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Day of the Robotic Tentacle

holy_calamity writes "New Scientist is reporting on a robotic tentacle developed thanks to funding from military agency DARPA. From the video it looks to have a lot of potential, I can almost feel it fastening around my ankle right now."

199 comments

  1. Forget about the army... by Olix · · Score: 5, Funny

    Think about the implications for the Sex industry!

    1. Re:Forget about the army... by foundme · · Score: 4, Funny

      How appropriate! When you need it to perform, just feed it with some alcohol and the "muscle" will get powered up.

      --
      Please stop entering code 2,2,7,6,6,4
    2. Re:Forget about the army... by LordMydrin · · Score: 2, Funny

      You think that has implications, just wait for the robotic testicle...

    3. Re:Forget about the army... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Think about the implications for the Sex industry... in Japan!

    4. Re:Forget about the army... by c_forq · · Score: 2, Funny

      Only grandmas in Kor-my god I can't finish it, just too wrong.

      --
      Computers allow humans to make mistakes at the fastest speeds known, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns
    5. Re:Forget about the army... by damiena · · Score: 0

      Funny. When I drink a whole bunch, I usually have a lot of trouble getting my "muscle" powered up.

    6. Re:Forget about the army... by Confoundit · · Score: 1

      I know what you're thinking: the golden age of robotic tentacle rape has finally arrived.

      But trust me, you don't want to go down that path.

      Robotic tentacle rape causes more problems than it solves.

    7. Re:Forget about the army... by Drooling+Iguana · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Lechery, sir, it provokes, and unprovokes;
      it provokes the desire, but it takes
      away the performance: therefore, much drink
      may be said to be an equivocator with lechery:
      it makes him, and it mars him; it sets
      him on, and it takes him off; it persuades him,
      and disheartens him; makes him stand to, and
      not stand to; in conclusion, equivocates him
      in a sleep, and, giving him the lie, leaves him.

      --
      ... I'm addicted to placebos
    8. Re:Forget about the army... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Think about the implications for Sarah Conners!

  2. Tentacles indeed by zephc · · Score: 5, Funny

    DARPA: taking hentai in brave, new directions. Your tax dollars at work.

    --
    "I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
    1. Re:Tentacles indeed by eviloverlordx · · Score: 0, Insightful

      DARPA: taking hentai in brave, new directions. Your tax dollars at work.

      That's better than a lot of the ways the government could spend our money.

      --
      'Loose' is when your pants are three sizes too big. 'Lose' is when you misuse 'loose'.
    2. Re:Tentacles indeed by SendBot · · Score: 1

      Just in case anyone needs a quick visual:

      nsfw! La Blue Girl nsfw!

    3. Re:Tentacles indeed by afaik_ianal · · Score: 2, Funny

      Wow - you could have at least warn... Oh, never mind.

    4. Re:Tentacles indeed by kalirion · · Score: 1

      It only takes on experience to burn into your mind the meaning of "NSFW." Mine was a couple years back.

    5. Re:Tentacles indeed by afaik_ianal · · Score: 1

      But it's only 1 letter away from the state in which I live :(

  3. Here comes the anime pr0n references.. by koa · · Score: 1, Funny

    3... 2... 1....

    --
    ....move along....nothing to see here....
    1. Re:Here comes the anime pr0n references.. by Whiney+Mac+Fanboy · · Score: 1
      Here comes the anime pr0n references..
      by koa (95614) on Monday May 08, @04:18PM (#15287964)

      3... 2... 1....
      Whooops!
      cid=15287960 and cid=15287962

      Too late!
      --
      There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
    2. Re:Here comes the anime pr0n references.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Parent wrote: "3...2...1..."


      Forgot "Profit!!!"

    3. Re:Here comes the anime pr0n references.. by knn03 · · Score: 1

      Well, there's a "hentai" tag.

  4. whoa whoa whoa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    don't tell Japan! think of the children!

    1. Re:whoa whoa whoa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      don't tell Japan! think of the children!

      Oh they will. They will.

    2. Re:whoa whoa whoa by CannibalSmith · · Score: 2, Funny

      Also this will put the real tentacle monsters out of business!

      --
      being smart is exausting
  5. Clever by slusich · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Clever, though it seems to operate more like an elephant trunk or a prehensile tail rather then a tentacle. I would think it would perform it's job more effectively by using a vacuum system with selectable ports to help hold onto objects.

    It does raise the interesting question about using design found in nature for robotics.
    Personally I'm not sure if that's the right way to go, or if we could find better ways to perform these tasks using alternative designs that don't have a natural influence.

    1. Re:Clever by truthsearch · · Score: 2, Funny

      So you're saying it should be able to vacuum my floors and wash my windows? I agree!

    2. Re:Clever by Orne · · Score: 4, Funny

      So, you're saying that "Intelligent Design" may be better than "Evolution" after all?

      (Yes, I had to go there)

    3. Re:Clever by enderak · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Personally I'm not sure if that's the right way to go, or if we could find better ways to perform these tasks using alternative designs that don't have a natural influence.

      For robots dedicated to a single task (such as assembly line robots) I would agree, but for a general purpose robot that can adapt to varying conditions and situations, it's hard to argue with hundreds of millions of years worth of evolution.

    4. Re:Clever by slusich · · Score: 1

      I would certainly agree with that if the robotics could be made to truly emulate the natural, but most of the time, it's a poor reflection at best.
      Now once we're able to graft a real octopus tentacle on a robot we'll have something!

    5. Re:Clever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's kind of like saying wouldn't it be better if all physicists were as smart and as creative as Einstein? Well sure, but not a terribly realistic suggestion. Are there robot designs that are far more optimal than anything that could be derived or inspired by natural counterparts? Undoubtedly, but that doesn't really resolve just how insanely difficult it is to discover them. Doubly so when you compare it to the ease of piggybacking off millions of years of evolution with countless organisms attacking the problem.

    6. Re:Clever by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 1

      In all seriousness,
        if they could somehow make subparts (thin end, thick end, vacuum port segment, spiny segment, rubber covered, magnetic segment, metal detecting segment, extra sensor peg segment) and randomly mix them- they might find different random configurations were more suitable to certain tasks.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    7. Re:Clever by CableModemSniper · · Score: 1

      GAs based on hardware eh? Interesting thought.

      --
      Why not fork?
    8. Re:Clever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Now once we're able to graft a real octopus tentacle on a robot we'll have something!

      Lunch that serves itself?

      --Sushi Guy

    9. Re:Clever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now once we're able to graft a real octopus tentacle on a robot we'll have something!

      You've got it all wrong. We should graft a whole octopus onto a robot! Since they have a brain for each tentacle, they'll be vastly better than a computer with one brain per tentacle...Then we can train it to go after bombs, etc.

    10. Re:Clever by kindbud · · Score: 1

      If the designer actually exists, yes it just might.

      --
      Edith Keeler Must Die
    11. Re:Clever by Plunky · · Score: 0
      So, you're saying that "Intelligent Design" may be better than "Evolution" after all?

      You jest, but if some puny human managed to design something more intelligently than evolution did, that would surely be a staggering blow to "Intelligent Design" and the creationist myth, hm?

    12. Re:Clever by Mouse42 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Possibly, but they're not comparable as evolution designs for survival in particular enviornments, where humans would design for various tasts (window washing for example). You can claim that you're window washing robot is more intelligently designed than what evolution has churned out, but the claim lacks any credebility because there's no evolution-designed window washer to compare it to.

    13. Re:Clever by MrFlannel · · Score: 1

      Elephant trunk? No.

      It operates more like ziplock baggies. Go get one, rip off the bag part, zip the zipper closed, break one end of the fused halves, put your thumb on one half (the yellow side) and your index finger on the other (the blue) and move back and forth. That's exactly how this moves, just they added a third axis of contraction.

      Frankly, it disgusts me that they're paying for something so ordinary. Maybe if they figured out how to do it in a non segmented appendage, to allow for more than just N degrees of opposability, as that does offer some difficulties, but this is redicilous.

      --
      Clones are people two.
    14. Re:Clever by silentsurfer · · Score: 1

      Nature has had 4 billion years to perfect its structual designs, I dont see why we should reinvent the wheel. I'm sure there is plenty of room for improvement but I'm a big fan of the "beg, steal, borrow" school of thought.

    15. Re:Clever by ectizen · · Score: 2, Funny
      because there's no evolution-designed window washer to compare it to


      There are evolution-designed window washers.

      http://www.jamster.com/jcw/goto/graphics/screensav er/cat-1509434/subcat-2768672

      I think I'd prefer a human-designed robot...
    16. Re:Clever by dhasenan · · Score: 1

      There are models that walk with tentacles, though.

      Here at Stony Brook, there was some research into using small (1-2 inch thick) tentacles as a means of propulsion, with obvious benefits for rough terrain. Again, DARPA or DOD (can't recall which at the moment) took over funding, and the current design features tentacles over six inches thick and a chassis that you could practically ride.

      We were thinking of bringing the prototype to I-CON and showing it to Ghastly (of Ghastly's Ghastly Comic). Unfortunately, we didn't get the paperwork in because we're lazy.

    17. Re:Clever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This just shows that God could have designed life using genetic algorithms... something Man has also devised (discovered??)! We truly did evolve in His image! :P

    18. Re:Clever by 1u3hr · · Score: 1
      Nature has had 4 billion years to perfect its structual designs, I dont see why we should reinvent the wheel.

      It's interesting that in 4 billion years, nature (or Whoever) never did invent a wheel (unless it was using us to do so).

    19. Re:Clever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well last time I checked, wheels weren't so great for climbing stairs. I was speaking in a proverbial fashion BTW.

    20. Re:Clever by DrSkwid · · Score: 1

      What use half a wheel ?

      --
      There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
  6. Anime by Recovering+Hater · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hey robot designer: You need to cut down on the consumption of the weird anime. You know who you are. And don't even think about driving that thing near my wife you perv!

    --
    My humor is probably your flamebait
    1. Re:Anime by Vyvyan+Basterd · · Score: 1

      I doubt anyone into anime will wanna use it on anyone old enough to marry.

  7. That reminds me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    1. Re:That reminds me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We can only hope that the robotic tentacle doesn't drink toxic contaminated water. If so, it might take on the world and dominate us! (and of course, sprout tiny robotic arms which make it suddenly a lot more powerful)

      I'm afraid that even Dr. Fred won't be of much help if that happens. Knowing our luck, any machine he invents to help us will probably be built with cheap imitation components and fail miserably.

      On another note, anyone seen Sandy around?

  8. As a pastafarian... by truthsearch · · Score: 4, Funny

    As a Pastafarian I'm offended by this immitation of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It's a blatant mockery of all I find sacred. I demand reparations!

    1. Re:As a pastafarian... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I belong to the Rigitoni sect, a violent sect of the Pastafarians, dedicated to canelloni, or inner stuggle. Those who openly mock the monster will pay with their tomatoe sauce.

    2. Re:As a pastafarian... by scooter.higher · · Score: 5, Funny

      But this is no mockery! This is an homage... a show of support from the scientific community that they too have been touched by His Noodly Appendage.

      They just wanted to be touched more often :-)

      --
      Ramen
    3. Re:As a pastafarian... by Winlin · · Score: 1

      While I agree with your sentiments, I believe you may have overlooked the most important word in the original post...'reparations' So let's see some outrage, now. I know I have been offended by this invention to the tune of, easily, $500,000.

  9. Let's just hope by JamesP · · Score: 0

    he doesn't try to TAKE ON THE WORLD (insert evil laugh and thunder here)

    Otherwise we'll need three teenagers with time machines and a giant diamont to fix it up...

    --
    how long until /. fixes commenting on Chrome?
    1. Re:Let's just hope by Mistshadow2k4 · · Score: 1

      With all the "geekier than thou" claims on /., it's kind of sad to see that no one else seems to be getting that joke.

      --
      I dream of a better world... one in which chickens can cross roads without their motives being questioned.
    2. Re:Let's just hope by JamesP · · Score: 0

      True. And very sad (since no one got a joke from one of the best adv. games in the history of mankind).

      --
      how long until /. fixes commenting on Chrome?
  10. Couldn't have called it a "robotic elephant trunk" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    We couldn't have called it a "robotic elephant trunk", could we? Never mind that it more resembles an elephant's trunk than a tentacle, noooo. Never mind that TFA also mentioned that resemblance.

    Oh no, we had to use the term that will cause 99.9987% of the posts to fixate upon the hentai aspects of this.

  11. Just the beginning by ch-chuck · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's just a step toward the robotic cthulu.

    --
    try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
    1. Re:Just the beginning by sgant · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, loved those movies that had Mecha-Cthulhu vs. original Cthulhu...but they're hard to watch because every time you actually see Cthulhu, you lose sanity points.

      --

      "Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
    2. Re:Just the beginning by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 1

      Its built-in spell checker is absolutely going to shit all over itself unless you can find someone that knows the language of the Great Old Ones. Have fun just trying to pronounce:

      Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! Iä! Iä!

    3. Re:Just the beginning by swv3752 · · Score: 1

      Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! Iä! Iä!

      There I pronounced it for you.

      --
      Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life
    4. Re:Just the beginning by AndroidCat · · Score: 1
      Oh, could you pronounce this one three times: Hastur.

      I need to get the inflections just right, thanks!

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    5. Re:Just the beginning by Bloke+down+the+pub · · Score: 1
      they're hard to watch because every time you actually see Cthulhu, you lose sanity points.
      Surely that would make it easier to watch?
      --
      It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
    6. Re:Just the beginning by Thud457 · · Score: 1
      Are you touched, boy?!

      What PART of "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! Iä! Iä!" didn't you UNDERSTAND?!!!

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    7. Re:Just the beginning by Plunky · · Score: 1
      "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! Iä! Iä!"

      Hm, I wonder if Vim has a spell checker for that?

  12. When can I take on spiderman!! by haplo21112 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I can't wait to get fitted with my backpack and start taking on the the streets of the city. I'll get that Masked web slinger if its the last thing it do.

    --
    Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
  13. What's wrong with Yankee nerd refs? by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 4, Funny

    Lots of anime' jokes already, but no Doc Ock references. How disappointing. Support American scifi in-jokes!

    1. Re:What's wrong with Yankee nerd refs? by Jon+Luckey · · Score: 1
      Lots of anime' jokes already, but no Doc Ock references. How disappointing. Support American scifi in-jokes!

      Actually I was thinking that a device with a name like Octarm, Marvel Comics might sue claiming that their trademark Doc Oct was being diluted.

      Hey! Its no more of a stretch that their trying to trademark the word Superhero!

      --
      -- 3 events that reshaped the world in the 20th century: WW1, WW2, and WWW
    2. Re:What's wrong with Yankee nerd refs? by swv3752 · · Score: 1

      Err, #15288016 was just before your post, #15288020. Next time, try to have a little patience. :-)

      --
      Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life
    3. Re:What's wrong with Yankee nerd refs? by AndroidCat · · Score: 1
      It's been a bad article for that sort of post. Say!

      *ahem*

      I haven't seen any posts yet for simple free energy sources like a working Mr Fusion anyone could build at home. (Annd .. get me a six-pack of red-heads while you're there...)

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    4. Re:What's wrong with Yankee nerd refs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      your're right, we should be patriotic U.S.-centric geeks and make jokes about Doc Oct rather than tentacle monsters penetrating all the orifices of cute young jap women

    5. Re:What's wrong with Yankee nerd refs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You must be new here.

    6. Re:What's wrong with Yankee nerd refs? by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 1

      I disagree. If I had a little less patience, I could have made it in five posts sooner, and not looked like such a loser. :-D

  14. One step closer to the abyss... by Eric+Smith · · Score: 2, Funny

    "So raise your hand if you think that was a Russian water tentacle."

  15. simple math by maniac/dev/null · · Score: 1

    Tenticle Robot + Tenticle Pr0n = Tenticle Robot Pr0n.

    Gross.

    1. Re:simple math by ettlz · · Score: 1
      Tenticle Robot + Tenticle Pr0n = Tenticle Robot Pr0n.

      Yes, I've always wondered what the sound of a hundred pencil-jockeys simultaneously hitting deviantART sounded like.

      Now I know.

    2. Re:simple math by Red+Flayer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Must be some kind of fuzzy math you got there. Sorry to disprove you, but:

      Robot Tentacle + Tentacle Pr0n = Tentacle (Robot + Pr0n)

      Since we all know that Octopi have 8 tentacles, lets go ahead and substitute.

      Robot Tentacle + Tentacle Pr0n = 8 (Robot + pr0n)

      We can, of course, substitute I for Robot, leaving us with

      8 (I + pr0n)

      Since that's a capital I, we know it represents an integer, and not an imaginary number. Given that the Romans were into tentacle pr0n, we can assume that's a Roman numeral, and substitute accordingly.

      8 (1 + pr0n)

      Now, we all know the emoticon 8(1 represents an unhappy glasses-wearing person with a scruffy asymmetrical beard, or an unhappy nerd. So via substitution we have:

      Tenticle Robot + Tenticle Pr0n = An unhappy nerd + pr0n

      As we all know, this is a logical fallacy, since a nerd with pr0n is never unhappy.

      I figured, if you were going to posit that ax + ay = axy, I might as well take the fuzzy math a little farther.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    3. Re:simple math by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Granted most Slashdotters need to get out of the house more, but you top the list.

    4. Re:simple math by Winlin · · Score: 1

      Yes, but where do you fit in "Profit!" ?

    5. Re:simple math by SP33doh · · Score: 1

      tentacle mecha hentai isn't new.

    6. Re:simple math by RedNovember · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Sorry but you screwed up here:
      Tenticle Robot + Tenticle Pr0n = An unhappy nerd + pr0n As we all know, this is a logical fallacy, since a nerd with pr0n is never unhappy.
      An unhappy nerd + pr0n = A happy nerd. Therefore Tentacle Robot + Tentacle Pr0n = A happy nerd. Makes sense to me.
      --
      "MY APOCALYPTIC TENOR HAS NOT BEEN DISPELLED!" - T-Rex, qwantz.com
    7. Re:simple math by Darkman,+Walkin+Dude · · Score: 1

      An unhappy nerd + pr0n = A happy nerd. Therefore Tentacle Robot + Tentacle Pr0n = A happy nerd.

      Yup, thats slashdot, keeping kleenex in business since aught-three. Can we get a poll to decide if that should be the new motto under the header? Or at least some sort of sponsorship deal for a case mod or something...

  16. I've seen this! by KefabiMe · · Score: 1

    Uh oh... Someone find three (two?) time-travelling uber-dweeby dweebs, a crowbar, and some fake vomit immediately!

    1. Re:I've seen this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, what possible harm could one insane, mutant tentacle do?

  17. I for one... by Null+Nihils · · Score: 3, Funny

    welcome our robotic tentacle overlords.


    ... I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist. :(

  18. Doc Ock by msbmsb · · Score: 2, Funny

    How many Doctor Octopus wannabes are jumping on couches about this?

  19. Hmmm.... by flyweight_of_fury · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is that a Robotic tentacle or toothpase ?

    ...I smell a lawsuit coming...

    1. Re:Hmmm.... by mobby_6kl · · Score: 1

      >..I smell a lawsuit coming...

      Obviously, you're not applying enough Aquafresh.

    2. Re:Hmmm.... by 1u3hr · · Score: 1
      Is that a Robotic tentacle

      ... or is it just glad to see me?

  20. Day of the Robotic Tentacle by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 3, Funny

    Completely OT:

    I remember going to a big dinner for a family reunion. I told them all about this game I was playing, 'Day of the Tentacle'. It wasn't until I noticed that everybody had stopped eating and all eyes were on me that I realized I had said 'testicle'.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    1. Re:Day of the Robotic Tentacle by RamboCalrissian · · Score: 1

      I'm think it looks great, but I'm afraid it might grow arms, and it'll get smarter, more aggressive, like it... like it could take on the world.

    2. Re:Day of the Robotic Tentacle by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also completely OT:

      Reminds me of the time that I went with a school group to the aquarum. Afterward, we stopped at a fastfood restaurant and my friend kept going on to his mom about all of the 'testicles' he saw that day. At least we didn't stop for calamari.

  21. Hey troll by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I doubt anyone into anime will wanna use it on anyone old enough to marry.

    For the most part;
    Anime != Henti
    Henti != Underage sex
    (But there are exceptions;-)

    1. Re:Hey troll by Bastard+of+Subhumani · · Score: 0

      Wow. We can see how lke totally useful your years at college were. I'll take that back if you minored in Klingon, though. And yes, now you ask, I'll take fries with that, thank you.

      --
      Only three things are certain; death, taxes, and apocryphal quotations - Ben Franklin.
    2. Re:Hey troll by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I didn't go to college you insensitive clod!-)

      And my spell checker doesn't do Japanese;-(

      My poorly made point was that too many people in the main stream equate anime with child porn. The /. crowd should not perpetuate this misunderstanding!
      The post I was replying to did not indicate that they were not serious about their comment. So I assumed what was typed was meant;

      "I doubt anyone into anime will wanna use it on anyone old enough to marry."

      Well, other than Henti != Hentai is there anything about my post that rates it Klingon?

      (We're outa' fries you want onion rings?)

    3. Re:Hey troll by Bastard+of+Subhumani · · Score: 0
      I didn't go to college you insensitive clod!-)

      Now I can see why. And yes, onion rings would be just fine.

      other than Henti != Hentai is there anything about my post that rates it Klingon?
      Hmm. You seem to be not understanding the word "if". But anyway, it was merely a dig that you can do some pretty naff and useless subjects at uni these days - among them watching cartoons and speaking made-up languages.
      --
      Only three things are certain; death, taxes, and apocryphal quotations - Ben Franklin.
  22. We'll know that the day of A.I. has arrived... by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 1

    ...when it reaches out and starts tapping on its own programming keyboard. Be afraid. Be very afraid!

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  23. Seven more of those by ettlz · · Score: 1

    and you've got a God-damned Sentinel. Destroy the bloody thing!

  24. Kludgiest acronym ever? by rainmayun · · Score: 1

    OCTOR (sOft robotiC manipulaTORs)

    Flexible Appendage for Robotic Manipulation?
    Soft Tentacle Appendage for Remote Reconnaissance?
    Prehensile Extension for Natural Intelligence System?

    ok, maybe I'm not so good at this...

    1. Re:Kludgiest acronym ever? by ettlz · · Score: 1

      Digital Intelligent Logical Dextrous Operator. Oh, I love this game!

    2. Re:Kludgiest acronym ever? by PateraSilk · · Score: 1

      created by the Kludgiest Random Acronym Producer, probably.

      --
      Danke tres mucho, tovarishch.
    3. Re:Kludgiest acronym ever? by RGTAsheron · · Score: 0

      I do like how the last one is PENIS.

      I can just watch as the Army outfits its droids with the PENIS system.

    4. Re:Kludgiest acronym ever? by PackerX · · Score: 1

      OCTOR
      Creates
      Tentacle
      Oriented
      Robotics

      Recursive acronym 4tw.

  25. The newest treatment by robertjw · · Score: 1

    This is just the latest treatment for erectile dysfunction.

  26. Quick! by Dark+Paladin · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hide your Japanese schoolgirls! Don't let it near the convention!

    Oh, good lord - there's a 300 pound man dressed in a Sailor Moon uniform! Run, you fool! Runnnnn!

    As I remarked to my wife the other day while we were watching "Sci-Fi Channel", can we ever invent a robot that Hollywood doesn't depict as trying to kill us?

    1. Re:Quick! by BumpyCarrot · · Score: 1

      Surely a robotic tentacle would be reserved for robotic Japanese schoolgirls?

      --
      Do you see what I did there?
    2. Re:Quick! by swv3752 · · Score: 1

      Ohh, I don't think these tentacles will be trying to kill girls.

      I surely didn't need the image of a large fat man in a skirt being "worked over" by tentacles either.

      --
      Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life
    3. Re:Quick! by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 2, Informative

      As I remarked to my wife the other day while we were watching "Sci-Fi Channel", can we ever invent a robot that Hollywood doesn't depict as trying to kill us?

      Yes. Both "Batteries Not Included" and "Short Circuit."

      "Batteries Not Included" had the bonus that they were *alien* robots, and they still didn't try to kill us.

    4. Re:Quick! by Grey_14 · · Score: 1

      Wasn't Johnny #5 a military robot? as in, designed to kill SOMEONE if not all of mankind? It was just a fluke that he became self aware and went the other way (Kind of unlikely really :P)

    5. Re:Quick! by zippthorne · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes it was a war-bot. In fact, since it was designed to kill but didn't, one could say that it's just another case of hollywood depicting robots inevitably malfunctioning yet again.

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    6. Re:Quick! by Jeremi · · Score: 1
      As I remarked to my wife the other day while we were watching "Sci-Fi Channel", can we ever invent a robot that Hollywood doesn't depict as trying to kill us?


      Probably not, but we can at least make it challenging for them: I for one would pay good money to see "Day of the Scoobas"...

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    7. Re:Quick! by solitas · · Score: 1
      ...while we were watching "Sci-Fi Channel"

      Were you watching it this past Saturday night? "A.I. Assault" (particularly bad) had robots ("essentially invulnerable" - the best kind to run amok) walking around on legs/arms like these.

      --
      "It's time to take life by the cans." ~ Bender ("Bendin' in the Wind", ep. 3-13)
  27. Did anyone else see this and think... by utexaspunk · · Score: 1

    ...Aquafresh? Surely the coloring they chose is not coincidental...

    1. Re:Did anyone else see this and think... by John+Meacham · · Score: 1

      I was wondering about that too. My best therories as to the wacky coloring are that either someone found an old pillow case to make the covering out of, or they were studing the "twist" of the arm with computer vision, so having the multi-colored stripes along the length of the tentacle let the computer (or even the people) easily see how much the tentacle was being torqued and twisted around its axis. Of course, this is just speculation. I'll check out their papers if available to see if there is any insight there, the technology is quite interesting.

      --
      http://notanumber.net/
  28. At last.......... by hyperbotfly · · Score: 2, Funny

    My HENTA1 fantasies can come true!!!1!1111!!!1

  29. Purple Tentacle... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As long as it doesn't drink industrial waste and find a "Chron-o-John", the world will be safe.

  30. Greetings space arm by From+A+Far+Away+Land · · Score: 1

    I wonder if this is an attempt by the USA to thwart Canada's plan to take over space one arm at a time? As the designer of the Canadarm in the space shuttles and Canadarm II on the ISS, I wonder if my country has a reaction to being felt up by an American robotic tentacle?

  31. Source? by sootman · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can almost feel it fastening around my ankle right now.

    Ankle? You must read different comics than I do.

    --
    Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
    1. Re:Source? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      /r/ SAUCE

    2. Re:Source? by cfuse · · Score: 1
      Ankle? You must read different comics than I do.

      I'm not wearing a sailor suit and piloting a huge robot either, if we must concentrate on our differences.

  32. Video = Slashdotted by TubeSteak · · Score: 3, Informative

    However, I found some other .edu website with video clips & info that are a bit more technical.

    http://www.ece.msstate.edu.nyud.net:8090/~bjones/p rofessional/research/OCTOR/octor.htm

    The clips are at the bottom, but don't ignore the videos linked in the "Journal publications" section.

    Coralized so as not to /. a second university.

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  33. What's the point? by Mikachu · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Okay, seriously: what is the point in this? I mean, it's cool and all, and it probably demonstrates some serious technology, but where would it honestly be used? I don't think a lot of octopuses have had their tentacles amputated lately.

    1. Re:What's the point? by Virak · · Score: 1

      Okay, seriously: what is the point in this? I mean, it's cool and all, and it probably demonstrates some serious technology, but where would it honestly be used?

      Live action tentacle porn.

  34. Re:GNAA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    gnaa is bullshit.

    Hollywoodized monkey robot ninja pirates ATTACK!!!

  35. Can it... by HoosierPeschke · · Score: 1

    ... be powered by beer?

    --
    Mr. Universe: "They can't stop the signal, Mal. They can never stop the signal."
  36. Toothpaste coloured? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The colours remind me of toothpaste, I can't wait to see who will prevail in the Robot Vs the Cavity Creeps War

  37. I for one... by jpellino · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... oh, you know the rest.

    --
    "Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
  38. Robot snake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The article says that parts of the Robot tenticle were produced offshore for tax reasons. This gives a new meaning to the phrase "Tax Snake" (a term normally used in accounting to mean a chain of companies that you can't get to the bottom of - because snakes don't have bottoms).

    U send me ur snake 4 ur outsourced job plz.

    1. Re:Robot snake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tax snake.

  39. They need to get out more by nizo · · Score: 1
    He believes the robotic tentacles could perhaps one day be used to create a robotic octopus or even a backpack with extra limbs.

    They need to learn from Spiderman; this just can't turn out good.

  40. Once again ... by Mr.Surly · · Score: 1

    ... Tentacle porn is driving technology forward.

  41. hentai by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Think of the applications for Hentai Cosplay.

  42. In Soviet Russia... by No+Such+Agency · · Score: 1

    ... water tentacle raises YOU!

    (I am so dreadfully sorry)

    --
    Freedom: "I won't!"
  43. DARPA? by Malakusen · · Score: 1

    Sounds more like something NERV would come up with.

    --
    Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to conviction
  44. Extra limbs by BungeBash · · Score: 1

    They mention creating a backpack with extra limbs. Um... maybe they have watch 1 too many episodes of Spiderman. They better fix the mind inhibitor chip first though.

  45. Re:Couldn't have called it a "robotic elephant tru by m50d · · Score: 1

    You're new here, aren't you

    --
    I am trolling
  46. Red state, Blue state by Thud457 · · Score: 1

    This will totally destabilize the status quo in the Tijuana gentlemen's entertianment industry. Goodbye donkey shows, hello elephant shows!

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  47. tomorrow: Doctor Octopus by BoredWolf · · Score: 1

    It strikes me as odd that we have a government agency devoted solely to pay other people to make their own sci-fi wet-dreams become reality. From what I've read in the news, there is nothing new or innovative about DARPA. It manages and directs selected basic and applied research and development projects. So... you pay other people to make the stuff you saw in Spiderman 2. I think that such projects create a great opportunity for colleges and universities, but I don't really understand the principle of "a complete acceptance of failure if the payoff of success [is] high enough" to use insects to do our spying for us. DARPA was created to keep the U.S. on the cutting-edge of technology, but they appear to be off the deep-end of technology instead.

    --
    "Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
    1. Re:tomorrow: Doctor Octopus by John+Meacham · · Score: 1

      Just like the crazy idea of creating a protocol to allow networking a bunch of computers at separate locations together they funded a while ago. I am sure many didn't see the point then either. As we learn to swim the deep-end doesn't seem so deep any more. Plus, selection bias, DARPA funds a huge number of projects, only the ones with a certain type of appeal end up on the front page of slashdot. It's like the news, if you thought it was representative of a random sampling of society you would think the world was a pretty darn scary place, but they don't report on all the people getting along just fine having a long normal life because that is the norm.

      --
      http://notanumber.net/
  48. Uh oh by Conspiracy_Of_Doves · · Score: 4, Funny

    Schoolgirls all over Japan just felt an icy chill of fear whip through them.

    1. Re:Uh oh by MasterPoof · · Score: 2, Funny

      I heard a voice as if thousand of Japanese schoolgirls everywhere cried out in ecstasy... (well, you know the rest)

      --
      Using GNU/Linux -- Windows-free zone!
    2. Re:Uh oh by Geminii · · Score: 1

      Solution: Robotic schoolgirls!

  49. 55 megs to show a coke addicted robot.. by bubulubugoth · · Score: 1

    The video at the website is very illustrative.
    The quality is good and shows what are the thing the robot can do.

    Its movements still are corky, and not ver smooth. The tip camera always was seeking for coke :)

    Now, the next step would be to have 2 or more of this things working together...

    --
    Â_Â
  50. how many people does it take to kill a joke? by the+dark+hero · · Score: 1

    start counting above this post and subtract by 10 to find out!

    --
    You constantly struggle for self improvement - and it shows.

    Hooray for bad Engrish on fortune cookies

  51. Only one of the best games in History!! by cdn2k1 · · Score: 1

    The first thing I thought when I caught this headline was the awesome old-school Day of the Tentacle game.

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

    1. Re:Only one of the best games in History!! by dtmfdan · · Score: 1

      I'm surprised more people haven't picked up on the reference.

  52. OMG I THOUGHT CMDRTACO WAS AN EDITOR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why is he posting such bad words!?

  53. Acronyms... by jawschlech · · Score: 2, Funny

    They were developed through a project called OCTOR (sOft robotiC manipulaTORs)

    MOSCREND (soMe Of theSe aCRonyms arE gettiNg riDiculous) is all I have to say.

    HELAD (wHEn wiLl the mAdness enD)?

    --
    JAWSchlech "The secret to success is knowing who to blame for your mistakes." - Despair.com
  54. Brave New World by Wellington+Grey · · Score: 3, Funny

    One can only imagine the affect this will have on the rate of recruitment of Japonese school girls into the armed forces.

    -Grey

  55. 55mb video? by lotus_anima · · Score: 1

    "A video (55mb MPEG) created by the researchers shows the tentacles undergoing testing." + Slashdotted = Oh snap, we broke the intarweb.

  56. Robotic Sea Monsters by Englabenny · · Score: 1

    I for one welcome our new Robotic Sea Monster overlords.

  57. From the article by Wellington+Grey · · Score: 1

    It is not clear what military purposes the Octarms will be used for

    My guess is some variation on the 'killing people' theme that seems so popular with the military.

    -Grey

  58. Re:Couldn't have called it a "robotic elephant tru by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is a reference to the fuckin sweet computer game, Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle.

  59. I feel as if... by reydelamirienda · · Score: 1

    as if I could... RULE THE WORLD!

    Okay, I don't know the exact quote as I only know it in Spanish, but you get the idea...

  60. Was I the only one... by mahju · · Score: 1

    ... that misread the title and thought, "Does that make the robots braver? Maybe I could kick a psyco robot between the legs and escape?..."

  61. Re:Couldn't have called it a "robotic elephant tru by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i'd think there are at least five 9's there

  62. His noodley appendage.... by highspl · · Score: 1

    ...has been replaced by an IMPOSTER!!!! RUN!! RUN!!!!!!!

    You are only able to see it with the special sunglasses!!!!!!

    --
    It puts the lotion on it's skin, or else it gets the hose again.
  63. Tentacle? by bk4u · · Score: 1

    Captain Murphy: Oh and tell it to turn it's head and cough

    --
    Remember kids, with great power comes great opportunity to abuse that power
  64. Anyone else watch Teletubbies? by Gax · · Score: 2, Funny

    Seriously. It's Noo-Noo without the casing.

    Scientists, eh? They'll be getting ideas from Postman Pat.

  65. Fear? by Vorondil28 · · Score: 1

    Fear? Initially, yes, but we all know the the first and only rule to tentacle pr0n:

    If she survived, she liked it.

    ;-)

    --
    This sig rocks the casbah.
  66. IP lawsuit by blake3737 · · Score: 1

    Doc Oc is going to be PISSED!.

  67. GAs based on hardware by Orne · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually, when I was back in college, genetic algorithms were the hot topic in one of our VLSI classes that year. What they did was apply the genetic algorthim process to a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chip to solve a computation. An FPGA is sort of like a giant array of ANDs, ORs, and NOTs with a "control array" of flip-flops that allow you to control the routing of the inputs; you can just load in a new sequence and end up with different outputs using the same hardware. The genetic algorithm comes in by randomly generating the control array sequence. You then compare the output with the target output, then blend the successful solutions together until you have the final solution, all without any hardware design involved.

    The story goes, some researchers did this to attempt to reproduce a non-linear equation, I think like a Fourier Transform. The plus side was, they were successfully able to demonstrate that the resultant chip configuration was able to provide the expected results. However, after analyzing the actually solution, the researchers found that the chip was actually creating resonance between different parts of the circuit in such a way that there was no direct path between the input and output signal.

    The genetic algorithm had created an analog solution in digital hardware by incorporating the electromagnetic losses and field coupling of the FPGA wiring itself; if they had tried to tweak the "solution" by removing portions of the unused pieces of the FPGA circuit, or even using the same control sequence on a different FPGA, the "solution" would not work.

    1. Re:GAs based on hardware by Sparr0 · · Score: 2

      The solution to that problem is trivial. Just run each case on more than one independent FPGA and average (or some other function) the results.

    2. Re:GAs based on hardware by redhat421 · · Score: 1

      Wow, that's neat. Do you have a link to this with more information? Thanks!

    3. Re:GAs based on hardware by Jozer99 · · Score: 1

      A strange coincidence that 90% of the human genome is unused "garbage"? I think not.

    4. Re:GAs based on hardware by falzer · · Score: 1

      http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/adrianth/ices96/p aper.html

      A 10kHz / 1kHz frequency discriminator circuit evolved using a genetic algorithm.

    5. Re:GAs based on hardware by mdielmann · · Score: 1

      I read about something similar years ago (determining sound frequency without a clock circuit), but the guy I read about was taking his research in a different direction. Multiple FPGAs testing each option and using the best result from a number of chips, with the results spread across all the chips again. His theory was that this would mitigate the unique elements of each chip. The long-term goal was to make very robust chips that would have minimal solutions for the required tasks, presumably for satellites, etc.

      --
      Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?
  68. Three words: Search and rescue by technoextreme · · Score: 1
    Okay, seriously: what is the point in this? I mean, it's cool and all, and it probably demonstrates some serious technology, but where would it honestly be used? I don't think a lot of octopuses have had their tentacles amputated lately.

    Hehehe... I've been expecting this since I went to the Robotics confrence in Boston last year. A lot of search and rescue operations can only be done with a camera on a stick. The other alternatives are simply not viable. Unfortunately, a camera on a stick is usually hard to navagate around the rubble. Hence the OCTOR can improve the mobility of this method because it can bend and move at the end of the camera.
    --
    Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
  69. Berserkers with Tentacles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now your friendly berserker can have tentacles. What will they think of next. Wait until these can reproduce and our days are numbered.

    Remember, you were warned first here on /.

  70. Re:Couldn't have called it a "robotic elephant tru by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, sure... but using the term "tentacle" instead of "arm" makes it immediately clear that it's not a conventional arm with stiff elements, which is the whole point of the project.

    Also, I'm pretty sure nobody on the team had any idea of the jokes that might be spawned.

  71. The japanese invented this already by Werrismys · · Score: 1

    Hentai gurus are amongst the most incentive.

    --
    'Once scientists, even the dim-witted social scientists, get muzzled, the Western Civilization is finished.' - oldhack
  72. Research done right by squidflakes · · Score: 1

    When this story broke, I got a giddy little thrill, and not just because of the sex applications either. I was more excited that a paper to which I contributed was cited as a reference for this work. Forward the Tentacle Revolution!

  73. Octor? by AyeRoxor! · · Score: 1

    "OCTOR (sOft robotiC manipulaTORs)"

    SHENANIGANS.

    1. Re:Octor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The link in your sig is broken.

  74. Spider Man vs Japanese Tentacle Hentai Porn by RyatNrrd · · Score: 1

    I think we have a winner before the fight begins.

  75. DARPA + ROBOTS by n1m1tz · · Score: 1

    Is it just me, or is DARPA the place to be lately? I mean, they're funding of research into robotics that I thought the industry would long ago have investigated. I mean, hello, Grand Challange and the auto industry; DARPA has done more in the last three years than the industry has in 30! And next year they're poised to be even further.

    This non-tenticle elephant trunk like device and who knows what other devices and software or hardware systems... ;) (Can you imagine a robotic delivery vehicle that had these "arms" on it? They could investigate suspicious items, move obsticles, and see around corners. Hell, remove the wheels and use the tenticles to walk on.)

    --
    G
  76. Here comes the matrix! by A3gis · · Score: 1

    Don't these people watch movies?!? For God's sakes do we *WANT* squiddies charging round killing people with their robo-tentacles?

  77. Video is back online by TubeSteak · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's 55MB, so the Coral network won't save them.
    Not direct linked on purpose

    -http://www.ces.clemson.edu/~ianw/icra06_vid.mpeg

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  78. Re:Couldn't have called it a "robotic elephant tru by binarybum · · Score: 1

    "Also, I'm pretty sure nobody on the team had any idea of the jokes that might be spawned."

        yes quite right, it seems unlikely that a bunch of math and engineer nerds would have any idea whatsoever. I mean it's like if I drew a ven diagram you'd have one circle representing hentai fans and another circle representing robot jocks, and they'd be like almost completely separate.

    --
    ôó
  79. What have you done you meddling milquetoasts? by scourfish · · Score: 1

    Now Purple Tentacle is free to use his evil mutant powers to take over the world, and ENSLAVE ALL HUMANITY!

  80. Doc Ock by euxneks · · Score: 1

    From TFA: ...believes the robotic tentacles could perhaps one day be used to create a robotic octopus or even a backpack with extra limbs....

    Is anybody even reading this? Where are the Doc Ock references? Entertain me dammit!

    --
    in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
  81. Doesn't look like a tentacle at all... by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

    They should have made it green and slimy with suckers running down the bottom.

    But instead, it looks like the robot is squirting out an industrial-sized amount of Aquafresh toothpaste.

    --
    You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  82. Re:Couldn't have called it a "robotic elephant tru by JeremyALogan · · Score: 1

    I'm sorry, but I'm unfamiliar with this "hentai" of which you speak. Does it have something to do with tentacle-overlords?

  83. Comics Come to Life by AnotherBrian · · Score: 1
  84. That's even worse. by Tavor · · Score: 1

    What appendage on the human body does a Elephant trunk most resemble? One very few male Slashdot readers have a use for, anyway...

    --
    Windows has detected an undetectable error.
    1. Re:That's even worse. by Fred_A · · Score: 1

      Can you pick a peanut with your "elephant trunk" ?

      So stop making silly comparisons.

      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
  85. I've got news for you. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That wasn't fear.

  86. That's nothing but a.. by WML+MUNSON · · Score: 0

    ..giant robotic toothpaste dispenser!

  87. Robot tenticle ... yawn by sshtome · · Score: 1
    Looks pretty similair to OC Robotics of Bristol, UK. I interviewed there a few years back.

    www.ocrobotics.com

    They already deploy in nuclear facilities and things. Cool videos on the website too.

  88. Purple by jdbartlett · · Score: 1

    I feel like I could...

    Like... I... could...

    TAKE OVER

    THE WORLD!!!

  89. WTF by biffta · · Score: 1

    Sorry, but am I the only one who finds this sinisterly weaving limb quite creepy?

  90. I found the "Babybot" more interesting by douglaid · · Score: 1

    The link is on the Tentacle's page. The direct link is http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9117 .

  91. 3rd group by DrYak · · Score: 1
    if I drew a ven diagram you'd have one circle representing hentai fans and another circle representing robot jocks, and they'd be like almost completely separate.


    Yes, they will be separated by the vertically oblong group of girlfriendless frutrated slashdotters.

    Sorry, bad joke. To early in the morning.
    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  92. pork barrel... by eagl · · Score: 1

    So, who do I have to bribe to get my robotic godzilla darpa project funded???!!!!!111one

  93. Quick someone get Spiderman by g0bshiTe · · Score: 1
    FTFA
    He believes the robotic tentacles could perhaps one day be used to create a robotic octopus or even a backpack with extra limbs.
    I think Doc Oc will soon pay us a visit.

    I for one welcome our new multi-apendage tentacle overlords.
    --
    I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
  94. Robot "mule" by AngryElmo · · Score: 1

    did any see this little video ( http://ebaumsworld.com/2006/05/robotmule2.html ). The locomotion works a treat.