Although Valadimir Putin, the President of Russia assured that the latest Android robot FEDOR is of no threat, the recent video posted online, where FEDOR is shooting guns with both hands, doesn't quite seems so. It was reported in December last year that FEDOR - Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research, was necessary for Russian space programme, however the latest information shows that it has since been trained to shoot guns, drive cars, drill holes and do press-ups.
Russia's deputy PM Dmitryi Rogozin posted a short clip that shows what FEDOR can do; and wrote: "Robot platform F.E.D.O.R. showed shooting skills with two hands. We are not creating a Terminator, but artificial intelligence that will be of great practical significance in various fields." The video is also accompanied with the message: "Russian fighting robots – guys with iron nature." Some other robotic vehicles are also seen in the video to shoot at targets; however, those were all remote-controlled.
The Russian experimental robot is six feet tall and weighs between 106-160 kg, depending on the extra equipment that it is able to carry and can lift up to 20 kg cargo.
FEDOR's creators Android Technics and the Advanced Research Fund are defending this real-life Terminator by saying that it is being trained to shoot in order to improve decision making skills. They are attempting to teach it a wide variety of basic and advanced skills - from how to use a set of keys and various tools to screw in a light bulb and drive a car.
The Android robot was originally created for rescue operations, until engineers started training it for military purposes. According to MirrorOnline, FEDOR is the robot that Vladimir Putin hopes will successfully colonise the moon. FEDOR is set to permanently replace cosmonauts in maintaining the ISS by 2021.
Although, Putin says that his Russia is not building a robot army, but very conveniently the video surfaced right after President Donald Trump's Tomahawk missile attack on Syria raised tension between the US and Russia and the fear of World War 3 started doing the rounds.
