Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Rats, Robots, And Rescue Follow Up

Posted by Hemos on from the danger-will-robinson dept.

Dr. Robin Murphy writes "An editorial comparing the proposed roborats with the rescue robots actually used at the WTC response by the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue appeared last month in IEEE Intelligent Systems Magazine. A slightly longer version is at Crasar.org. Note that the rescue robots was in Discover Magazine's Top 100 stories of 2002."

4 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. mirror by nounderscores · · Score: 5, Informative

    for the article

    and

    for the main page

    try to go easy on poor old google.

  2. I have to say... by greechneb · · Score: 5, Funny

    The thought of robotically controlled rats scares me somewhat...

    Although, this has been happening for a long time...

    That's basically what congress is, right, a bunch of rats controlled remotely by lobbyists, right? Of course that group of remotely controlled rats scares me too. I'm just gonna go hide in a cave with some real rats... I feel much safer there.

  3. Initial testing of new rats... by levik · · Score: 5, Funny
    ... planned this winter in the greater NYC area, where the mechanized rodents are going to be used to supplant the city subways' aging rat population.

    "The critters just aren't as lively as they used to be," said a resident of the 34th street station who declined to give his name. It's about time they found some replacements.

    A spokesman for the MTA said that if the robotic rats were proven successful in the testing stages, other metropolitan areas would make the switch in the year to come.

    "We really expect these robotic rats to perform." he said. "They don't produce as much waste, and can draw power directly from the third rail."

    When asked about the comparatively high price of the robotic rats as compared to the freely available conventional ones, the official claimed that while the organic rats were free to aquire, the Total Cost of Onership was much higher, given the cleanup and maintenance costs.

    "You know, these robotic rats, they will never unionize, and we will not have any unrest among their ranks. Overall, we think this switch will reduce our rat-related expenditures by up to 40% over the next few years."

    --
    Ñ'
  4. Not our place... by c718333 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just because animals can't speak up (with language, that is, I'm sure the rats made their displease known in many other universal ways that were ignored) this doesn't mean that we're free to mutilate them as we see fit. I applaud the fact that we're using technology to aid in disaster situations, but I just find it really twisted that we're forcing all these animals to suffer for it. Say what you will about rats being cheap, they're still living, intelligent beings that don't deserve to be fitted with skull caps and have their brains shocked. If you don't see any problem with the rats, how far away are we from doing this with cute, cuddly puppies or kittens?