Slashdot Mirror
Inchworming Probe for Planetary Exploration
An anonymous reader writes: "Honeybee Robotics, a firm in New York's Little Italy, has designed a probe that can inchworm deep into the Martian crust or Europan ice shell without a cable to the surface for power or data. Totally autonomous. It's based on a system the company designed to weld steampipes below Manhattan. It's also just really cool."
The worldwide robotics industry has one primary market: toys. All robotic efforts are being directed towards this market. There is no other use for autonomous robots in the modern world.
Industrial robotics has failed due to costs of lawsuits and the success of deregulation and free trade at opening up cut price labour markets in the third world. Industrial robots are a thing of the past.
Autonomous robots are far to complex and fragile to be used for taks like space exploration. As someone who has programmed robots, I can assure you that the level of effort required to get a robot to move consistently in a straight line, let alone navigate areound obstacles through sensory input is prohibitive. Expecting a robot to work autonomously on a distant planet is absurd.
I am certain this story is mere marketing hype. In order to develop a market of "early adopters" for robot technology, an impression must be created that robots are futuristic high tech, and hence a desirable commodity to gadget freaks. This article was written to seed the market with subtle propaganda.
Expect to see this for sale at upscale electronic stores within two years. It's not the next voyager, it's the next aibo.
Denial isn't just a river in Italy
For all the complaining that goes on about political stories not being "news for nerds" or "stuff that matters", I can't help be wonder why this story which is very much news for nerds (using robots to mine on celestial bodies) yet it's garnered only 30 posts.