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BOB HIRSHON (host):
Robots on the battlefield. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
You’re a soldier on patrol, and a sniper fires at you. You need to take cover, but the shooter could be anywhere. Soldiers in this situation may soon look to a robot called REDOWL. Thanks to sound-processing technology designed to improve cochlear implants for deaf people, REDOWL can identify the exact location of a gunshot. It can then turn to the shooter and zoom in with a camera. Engineer Socrates Deligeorges of Boston University says the technology is modeled after the way humans hear.
SOCRATES DELIGEORGES (Boston University):
…basically neuron by neuron. How the mechanical structures take sound pressure waves, convert them to electrical signals, and how the brain uses those electrical signals.
HIRSHON:
Deligeorges says the technology has also proven useful for monitoring machinery and even taking a census of frogs. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.