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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe robot targets are made of a durable plastic that can withstand hundreds of shots.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo Credit: Marathon Targets<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Marksmanship \u2013 one of the most fundamental skills of soldiering \u2013 is a problem all militaries have, Petroff said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The only time militaries are able to do realistic training on moving targets is in firefights,” he said. “The battlefield is a horrible place for on-the-job training.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n In training, soldiers mostly train with stationary targets; even the moving targets only move from left to right, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Smart Targets, made from self-healing plastic and have heavily armored bottoms, more closely simulate how enemy fighters might move or react during a real firefight; the robots even scream when they’re shot and can move up to a mile in five minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They’re so smart that they can be programmed to be used as an opposing force during a field training exercise, Petroff said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “This isn’t laser tag. This is serious live-fire,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart Targets move at human running speed, across a wide ranger of terrain.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo Credit: Marathon Targets<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n And when you’re done training, the Smart Robots, which have run-flat, foam-filled all-terrain tires, drive themselves back into their trailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart Robots are the only autonomous ground robots in any kind of regular use in the Defense Department, Petroff said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They cost $35 an hour per robot to rent under an extended lease, Petroff said. A typical training scenario will use about eight robots. Each robot can cover almost 13 miles on one battery charge, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Smart Robots can serve five functions for users, Petroff said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They can act as standing targets, pop-up targets, moving targets, realistic moving targets and as a robotic opposing force, Petroff said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It’s solving this fundamental problem,” Petroff said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Marathon Smart Targets behave like humans and even scream when they are shot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":113670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":88,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[29,88,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[599],"class_list":["post-51945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-show-dailies","category-global-force-symposium","category-home"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"4SYLGBKTAVDFFNLWH6RGLFXXAI","arc_canonical_url":"\/digital-show-dailies\/global-force-symposium\/2016\/03\/16\/robot-targets-may-be-solution-to-improving-army-marksmanship\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635937469510275852-rover2jpg.jpg\")
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