Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Not Creepy At All

This is not a post about the ultra-creepy misogynistic crap the "right" in this country is currently spewing at alarming rates. No, this post is about something nearly as creepy, a new DARPA running robot:

Yeah, not creepy at all.

I'll be so excited to see it after it's completed with a nice armored skin and a bunch of weapons bristling all over. It'll be super great if DARPA can manage to combine it with some of their other research into autonomous vehicles.

I hope there will be a non-lethal version available for your average campus police department and well-to-do homeowner. I envision a small market opportunity for some decorative "Beware Attack Robot" yard signs. Since I won't be able to afford the robot, I may have to get in on the sign making, maybe I can make a few bucks before one of our 1% overlords outsources that to China too.

9 comments:

  1. Okaaaay. It's a mechanical horse? Dog? A robot running on a treadmill doesn't really impress me. Looks like something I'd like to introduce to some pretty serious obstacles and various projectiles. At first blush, I'd like to start by broadsiding it with a cinder block and seeing if it can get up, or if it just keeps moving it's legs as if it were on a treadmill still.

    Perhaps I'm being complacent, but this strikes me as a "Wowzers! Look! Give us money! We'll figure out something to do with it later."

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    1. It's meant to eventually handle rough terrain and stairs and such, things current robots don't do well. That it will be able to run across those surfaces is a pretty big step for them.

      It just creeps me out. I've read too much science fiction -- I envision a weaponized version of this thing chasing me down and eviscerating me.

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    2. I find it kind of cute, but then Imma zombie.

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    3. Not only that, but a zombie with a well-known robot fetish! I even heard you indoctrinate children by teaching them to create the things!

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  2. heh. One of the kids on the robotics team was asking why nobody ever developed a leg-walking robot, and I told him the military had such already. Now I can tell him there are leg-running robots.

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    1. I'm quite pleased that I could actually provide useful information for a change.

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  3. Eight legs. That would be creepy. And robot deelybobbers. And a robotic stinger. And those crazy spidery eyes all red and glowy.

    And then they're deployed. The horror! The horror!

    The RPGs! The armor piercing rounds! The hand grenades! The IEDs! The fuck?! WTF were we thinking?

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