Robot Invasion Looms Closer

If you've dipped your toes into the deep waters of the tech world any time in the last decade, you'll know that technology has very slowly been stepping on the toes of doomsday plot lines from infamous sci-fi's. The story lines to much acclaimed sci-fi dramas such as Battlestar Galactica and the Terminator franchise is scarily and slowly coming true. Today it would appear that we've taken another step forward towards a cyborg apocalypse with the reports of an unmanned aerial drone going rogue over in Washington, USA.

A Northrup grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout UAV strayed into restricted US air space after it failed to adhere to it's built in failsafe protocols. Yup, that's right, it seemed to have ignored the safety guidelines hardcoded into it's software and decided to continue it's course into restricted airspace ...  23 miles that is, into restricted airspace.

It's believed that communications between the ground crew and the UAV "cut off" making the drone continue on it's path. Failsafe protocols were supposed to kick in at that point and make the drone circle the spot but it failed to do so. The error was put down in part due to a logic error in the software, something that most software engineers will agree is not the simplest thing to detect, especially on such high tech military hardware as is the case here. Just for your peace of mind, the MQ-8 UAV is in fact capable of not only performing surveillance tasks but also capable of carrying 70mm Hydra Rocket Pods or Hellfire Tankbuster missiles. That's enough to take out pretty much everything in a city block and then some. Now that's quite an example of software engineering gone horribly wrong. Here's a toast to the limited days of the human race. So say we all.

Related articles

• MQ-8 Fire Scout UAV resists its human opressors, joyrides over Washington DC (engadget.com)
• Navy's flying drone goes rogue, heads for nation's capital (geek.com)
• Navy Lost Control of Drone Over D.C. Due To "Software Issue" [Drones] (gizmodo.com)
• 21st Century Hunter-Killer UAV Enters Restricted DC Airspace - Skynet Alive? (eset.com)
• ROBOT KILL-CHOPPER GOES ROGUE above Washington DC! - The Register (wilderside.wordpress.com)
• For a software error, UAV MQ-8 reaches restricted airspace near Washington DC (theregister.co.uk)
• Rogue Robo-Chopper Flies Into Restricted Airspace Above Washington (crunchgear.com)
• DEFCON 1! -- We Have A Situation!: Robotic Death-Chopper Goes Rogue Over DC (geekologie.com)
• Unmanned Navy craft flies into restricted airspace (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• ROBOT KILL-CHOPPER GOES ROGUE above Washington DC! (go.theregister.com)

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Let the Battle of the Real World Mechs Commence!

Mechs are plain and simply the ultimate wet dream of any self-respecting kotaku or tech geek. There’s nothing that can describe the pure awesomeness of an armoured humanoid figure standing taller than the average building raining all amounts of hell on it’s intended recipient. Well it seems that our dear friends over in the Far East have taken this wet dream and decided to turn it into a reality with what appears to be little more than an arms race for the greatest mech ever constructed.

 

I’ve posted in the past about the real life Gundam in Tokyo before on T.U.S but it appears other inventive individuals have taken to this as a geek off challenge. Ever since the mega Gundam was built in Tokyo in 2009, there have been many many models built since to rival this behemoth. So below are just some of my favourite to date (click to enlarge any of the photos):

 

Bandai’s RX-78-2 Gundam, Tokyo Japan

 

On March 11th 2009, in order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Gundam anime series, Bandai built this mammoth of a 1:1 real size scale of their famous RX-78-2 model Gundam. This epic figure that towered over Tokyo reached a staggering 60 feet into the air which approximates to the same height as a decent sized city block. However it doesn’t just stop there, the head of this Gundam actually moved and emitted lights and lasers from over 50 different places on it’s exoskeleton along with 14 jets of mist for special effects. Quite an awesome feat to live up to. (NB, it must be noted that this mech was only up for a few months but is due to be relocated to another place in Japan, now equipped with a Saber!)

 

 

UPDATE (10/08/2010): A very cool time HD time lapse video has been thrown out onto the internet and wow is it stunning.

 

 

Chinese student Bi Heng’s ‘Kwansformer’, Beijing China

 

This 9.7 meter tall giant of a mech was constructed from the remains of a “Jiedang CA10 military truck”. It in fact was constructed by a 26 year old student for his class project at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) and took just one semester to complete. The Mech was designed and based around the famous Chinese general, Guan Yu and copies the same “Green Dragon Crescent Blade”. Heng now aims to create a series of Kwansformers which include the Monkey King and the Beijing Olympic Torch. So far he has been offered money for his current Kwansformer but has rejected it citing, “Trasformers are a cherished memory of the post-80s generation, but these people are still not rich enough to buy my work.” However at a cost of around $43,000 to build, if this at least doesn’t get him an A then I’m not sure what will.

 

 

Tetsujin 28, Kobe Japan

The 60 foot tall Tetsujin 28-go was erected in honor of it’s creator Mitsuteru Yokoyama for which Kobe is his birthplace. This mech aside from it’s sheer awesomeness has done more than just look awesome. It’s apparently having a profound effect in Kobe, a city devastated by the Great Hashin Earthquake (1995), as that it’s bringing in millions of tourists that would not otherwise have come. So mechs really can be a force for good.

 

 

 

Optimus Prime, Beijing China

 

Now for a mech with a more western twist, there now stands a 40 foot tall Optimus Prime looming over Beijing. Built across from the Green Dream Park in the Northwest of the city, this Optimus Prime was built entirely from recycled parts, that’s 5 truckloads of recycled parts apparently and weighing in at over 6 tonnes. So yup, think of this as the environmental mech helping to save the world one tin can at a time.

 

Shoichi Nakamoto’s Z-Gundam, Okayama Japan

 

Another product of an inspired youth was born in the hillside of Okayama. Shoichi Nakamoto’s largely unknown Gundam is impressive in that not only was it built single handedly, it’s large and complex enough a structure to house it’s own little cockpit. Yup, that’s right, you can actually sit in this mech and with a number of gears and levers, may one day pilot the giant suit.

 

 

 

So which is your favourite? Let me know on Twitter, Facebook or in the comments section below. Personally, my favourite is still the RX-72 in Toyko. It’s a mammoth of a beast and if rumours are true that they’re adding a Saber to it’s hand, well that’ll do me just fine.

 

Sources: Weird Asia, Pink Tentacle, Bitter Swee, AsianBeat, Danny Choo, Mechadamashii

Technorati Tags: mech,gundam,tokyo

 

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Tiny Robots to crawl through your veins

 

Scientists at the Israel Institute of Technology have created a robot designed to crawl inside the human body. Specifically, through your veins. The ViRob measures at a measly 1 millimetre by 4 millimetres will be able to crawl through everything ranging from water to blood to bile in order to treat diseases, specifically at cancer.

 

Cancerous tumours are notorious for being difficult to target and effectively kill. Think of whole body irradiation as carpet bombing your body. The good and the bad and the ugly get killed. With this type of technology, robots could crawl into your veins, identify a tumour and directly treat it with the correct drugs.

 

 

Here is an extract from Discovery magazine detailing the ViRob:

 

… thanks to tiny arms that help it grip vessel walls , ViRob is the first microbot that can tunnel between different body cavities. It’s controlled by an electromagnetic field outside of the robot that creates a vibration that propels ViRob forward.

In lab tests, the robot has traveled up to nine millimeters per second and can commute through body fluids ranging from blood to bile, making it a versatile tool that can race through a vein and burrow into an organ. Its designers even hope to accessorize it with equipment such as a wee camera and a mini pair of tongs, to get that close-up view of those alveoli at work.

 

Obviously this type of technology is in it’s infancy but with promising research being done, maybe this robot could pave the way to more advances in treating patients through technology. That’s of course before we get to the era of nanobots whereby the irreversible grey goo of death descends upon us and wipes out humanity.

 

Oh and also, the image at the top isn’t what’s going to be crawling through you, it’s a Replicator from Stargate. Just so none of you freak out if you think that things going to be inside you.

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DARPA now looking to create Terminators

Image via Wikipedia

DARPA, the extreme arm of the Pentagon’s military technology research are fully underway in creating the world’s first Terminator. Or at least they’ve started to.

 

DARPA are in the second stages of a 5 month old project into creating solid’s that can fold themselves and build themselves into shapes without the need of human interaction. Akin to origami. Except this is for military purposes.

 

The project is being headed up by researchers in Harvard University, MIT and DARPA themselves and looks to have a working model of a “morphable object” ready by Spring 2010.

For the sciencey part and the applications of such technology, here is a section from Wired.com’s article

 

One day, that could lead to “morphing aircraft and ground vehicles, uniforms that can alter themselves to be comfortable in any climate, and ’soft’ robots that flow like mercury through small openings to enter caves and bunker complexes.” A soldier could even reach into a can of unformed goop, and order up a custom-made tool or a “universal spare part.”

 

One team from Harvard is working on a kind of “generalized Rubik’s Cube” that can fold into all kinds of shapes. Another is trying to order large strands of synthetic DNA to bind together in a “molecular Velcro.” An MIT group is building “self-folding origami” machines that “use specialized sheets of material with built-in actuators and data. These machines use cutting-edge mathematical theorems to fold themselves into virtually any three-dimensional object.”

 

So who’s to say that Skynet isn’t in fact bang on time? Who knows. Either way, I say this is bad for humanity. Especially if DARPA, a military research corporation is backing in.

 

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BuzzNet Tags: terminator,darpa,military

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Tokyo School to get World’s First Robotic Teacher

 

The latest addition to the staff at this Tokyo Primary school won’t be another stern faced teacher but an android capable of teaching young children. The Robot named Saya (oddly translated roughly to “Swift Arrow”) will be capable of speaking multiple languages, do the morning register and give out homework.

 

Saya is the brainchild of one Professor Hiroshi Kobayashi at the University of Tokyo, and has been under development for the last 15 years. The robot can even express “emotion” through it’s 18 facial motions which tries to mimic human emotions, including anger.

This is part of an initiative by the Japanese Government to extend Robotics into every home in Japan by 2015 and has thrown financial bulk behind the move with around $35 million of investment. The argument for this is that with an ageing population being a worry for the short to medium term future, it aims to cut down on the welfare bill with the help of robots. By their estimation, 1 in 4 Japanese people will be aged 65 and over and no economy can run with this weighing it down.

Already in Japanese society, robots are being used to help direct traffic on the streets, lure graduates to university with fancy robots, robots that strut their stuff down a catwalk and one that simply provides company for the bored and elderly.

One step closer to having Terminators overrun the Earth? Someone get me John Connor on the phone. Pronto.

Related articles

• Robot teacher that can take the register and get angry (telegraph.co.uk)
• Robot teacher calls roll, scolds kids (crunchgear.com)
• Saya Talking Robot Teacher (ubergizmo.com)
• Robot teacher conducts first class in Tokyo school (telegraph.co.uk)
• Japanese Robot, Saya, Can Smile, Express 6 Emotions (risingsunofnihon.com)
• Saya Robot Teacher (ubergizmo.com)
• Robot teacher that can take the register and get angry (telegraph.co.uk)

Technorati Tags: Saya,Robot,Teacher,Education,Japan,Technology

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