Make:

• The amazing Bickford, disposable razor robot!
• Dizzy - an aware kind of robot
• Wall-E robot from Wall-E toy
• TMCO | Total Manufacturing Company and their beer pouring robot
• Line-following arduino robot
• Use a servo motor for input

could have been an amazing piece of engineering if it was not intented to help kill people. it is just some very fancy weapon-carrier.

In the year 2008, DARPA/Boston Dynamics creates the Robotrons... I'm terrified of that thing- we may as well surrender now, unless one of you can shoot lasers out of your head. That buzzing sound is the creepiest part. Oh yeah, except for the rest of it.

Wow, that's freaky. It's so responsive and lifelike that you forget it's a machine at times. I'm sad that it'll probably end up mounted with weaponry, but dang, what a step forward robotics has taken.

Posted by: FlatTop on March 20, 2008 at 9:14 AM

That is too creepy/cool. I love it.
And why does everybody have to bemoan the weapons aspect without considering the exploration/research/rescue applications? Good things come out of DARPA projects as well. Remember, the internet started out as ARPAnet.

I understand the comments about the military uses of technology. It's a good thing for debate. I also know that a lot of times the technology once developed for military uses, then trickles down to the general public to be used for "good".
I can see (like flattop points out) that this can be used for exploration, rescue, etc...
What's also interesting here is how this robot, as it becomes more "lifelike" can ellicit human emotions... how many felt bad for it when the guy kicked it? Or felt sorry for it looking like a wounded animal on the ice. Ok, maybe it was just me.
The Machines are coming. If Darpa ever changes their name to Skynet, then I'll be worried.

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