I’ve often wondered what the best way to fight back during the Robot Armageddon would be. Unfortunately, the answer may be other robots. The idea of trusting robots to fight their brethren and not join them could be unsettling, but it may also be one of the few answers available. Luckily for us, robot vs robot fighting can be pretty cool looking. Take for instance the video below from the 2010 RoboGames. While these robots probably aren’t going to start a revolution against humans, they still have some pretty sick weapons. Plus the footage is presented in super slow motion, which is always a plus.
There was also a truly terrifying portion of the competition called Mech Warfare. A small scale model city is set up and robot operators attempt to guide their creations through the streets to victory over other robots. The people controlling the robots are only allowed to see what their robot sees as they try to shoot pellets at other robots. This video is much scarier than the first one, since it is easy to imagine those robots wreaking havoc in your hometown.
Study these videos to try to learn how robots fight and what their weaknesses might be. This information could be invaluable.
And for some more information on what the RoboGames are all about, visit their website or watch the video after the break.
CES 2010 has come and gone, and if your are an avid technology news reader you are probably overloaded with all kinds of great information to impress everybody with. While 3D dominated coverage and was the unofficial focus of the show this year, there were still a few robotics companies showing off their latest and greatest. No demos seemed to give out an immediate sense of doom – maybe just a hint of creepiness.
The main idea that many of the demonstrations showed was just how far robotics has come and how fast it is moving. In the past, updates on the Honda ASIMO or Sony AIBO would occasionally surface but were few and far between. CES 2010 had a plethora of new and updated robotics demos, so check them out after the break.
Below is a video of a robot demonstration to what looks like an elementary school class. When I was in elementary school we never got cool robot shows, just Number Munchers.
In the video, a robot navigates an obstacle course until it comes upon a wooden statue of a human. The robot then proceeds to give it a big robo-hug and carries it a short distance. I can’t imagine a robo-hug would be very comfortable, and personally I would be terrified as to where it was taking me.
Hate washing dishes? This could soon be a thing of the past.
Do you hate washing dishes? Of course you do, unless you are some kind of cleaning masochist. Hopefully your kitchen has never looked as bad as the picture on the left, and even if you own a dishwasher, the daily chore of loading and unloading dishes can be very annoying. Luckily the folks at Panasonic are developing a robot that is able to do the dishes for us. The robot consists of an arm that is able to grab and move dishware without breaking anything, plus a camera to observe the arm and make sure it doesn’t become confused. Before putting the dish into a dishwasher, the arm will first empty any remaining contents into a sink. The robotic arm is also capable of simple serving techniques, such as scooping food out of a serving dish and placing it in a bowl.
As with any robot, there is a dark side to go along with all of the potential benefits. In the case of Panasonic’s robotics division, they are reluctant to make a strong push into consumer robotics due to the fact that there are no safety standards or liability laws concerning robots that interact with humans. Panasonic is projecting sales of $1.1 billion of home use robots by 2015, so it is surprising that they are hesitant when such a large amount of sales and money could be on the horizon. The video below states this same fact, and also gives a short explanation of the robot, as well as a few other robots that Panasonic is developing for consumer and commercial use.
In a world that appears to become more obsessed with sex by the day, it seems inevitable that robots would eventually be made specifically to satisfy a person’s sexual desires. Robots have already been made that look more human than anything seen before, even though they are still very creepy.
Robots LOVE Hello Kitty.
So what is the future of sexbotics, and what are the consequences if robotic sex becomes morally and socially acceptable?
I’ve been playing around with Twitter today, trying to find decent plugins to integrate a Robot Armageddon Twitter page within RobotArmageddon.com. Many of them break the layout of the page or just plain don’t work, but there a a couple that I have been able to add.
The most obvious of these is an option at the top of the frontpage to add a tweet about RobotArmageddon.com to your Twitter. A similar option will appear at the top-right of each individual post page. If you click the link you are able to add a tweet to your Twitter without opening a new window/tab or having to leave the site at all. There are quite a few options that you can choose from, but all you really have to do is click ‘post to your twitter’, click the update button, then click close after the tweet is submitted. A bit.ly short link is automatically used in your tweet.
Also on each post page, just above the ‘post to your twitter’ link is an option to retweet that post on Twittley.com. Twittley is a site that only shows user generated content from members of the Twitterverse. It’s a good place to waste some time and find some cool new sites.
If you enjoyed what you read, please share the love on Twitter and Twittley.
You can also promote your own Twitter – there is now an option to include your Twitter username when you leave a comment. If you choose to use this, your Twitter username and a link to your Twitter page will appear beneath your name after you leave a comment so other users will be able to view your Twitter. Look at the comments for this post to see an example.
The Robot Armageddon Twitter page is still a work in progress. Currently there are a few websites (Twittley & Redgage) that automatically post tweets whenever new content is added to RobotArmageddon.com. If everything gets jumbled up with similar tweets from different sources then it will change, but for the time being those tweets will show alongside anything I decide to tweet myself. If you chose to follow the Robot Armageddon Twitter, I will reciprocate and follow yours as soon as I can.
If you have any questions or comments regarding the Twitter or Twittley pages, please send an email to david [at] robotarmageddo [dot] com.
Since you read this, and hopefully contributed to spreading RobotArmageddon.com across the Internet, click the ‘Continue Reading’ link to see a Youtube clip of a robot humping all kinds of household items. Cheers.
Most everyone has some sort of knowledge about Skynet, the computer program that eventually led to the war between humans & machines in the Terminator movies and TV shows. The concept of a self aware and artificially intelligent computer network is quite terrifying, but it may soon become a staple in networks across the world. There are a couple projects being researched and developed that all hold a piece of the Skynet puzzle, not to mention an actual system named Skynet that is currently in operation. So while Skynet in the Terminator universe was merely fiction, reality is just as alarming. Of course these new systems are meant to help society operate better, faster and stronger, but the worst actions often have the best intentions. Part 1 of 2 is below.
Robots are slowly beginning to pick up more and more skills to make them human-like or better. Toyota has built and demonstrated a robot that is able to run. Although the speeds are not very fast, this is just a small step towards giving robots too many abilities.
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