 50 percent of the improvised explosives planted in Afghanistan and Iraq, but that number increases to 80 percent when detector dogs are employed. Looks like ‘Fido’ will be tasked with some pretty dangerous situations.
Eavesdropper