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Gross. But not very threatening. | |
Wow. And we thought the robots of the future were shiny chrome tin men. How wrong we were. | |
Way to go iRobot, you created Liquid Metal and apparently haven't seen Terminator 2. Now a bike cop that looks like Robert Patrick is going to be the doom of us all. | |
Ahhh! AAAHHHHH!! THE BEACHBALL IS ALIVE!! | |
That's creepy. Athough I would like to see stuff like this in future - more awesome than metal. | |
When i saw it inflate i thought that of making a smaller version that you could insert to someones chest to take place of a failed heart or assist a failing heart, or even help with the lungs.... Dont know how practical that would be, or possible for that matter, but it would be cool. Also, the fleshy looking outside adds to the creepy factor by about 100 points o-o | |
Planet of the Beachballs?!?! | |
That is awesome...also...it's the first sign of Skynet! | |
My god. We are all doomed. | |
That guy sure does love to say jamming. And that thing looks like an egg sac that's about to explode. I would probably run away in fear if I saw one.
Sorry, but the hundreds of other people making that joke in every news post about robots beat you to it. | |
It's a bit creepy. Instead of tapping phone lines, this'll be what they use to spy on citizens. | |
It's cute, I want one :) | |
fixed - this is how the government is going to start keeping track of otaku! | |
Nah, Wily only makes cute, animal-themed robots. | |
Looked like sometihng out of a horror movie when it stealthily moves behind the computer monitor. Waiting there.. until you least expect it. Then it will pounce and ABSORB. YOUR. HEAD! | |
No that's Sigma. Wily makes robots based around a specific element or thematic material (with the exception of Centaur Man) | |
Whereas Dr. Robotnik makes ugly robots out of cute little animals. Odd, isn't it? | |
did they have to call it the iRobot.. God i hate anythign with "i" infront of the name. | |
It looks like a big sweaty dumpling. ...I could really go for some Chinese food right now. | |
That's the name of the company. They're better known for the Roomba vacuuming robot...which you would've known had you read the news post carefully. | |
It's a multimillion dollar military project and all they could come up with for it's presentation is some cheap fancy-shmancy-artsy paper and pencil stop motion animation? Anyway I like it. It's a nice change of tone from the cheap robot toys that try to play soccer or do sumo wrestling. This concept could be quite handy when dealing with robotic muscle tissue. | |
It'd be a great pet, just make it able to flop around with all the cables... | |
I was watching the video with a "oh, that's pretty neat" look on my face, when it suddenly hits the point where it becomes too damn real, and I see it moving around, and I leap immediately into that "WHOA O.o What the heck?? It's...real??". Freaked me right out. A living, robotic membrane with autonomous movement? Scary thought, that. | |
That's wayyy to creepy.I must say I don't like it, but it's a good step in the right direction in science. | |
I see a new market for sex toys. | |
true, but the inside is filled with liquid already, but replacing a diaphragm with a few could make an faux Iron Lung inside of a person. The skin could be used independently, making it contract to a degree that could be medically beneficial, as in a air-tight cover for puncture-wounds[gunshot wounds], or much like medicinal tape/gauze, using a small supply to hold a splint on a broken limb. getting into military though, the skins could be used as a type of bullet resistant padding, depending on how hard it becomes when compressed. | |
That looks pretty cool, but there is no way I would want that crawling down my hallway at night or something. Creepy as hell. | |
Nice. Coolest thing in a while, and dont try to tell me i was the only one who tought something inappropriate. | |
That's awesome. Mixed with the robot hand and Cyberdyne robot suit, the next 50 years should hopefully be very interesting... | |
There was a movie where people were chased by giant plastic bubbles. These are those bubbles. I do not remember what the movie was called. Google has failed me. | |
HOLY CRAP! now i´m gonna have nightmares of that thing crawling up my bed sheets | |
Oh crap, you're right. But Wily must have created some robotic animals somewhere right? | |
Do I hear "Super Robot Soldiers"? It's only a matter of time. | |
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Shape-Shifting Robot Blob Has Emerged From Your Nightmares
iRobot's flesh-like ChemBot will freak you out, but it also could save your life someday.
The ChemBot might look like something out of a bad dream, but it's actually a multimillion dollar military project. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Army Research Office contracted iRobot, creator of vacuum-robot Roomba, to design the soft, flexible, mechanical ooze last year. This video might be a little technical at first, but if you skip to the 2 minute mark you can see the results of iRobot's work thus far.
iRobot is not a company that just makes house cleaning robots. It has been providing military and civil defense forces with helpful robots for a while now, including the iRobot Warrior, a "large and rugged robot designed to carry 150-pound payloads", and the iRobot PackBot which has performed "thousands of dangerous search, reconnaissance and bomb-disposal missions" according to iRobot's website.
DARPA's main purpose for funding the ChemBot is to create something that can "traverse soft terrain and navigate through small openings, such as tiny wall cracks, during reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions." The ChemBot should be able to do just that through a mechanism called "Jamming," which allows for the transition between solid-like and liquid-like states with only a small change in volume. The first half of this video explains how "Jamming" works.
The ChemBot feels like the first step towards the creation of actual human-like robots similar to Battlestar Galactica's new Cylons. The creepy part about the ChemBot is how it looks as if it's alive and breathing. Wars could probably be won just by rolling out a few dozen of these things in front of opposing forces to scare the bejeezus out of them. I definitely wouldn't want to touch one, they look all gross and sticky.
Source: CNET via Slashdot
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