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Xbox Controller Pilots Remote-Sniping Helicopter

by Tim Stevens on April 17, 2009 at 03:19 PM


If you're the sort who's into scoring headshots in your video gaming adventures, chances are you've become quite friendly with the Xbox 360's weapon of choice: the gray and white controller. Its two analog sticks, directional-pad, and dozen-or-so buttons let you drive high-powered race cars or fire high-powered rifles with easy precision. In an extreme case of life imitating game, it's now being used to control an unmanned combat helicopter to allow for some high-altitude sniping.

This awesome device is called the Vigilante 502 Autonomous Rotorcraft Sniper System, or ARSS. The remotely controlled 'copter carries a .338-caliber sniper rifle, and can be set to maintain its position automatically while its gunner uses the Xbox 360 controller to hone in on targets. Need to go after the baddies with a little more kick? Instead of the sniper rifle, the ARSS can be armed with an AA-12 fully-automatic 12-gauge shotgun, or an M240 7.62-mm machine gun. If you want to go the non-lethal route, just strap on the flashing strobes, which are designed to cause disorientation and nausea -- about how we feel after ten hours of 'Gears of War II.' [From: Popular Mechanics, via DVICE]

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Tags: arss, autonomous rotorcraft sniper system, AutonomousRotorcraftSniperSystem, helicopter, top, vigilante

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