New system turns canines into remotely guided ’super dogs’
By ANISunday, January 23, 2011
WASHINGTON - Auburn University researchers have developed a new system that would turn a canines into remotely guided ’super dogs’ that can take on risky tasks.
David M. Bevly, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Auburn University and his team have created an external, real-time navigation system for trained dogs, reports ABC News.
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.
A trained yellow lab named Major tested the system at the university’s Canine Detection Research Institute. The results showed Major had a high success rate when directed to points several hundred meters apart.
In the trials, the dog followed directions accurately 80 percent of the time, and the computer issued correct commands 99 percent of the time.
Next, the team is looking at guiding a dog through more complex tasks, and at greater distances.
“We’re looking at longer range guidance, where you might need a dog to go three or four miles,” said Bevly.
The system has major benefits for military, security, and law enforcement operations.
The results were published in the journal Personal Ubiquitous Computing. (ANI)
