Wednesday, April 26th 2023
Steam Deck Adapted Into Automated Gun Turret System
The Steam Deck is a hit with enthusiasts who require a gaming fix on the move, and Valve has observed its handheld getting revamped heavily by the modification community - but a new adaptation takes the pint-sized PC onto the real battlefield. The GamingOnLinux site yesterday picked up on emerging details from the Ukraine frontline - TDF Media group has shared photos and videos of an automated gun turret system dubbed "Saber" that can be operated remotely. The Steam Deck has somehow become the preferred control method - its on-screen UI, trackpads, analog sticks and button layout factor into the gun turret's operation. A reader has informed me that Valve's hardware is not officially available for sale in the region, so the military must be sourcing units from a grey/dark market source.
Sergey Mohov, lead gameplay designer at Remedy Entertainment, reposted some of TDF Media's photos on his Twitter account earlier this week, and added that "this automatic turret is the best use of Steam Deck I've seen so far." The Territorial Defense Force organization has described the turret (translated) thusly: "Saber is a Ukrainian automated remote-controlled gun turret designed for stationary installation on static objects or moving vehicles. The Saber system's co-ordination is done via a remote control, camera and monitor - which allows combat from up to 500 m from the rig, while preserving the operator's life. This combat platform can be installed in a stationary (capacity) at checkpoints, border and other zones - it is even able to defeat low-flying enemy drones. The platform is flexible enough to accommodate any light anti-infantry or anti-tank weapon weapon - a good example being a Kalashnikov machine gun."
Sources:
Sergey Mohov Tweet, Gaming on Linux
Sergey Mohov, lead gameplay designer at Remedy Entertainment, reposted some of TDF Media's photos on his Twitter account earlier this week, and added that "this automatic turret is the best use of Steam Deck I've seen so far." The Territorial Defense Force organization has described the turret (translated) thusly: "Saber is a Ukrainian automated remote-controlled gun turret designed for stationary installation on static objects or moving vehicles. The Saber system's co-ordination is done via a remote control, camera and monitor - which allows combat from up to 500 m from the rig, while preserving the operator's life. This combat platform can be installed in a stationary (capacity) at checkpoints, border and other zones - it is even able to defeat low-flying enemy drones. The platform is flexible enough to accommodate any light anti-infantry or anti-tank weapon weapon - a good example being a Kalashnikov machine gun."
37 Comments on Steam Deck Adapted Into Automated Gun Turret System
What next? Are we going to upload videos of frags? :shadedshu:
When your recruits are often gamers, it sort of makes sense to use what they know.I'd bet on Ukraine setting up an encrypted control stream way before I'd bet on Russia even knowing what those words meant.
It ain't rocket science...
What starts in one battlefield and ends up being a successful way to kill the opposite troops, spreads in other wars quickly and in the end is mostly used from those who are NOT the good guys.
I'll just leave.
All in good fun, honestly. We need to lighten up a little.
Then there was another report of US Military recruiters now interacting with gamers in online games, chatting up the potential to join the services. According to a few studies, apparently the competitive mindset of a gamer could be potentially molded into a more competitive soldier.
On the other hand, russia has suffered some serious brain drain over the years, and in the last year has seen a huge exodus of young men. Gonna take a gander and say many of their better hacker types were among the group running from the draft.
Seriously, look at the deaths in something like bahkmut, where 40,000 have perished. That's awful. Now compare it to WWII, where defending this exact same part of the countryside several million soviets perished, or WW1, where the city of verdun alone claimed 700,000 lives, and the river somme 1.1 million.
War is hell, but the focus on tech and vehicles has, ironically, lessened the number of troops needed to wage war, and the number lost. With the days of huge marching columns of infantry or old fashioned combined arms being put out to pasture, combined with precision weapons allowing an army to disable an opponent without a frontal assault, hopefully the death toll of future wars will be far below those of the distant past.
They can't just go launching Steam Sales all willy-nilly in a time of war.You gotta do the only thing you can...