blog-recirc-group-fmgNonSatire permalink en-US f_ad_lightning_tag_on f_ad_refresh_enabled_on f_ad_script_in_head_on f_ad_timeout_amazon_on f_ad_timeout_failsafe_on f_ad_timeout_prebid_on f_amazon_aps_tag_on f_amazon_related_link_on f_amazon_search_recs_on f_amp_enable_t13_on f_amp_slideshow_on f_amp_sticky_ad_on f_amp_video_extra_events_on f_analyticstracking_on f_apscustom_on f_article_newsletter_sub_on f_author_page_canonical_on f_breadcrumbs_use_schemaorg_on f_car_comparator_on f_category_selector_grid_on f_cls_on f_cls_mobile_inpost_on f_collapsed_top_ad_on f_connatix_enabled_on f_connatix_late_load_on f_connatix_lazy_init_on f_connatix_lazy_load_on f_crop_modal_align_on f_curated_homepage_on f_custom_ad_sizes_on f_ddrum_on f_disable_amp_on f_disable_lazy_mfn_on f_disable_lazy_ymal_on f_disguise_video_links_as_videos_on f_eager_load_ga_on f_editor_unload_3rdparty_on f_editorial_egg_timer_on f_enable_bouncex_on f_enable_gtag_on f_enable_html_sitemap_on f_enable_slideshow_throttle_on f_enable_ymal_overrides_on f_enable_ymal_sidebar_on f_fastly_location_header_on f_featured_ads_four_on f_filter_kinja_meta_on f_fivecardcarousel_on f_frontendtiming_on f_frontpage_recentvideo_on f_frontpage_refresh_on f_frontpage_sticky_leaderboard_on f_gateway_related_on f_global_video_page_on f_goauthorurl_on f_google_tagmanager_on f_hide_sticky_social_on f_homepage_layout_admin_only_on f_homepage_sticky_ads_4s_on f_hp_smaller_images_on f_infinite_promotion_on f_infinite_scroll_on f_ix_identity_tag_on f_kargo_amp_on f_lazyload_iframes_on f_lazyload_twitter_iframe_on f_lazyload_youtube_iframe_on f_magnite_segments_on f_matomo_enabled_on f_merge_price_vendor_on f_missing_image_alts_on f_more_below_post_on f_movable_ads_tool_shift_fix_on f_newsletter_exit_intent_ad_on f_newsletter_modal_subdomain_on f_newsletter_popup_exit_intent_on f_newsletter_popup_exit_intent_mobile_on f_newsletter_preselect_on f_nolazy_hero_on f_prebid_on f_prebid_analytics_on f_prebid_ias_enable_on f_prebid_resetdigital_on f_recommended_posts_preview_on f_refresh_30_seconds_on f_refresh_ads_in_view_on f_related_stories_inset_on f_remove_h_tags_from_sidebar_on f_remove_sticky_h1_on f_require_video_permalinks_on f_section_nav_ga_events_on f_short_whitelisted_check_on f_show_splashy_top_on f_sidebar_ad_whitespace_on f_slideshow_on f_sourcepoint_ccpa_on f_sourcepoint_header_on f_sourcepoint_keyval_on f_speedcurve_lux_on f_sticky_right1_ad_on f_su_manage_blog_dropdown_on f_taboola_eager_load_mobile_on f_taboola_enabled_on f_taboola_feed_on f_taboola_feed_homepage_on f_taboola_feed_section_on f_taboola_undeferred_loader_on f_tag_noindex_nofollow_on f_taxonomy_on f_trackonomics_amp_on f_truncate_permalink_content_on f_truncate_permalink_desktop_on f_truncate_permalink_mobile_on f_truncate_sidebar_on f_veritas_compression_on f_veritas_tracker_on f_video_block_late_preroll_on f_video_permalink_play_next_on f_video_thumbnail_fix_on f_welcome_ad_analytics_on f_welcome_ad_freq_cap_on f_ymal_below_post_on blog-group-gizmodo”>GizmodoJalopnikKotakuQuartzThe RootThe InventorySend us a Tip!ShopSubscribeThe Future Is HereWe may earn a commission from links on this pageSearchHomeLatestNewsReviewsScienceEartherio9AISpaceEspañolVideoEditionsEspañolDeutschFrançaisNewsDARPA’s New 12-Ton Robot Tank Has Glowing Green Eyes for Some ReasonDARPA has been working on autonomous land vehicles since 1983.ByMatt NovakUpdatedApril 24, 2024Comments (50)We may earn a commission from links on this page.Screenshot: DARPA / YouTubeDARPA announced successful tests of its new autonomous vehicles on Wednesday, all part of the agency’s Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency (RACER) program. And while the tests sound impressive, we found ourselves transfixed by one little visual detail: The tank’s glowing green eyes.Related ContentThe Pentagon's Long Road to an Army of Autonomous VehiclesThese Gun-Shooting Robot Vehicles Are the Future of Urban WarHow Will Time-Travel Change Perry in Season 2 of Outer RangeCCShare SubtitlesOffEnglishShare this VideoFacebookTwitterEmailRedditLinkview videoHow Will Time Travel Change Perry in Season 2 of Outer Range?The RACER Heavy Platform (RHP) vehicles are enormous, weighing in at 12 tons and measuring 20 feet long. The vehicles are programmed using the Textron M5 base system, already used in many driverless vehicles by the U.S. Army, and are meant to complement the RACER Fleet Vehicles (RFVs) which are comparatively small at just 2 tons and 11 feet long.AdvertisementRelated ContentThe Pentagon's Long Road to an Army of Autonomous VehiclesThese Gun-Shooting Robot Vehicles Are the Future of Urban WarHow Will Time-Travel Change Perry in Season 2 of Outer RangeCCShare SubtitlesOffEnglishShare this VideoFacebookTwitterEmailRedditLinkHow Will Time Travel Change Perry in Season 2 of Outer Range?The vehicle tests, aided by teams from the University of Washington and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, happened at military training sites in Texas back in late 2023, but are just being announced by DARPA today.Videos from the Texas tests are now available on YouTube, demonstrating the fully autonomous driving of these gigantic vehicles in off-road conditions. And again, we can’t stop staring into the vehicle’s glowing green eyes. They give the entire demonstration an almost Pixaresque feel. Just look at that little face. RACER Experiment 4 — RACER Heavy Platform (RHP) Highlight VideoWhat’s the deal with the green eyes? A spokesperson for DARPA told Gizmodo in an email, “….it’s just an indicator light to show the status of the vehicle. Green = it’s on and in autonomy mode.”AdvertisementDARPA also posted a new video to YouTube showing the smaller RFV tests, which were notable for their adaptability in an autonomous mode. The teams running the tests had no experience in the area, making it as close to fresh for them as possible. The goal, of course, was to see how these types of vehicles could perform in a completely foreign environment.Advertisement“Using fully unoccupied RFVs, RACER demonstrated autonomous movement within a 15 square mile terrain area including highly diverse ground vegetation cover, trees, bushes, rocks, slopes, obstructed ditches, and creek crossings typical of the varied, complex Texas terrain familiar to armored maneuver,” DARPA said in its press release.RACER Experiment 4 – Cockpit view of an autonomous off-road run in TXDARPA has been working on autonomous vehicles for decades, starting in earnest back in 1983 with the Strategic Computing Initiative. And it’s incredible how far the U.S. military has come. During testing, the Autonomous Land Vehicle of 1985 would get confused with just a little bit of snow on the road. But that kind of obstacle is clearly no issue here in the 2020s.Advertisement“Having two radically different types of vehicles helps us advance towards RACER’s goal of platform agnostic autonomy in complex, mission-relevant off-road environments that are significantly more unpredictable than on-road conditions,” Stuart Young, RACER program manager, said on Wednesday.Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear the RFV has any cool color modes. At least none that we can see like the larger vehicle’s glowing green eyes.