The Pyrate's Booty

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Robotics - The Geek Machine in Motion

The study of robotics has always interested me. The use of synthetic parts to mimic emotions, manipulate, replicate, and improve upon the movements, and productivity of humans, has become more common place in the media. These developments in robotics have been a constant reminder that our world is changing. But for the best or worse? In my search for answers to these questions, I've stumbled upon several interesting blogs which attempt to inform, entertain, and even debate the issue of robotics.

1. MedGadget - An Internet journal of emerging medical technologies, published a story yesterday about robotic medical tools. The story touched on new surgical robots which can snake through a patient's body and extract cancer cells or retrieve photographic images from inside the body which doctor's could use for diagnosing diseases or internal injuries (without the use of invasive surgeries).
2. The Raw Feed - This blog introduced a post about a helicopter robot armed with a shotgun. This killer bot is plainly called the "AutoCopter Gunship". This blog links readers to the original story by DefenseReview.com. I question whether or not this is a "reliable" source. DefenseReview.com was a scary site dedicated to guns and other killing paraphernalia.
3. Gizmodo - This gadgets blog, brought a story about a robot used in children's hospitals. The robot, playfully called "Anty", was created by Robotics & Multibody Research Group out of Brussels University. I found this blog post to be entertaining more than informational. Some visitors to this blog asked why Anty had nipples, or wished that the robot would malfunction and attack the sick children it was created to hug.
4. Auto Blog - As the name simply explains, this blog is dedicated to all things automotive. I found a post about a robot operated car, made by the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab. The robot is due to drive a VW Passat from San Francisco City Hall to downtown Los Angeles in October 2007. How will this robot maneuver California's dreadful traffic? Well, supposedly the robot will have a human co-passenger, which can override the robot if necessary. Scary!
5. RealTechNews - No words can describe the link I found on this blog site! Check it out!
Dancing Robots

1 Comments:

Blogger EugLoven said...

ANTY AMUSES ME TO NO END! I cannot even imagine the hilarity that'd ensue if it malfunctioned in the children's ward. hahaha sick and twisted

Yeah I totally think robots are awesome too! Except I'm finding more and more of these mechanical thingies being used toward scary war weapons like that creepy site with the guns!

I had this awesome Erector Set battery-powered helicopter when I was a boy and would fly that thing around everywhere! It had these rubber "caps" to put on the propellors because I think if could seriously slice your fingers off, the metal spun so fast!

9:16 PM  

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