Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Robots to Crawl Under the City

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the dreaming-of-electric-sheep dept.

Johan Louwers writes "Robots will crawl tubes in a short while to investigate power cables running in the tubes to make sure they are still undamaged or in need for a repair. The Robotic Cable Inspection System is developed by Alexander Mamishev, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Washington. Making use of infrared thermal analysis and acoustic partial discharge analysis, the robot will be checking mile after mile of cable while crawling his way in the tubes."

10 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. Now we know by snarkth · · Score: 5, Funny

    How the Sentinels got their start.

      snarkth

  2. Someone has to say it by Dachannien · · Score: 3, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new robotic underlords.

    1. Re:Someone has to say it by beckerist · · Score: 3, Funny

      THIS IS NOT FUNNY! And no, no one has to say it. This site is perpetually headed waaaaaay downhill, and has never been one for humor (at least humor of the current decade...)

    2. Re:Someone has to say it by beckerist · · Score: 3, Funny

      and no, I DON'T need to go AC to say this.

  3. Damn... by Dunbal · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now where are we humans going to hide when Skynet becomes active?

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  4. Identifiers? by Grey_14 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I would hope they would make them easy to identify and track, Imagine stumbling upon some weird robotic beasty that washed out of a storm drain and thinking it's the beginning of the robot revolution or something, Maybe they could just write "NOT EVIL" in magic marker or something, that would make ME feel better.

    1. Re:Identifiers? by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 4, Funny

      Add an "I'm feeling lucky" button to really top off its "none-evilness".

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
    2. Re:Identifiers? by Kadin2048 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Maybe they could just write "NOT EVIL" in magic marker or something, that would make ME feel better.

      How about "Don't Panic" in nice, friendly letters?

      --
      "Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
  5. Horror by SinGunner · · Score: 4, Funny
    This sounds like a bad horror-movie plot. Next they'll start coming up from the ground in some old people's home and killing everyone, and then the police get called in to investigate, but they just can't tell what the hell happened. Then more isolated incidents start to occur which leads the main character and his expendable co-stars into the dark abandoned subway tunnels to search for this menace from the underneath!

    The final scene involves a huge explosion or EMP burst that destroys all the robots but also leaves everyone in the sewer in complete darkness. Cut, print, that's a wrap. Where's my money?

  6. Only the beginning by SmlFreshwaterBuffalo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Great, how long before they start using similar robots to check your prostate?

    (Ha! You thought this was going to be another reference to The Matrix/Terminator, didn't you?)