The Boston Dynamics bipedal robot can run now

[Richard_Kirk]

@anon75430791

Anything with moving parts breaks down. Heck, software systems with (more or less) no moving parts break down constantly and require maintenance. A robot uprising would have to be comprised of robots who can fix the infinite ways that they will break down, even at a microscopic level.

Is this so? All nature tries to repair itself. It is an extraordinary trick. Nevertheless after I broke my wrist, I have had months in plaster and had to have a piece of titanium to make the wrist straight enough to use. It would be a lot better if I could eject the dud arm and insert a new one. I would imagine a small number of robots with interchangeable parts, and with the tools to make new parts, could keep each other repaired.

[Entity447B]

@peregrinus_bis

A flying robot can’t carry grenades, rifles, machine guns, frikkin lzr beams, bombs and armour.

The MQ-9 has bombs and lzr beams (though they’re only for targeting said bombs). Dunno if they put a gun on it. Either way, you’re not safe. Of course that robot’s even less useful for humanitarian rescue missions

[Otherbrother]

@werdnagreb

My second thought is…Wait…it seems very inefficient for a robot to run like a human, couldn’t a flying robot kill us much faster?

There’s an XKCD comic for that, of course:

[jerwin]

[simonize]

So those plotting to robot overthrow need not have wasted all time and effort to make everything handicap accessible so that the Daleks could get to us.

[Akimbo_NOT]

@dug

Good. Now we can chase them before we push them over.

Like cow tipping or messing with Sasquatch.

[anotherone]

Honey! Baby took her first steps.
Yeah, but how fast…

[Pensketch]

[Mindysan33]

Because they are shiny?

[Pensketch]

@Frasay

Why are humans manifesting our own obsolesence?

Everyone needs a hobby.

[euansmith]

They grow up so quickly.

[anon89609066]

@peregrinus_bis

A flying robot can’t carry grenades, rifles, machine guns, frikkin lzr beams, bombs and armour.

But obviously, this robot is designed for humanitarian rescue missions, so that’s completely irrelevant.

Imma change googlemaps data and hide in a blank spot.

Ever notice that it’s next to frikkin impossible to buy good body armor?

[anon85905360]

@Papasan

I can’t run faster than it, that’s a real problem.

Don’t worry, the young will survive. They can run and also squeeze into small rock crevices.

[mns]

This kind of self repair or molecular scale assembly in artificial systems is about as far in the future as economically feasible fusion power… always 50 years off. No grey goo in our lifetimes.

[peregrinus_bis]

I hadn’t, but given the BD developments, I’m pretty sure I will.

[anon85905360]

@anon75430791

Look, it’s fine. It’s not like they have an articulated arm to attach knives to or anything.

Now you mention it, I think I’ve seen that guy before…

[Zaphod]

@Franko

on second thought, we invented nukes, and here we are. hmm.

Nukes, very powerful, but very stupid, hence manageable.
AI on the other hand…

[Celandine_Crane]

It’s okay, we’ve got it covered.

[anon89609066]

(obligatory)

[Richard_Kirk]

@mns

This kind of self repair or molecular scale assembly in artificial systems is about as far in the future as economically feasible fusion power… always 50 years off. No grey goo in our lifetimes.

50 years ago, the immune system was little cells valiantly defending our bodies against invaders and fusion was using magnetic fields to try and slam deuterium and tritium atoms together. We have since learned a huge amount about how the immune system works, and have understood what a truly neat job much of life is, and how much we still have to learn; while fusion is still using magnetic fields to try and slam deuterium and tritium atoms together.

We may have grey goo in our lifetimes. Right at the end of all of our lifetimes if we don’t do it right.

Making spare parts and swapping bits seems to be something that life has never really tried. Things like hermit crabs swap their shells, but that’s not quite the same thing. It may be that robots have options that living things don’t.