Portable bots get cattleprod zapguns, hover capability

Aficionados of the killer-robot world barely get time to catch their breath these days. Yesterday was no exception, with two military droids making their debut. First up was iRobot, makers of the famed "Roomba" autonomous vacuum cleaner - and also the "Packbot" tracked crawler-droid, known to the US Army as SUGV and noted for …

[Phil]

I say

Just like those hovering droids in half-life 2!

[Nik Peltekakis]

There

are enough people dying in the world already; all these technological ways to kill are scary.

Just fight with swords and shields; at least then when you have killed someone and their blood is in a pool at your feet you know what it means to have taken a life. Sitting at a monitor playing kill the "terrorist" is awful.

Im leaving at 4.

[John Latham]

Beware the rat brains

The great thing about these bots is that you can (presumably) take them out without being done for murder. Just criminal damage. A bit like high-stakes Laser Quest.

...until they become equipped with rat-brains, and then you'll get done by the RSPCA.

John

[Lloyd]

Well I never

They appear to have modelled the droid in the picture at the top on Johnny 5 from Short Circuit.

[George]

MUAV?

Quote: "Flight International reports that the US Army's flying-wastebasket style hover-bot - officially known as the Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle - is now in action."

So, it's anagram is MUAV? That suggests a rather horrifying color scheme.

[Cameron Colley]

Rat Brains?

Make the robots nuclear-powered, and faster, and use dog brains instead and you might be onto a winner...

[hugo tyson]

Nuclear-powered metal dogs

...are lovely, but they can't exactly loiter in the reconnaisance role. Nor corner a perp as such. Cook a perp perhaps...

[Ben Crow]

Rubbish name

iRobot.... Is that the best name they could come up with, i can just hear the conversation:

"What shall we call it"

"Well its a robot"

"how about destructodroid?"

"ooh ooh i know lets call it steve the robot"

"hmm, no thats.."

"i know i know lets call it iRobot",

"ooh yeah that reminds me of Will Smith"

"yeah, hey that Carlton was funny in Fresh Prince!"

"yeah he did that dance"

"yeah"

[Dave]

Dog brains?

Maybe not a good idea as anyone who has read the excellent "We 3" would attest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We3

[Jay_rm]

Nick P....

I agree with your comment but...

...the problem is getting the OTHER guy to fight with a sword and shield.

Adversaries have this annoying habit of escalation. Bringing a gun to a knife fight, using long-range rockets to counter your short range aircraft, nuking your conventional forces, ect.

[evil tom]

Of course, there is only one response...

...Russia will just have to get working on that clone army of mutant bear soldiers it has been secretly planning since ClonAid's Moscow cloning vat center was shut down in 2003.

The only response to robot warfare is genetic engineering...or the arcane arts. One or the other.

[Ben]

Put down your weapons:

You now have 21 seconds to comply...