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DARPA Planning Liquid Robots
moon_monkey writes "According to New Scientist, Darpa is soliciting proposals for so-called Chemical Robots (ChemBots) that would be soft, flexible and could manoeuvre through openings smaller than their static structural dimensions. They suggest that it could be made from shape-memory materials, electro- or magneto-rheological materials or even folding components."
*Holds up picture of John Connor*
And don't forget the requisite interface to SkyNet.
[Insert pithy quote here]
The small creatures discussed can only get through places where their bone structure allows.
Its inpractical for a mouse to get through somewhere that involves breaking its own bones (unless a mouse is chasing it!).
Make boney robots with flubber muscles and batteries and you are onto a winner.
No flex required in the skeleton.
liqbase
I would by a door made out of this material and it would slap solicitors whenever they knock at my door.
Now when someone asks what crawled up your ass they might be very serious.
I think the invisible hand of the market has its middle finger extended
--A wise old fart named SC0RN
Sounds to me like they want something out of the Terminator 2 movie. I'm not exactly sure what they want with a robotic slug though. The design request seems pretty weird to me.
> I'm not exactly sure what they want with a robotic slug though. The design request seems pretty weird to me.
It's not meant for men.
I'll probably be modded down for this...
No, we wouldn't want a robot that could squeeze through rubble to find survivors of a building collapse. No sirree.
The Governator Arnold must be notified immediately, his presence in our world was not in vain. He will still have his fight before he is 120.
You can't handle the truth.
YOU'VE KILLED US ALL!!!
It is as bad as you think and they really are out to get you.
The way the request is written, there could be some non-killing applications for these kinds of robots. Search and rescue operations frequently require getting into small spaces to find out what's going on. Collecting information from an unaccessible location has many practical applications. If the espionage applications are the ones that will pay for the research, so be it. The majority of research funding goes into finding new and creative ways to eradicate the human race, but this one could also have up sides.
The timelines are consistent with current project management methodologies - if you have no intention of completing the project, you may as well fail on an aggressive timeline. At least they haven't yet reached the point where the start date is expected to be after the completion date.
Sure sounds more like covert ops (sneak in and blow them up) to me.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Lots of money goes towards protecting soldiers, light body armor for example. When the Chinese decide to invade the US I'll be glad we have fancy killing weapons. The best way to protect our soldiers is to eliminate the enemy. It would be nice to think everyone can play together but thats not the case, I would rather have laser guns that collect dust than old m16s that can't penetrate the enemy's new body armor.
Knowledge = Power
P= W/t
t=Money
Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
...while blending to the tiled floor
What, it only takes 40 years for the DoD to pick up on cheesy B-grade sci fi movies?
I always really liked the skit about the "Snit" - scientists supposedly create an organism that is comprised of the perfect form of protein.
Interviewer: "What does it look like?"
Scientist: "Kind of like guacamole, with eyes."
and a bit later on...
Scientist: "The only problem is we haven't figured out how to kill it."
Interviewer: "Have you tried grinding it up?"
Scientist: "Yes, we just get more snits.
and at the end...
Scientist: "And then there's the problem with the guards..."
Interviewer: "What problem?"
Scientist: "Last night, we had 2 150-pound guards. This morning, we had one 300-pound snit."
Was this a Monty Python skit?
All pass beyond reach of medicine. None pass beyond the reach of love.
Just getting the obligatory stuff over with ...
I for one welcome our new chemical-robotic, payload-carrying overlords.
In UK you watch 'Robot Wars',
In Soviet US robot watches YOU!
I'm going to transform myself into a mighty hawk. Either that or I'll just go and work at Dixons, haven't decided yet.
I think most of us here have 'hands-on' experience with this already...
you do realise the entire internet was designed as a hardened system to help communication in face of a massive nuclear strike.
What starts with an expensive cold military purpose becomes a tool for every day use.
There are very few things the military does that won't have practical everyday applications in 20 years.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
Variable, flexible and soft is not liquid.
- liquid implies no strong bonding between neighboring particals, the particals are free to change their relationships with each other.
Remote control is not robot.
- robot is autonomous.
This was a rant.
Of course DARPA wants something with military applications — that's what the "D" in DARPA is for. But that doesn't mean that military technology can't have large civilian payoffs, either. (Need I remind anyone here of the Internet? That was back in the days of ARPA, but that organization has always been oriented towards the technological support of national security.)
People wonder why America is producing less and less Scientists and Engineers. It's because we have no imagination any more. We need to get our heads out of the sand and find something to reach for or learn to accept not being important in the world.
I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
Mark Twain
I, for one, welcome our grey-goo making liquid overlords!
But do they spill linux?
Remember the inter-net? "Connect multiple computers with disparate architectures manufactured and designed by multiple manufacturers into a single integrated network architecture with seamless sharing of data, regardless of native format." I was vaguely associated with the development work DARPA did on this back in the early 80's - I was sure they were chasing a pipe-dream. DARPA often does, you know.
Yup - if only one pipe-dream in a hundred ever makes it, the internet sure shows that the other ninety-nine pipes weren't wasted; we can use 'em as tubes for the intarweb. So even if we don't come up with a Cyberdyne T-1000, let's see if something useful does come out of this research. Remember, the Nautilus, space travel, powered flight, even travel in excess of fifty to sixty miles per hour were all once ridiculous ideas - all theoretically impossible for many good scientific reasons. Now, we have nuclear submarines, (arguably) reusable spacecraft, jet travel and teenagers who can't seem to drive at less than seventy to eighty miles per hour!
You have to have been smoking a little too much weed to think that a military goal does not drive and benefit peace time technology. You might want to scroll through some of the biggest and most widely applied technological breakthroughs of the last century and see how many were related to military research...
Not important? I would mention from a foreigner's perspective we believe you will likely remain the cornerstone of the free world for quite some time. It is for that reason we are concerned about a number of your present actions and attitudes.
Then, mayhap the rest of the free world (sans Au) might begin to act like freedom from tyranny is a shared concept instead of kowtowing each time a despot rattles a sabre?
Not true, see here Amazon.com: Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet: Books: Katie Hafner While it was soon found that it would be useless in a nuclear attack, comments saying that it wasnt intended for use in one are revisionist history, even the budget allocations show, ARPANET was meant to be created to survive a nuclear attack.
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
Since when has giving people things ever worked to win "hearts and minds" in the long run? Todays breed of anti-government anarchists, hippies, and malcontents are amongst the richest and most privileged human beings in history. They have attained that status through the rights and opportunities afforded to them by their governments. Yet their "hearts and minds" seem to be planted firmly in the camp of those who would not only give them nothing, but take away everything.
"Free Shit" generally leads only to resentment and antipathy. It is by providing people with the freedom and opportunity to decide their own future that the US has become the great nation it is today, while communist nations which attempt to provide everything for everyone while asking nothing of anyone have blown away like dust on the winds of history.
I want Fem-Bots! Groovy, baby...
When the Chinese invade the US? With what sea/airlift capability, exactly?
"It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Peak Performance
but wouldn't eat the livers... hopefully.
Remember: it's not funny if it's so obvious.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
Human bridge over the Atlantic.
Will we see UN, other foreigners, and some Americans push for the conrol over them to become international in 30 years? Because, you know, the big and evil US will be abusing them left and right...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
a mimetic polyalloy
Wasn't there some of teen band named My Chemical Robot?
The Internet is a DARPA pipe-dream? So I guess it really IS a series of tubes...
I'm sure we could invest in something that would save far more lives with much less money. Like cancer or heart disease research. Or maybe more flexible building materials. Oh wait... that doesn't mean $$$ for military corporations.
-Derick
"espionage operations" don't pay for anything, trigger-happy right-wingers pay for everything! You don't profit from espionage unless you're casing a bank.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
someone already did one this page (its up more, but I have not checked post times)
09:F9:11:02 - 9D:74:E3:5B - D8:41:56:C5 - 63:56:88:C0
Furthermore, why? They could easily just sell all their US debt and send the US into hyperinflation. They don't desire to do this right now - but as soon as they have a domestic economy anywhere near our size and we present any sort of threat, they can easily cripple us in that regard without firing a shot or harming themselves in any way.
People in Soviet Russia, however, appear to be afflicted with amusing juxtapositions of the aforementioned situation
Why the hell would China invade the US ? We already buy all their horrible electronics and bootleg movies. It's not like Americans make good slaves, and they have everything to lose by killing their #1 customers.
Here's my proposal: Do away with all weaponry and defense research, it's all a waste of time, money and life. Just sort all people by their intelligence and trustworthiness, then starting from the center of the country, start spreading them out in concentric rings from smartest to dumbest until you have a nice thick shield of imbeciles all over the coast. That will slow down the enemy's invasion and allow the ones in the middle more time to jump into planes and fly over to Canada, plus their higher intellect will greatly improve their odds of being accepted as citizens. The rest we'll just turn into hot-dog sausages for our Pogos (the better version of what you call corn dogs). And if those crazy invaders are too stupid to stop at the US/Canada border, we'll be well equipped to hold them back since we have a higher number of firearms per capita! If we can take down a half-ton moose, I'm pretty sure our rifles could stop a human or two.
Hey, better to enjoy what you have now, than spend all your time and money worrying about who might try to kill you. It seems to work well up here.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
correlation, causation, blah blah blah. The government has CREATED these so-called anarchists because gov't has repeatedly shown its citizens that it is completely incapable of serving their interests. It used to be, when your government went berserk and stopped listening to its people, you'd build up a militia and storm the capital to "take back your country" by force. We haven't really needed to do that in a long time so people have gotten out of shape when it comes to defending their rights. There are diplomatic ways, but the current system you have makes these impractical. Voting has failed, civil unrest would probably be met by civil counter-unrest thanks to the huge number of weak-minded gun-toting nuts, and all you want to do is say "Is it 2008 yet ? I can't wait for this Bush guy to be gone". Geeee... I wish I could patiently will away everything I don't like in this world, but I'm not telekinetic.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
Mod Parent Up. That is funny stuff.
Most people aren't thought about after they're gone. "I wonder where Rob got the plutonium" is better than most get.
Smart enough to develop the liquid robots.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, it doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick
I am fairly confident that the government satisfies most of the people in our country. If the majority of American citizens were fed up with the government things would change, and new parties would be put in power. However, most people are content with their day-to-day life and choose not to put any effort into changing things. In short, the government will never be able to satisfy everyone, so there will always be a segment of "so-called anarchists" who want things changed, and if enough of these people come together things will change. If it was desired by the people, there could be a revolution without a shot being fired.
In the year 2190? China will not have a suitably strong domestic economy for decades, if ever.
The designs for Robots of various types, and uses have been around for years. Hollywood is by no means a bastion of creativity. But the main problem that seems to be overlooked by most Wanna-Be Robot Inventors is the POWER SUPPLY. I would think that the DARPA folks would first want do some fundamental research, and solve the problem that is the choke point for all Robotics projects.
This will end well.
T-1000 anyone?
I am the unwilling control for my Origin.
As an employee at a chemical firm who likes to research this sort of "cutting edge" stuff, I took this over to our engineers, just for kicks.
Their primary complaint wasn't that you couldn't make a flexible robot (albeit perhaps a much slower one that described in the RFP). Their complaint was that the robot wouldn't have a CPU, or a brain, because we weren't yet at the capability of doing that kind of thing.
I responded that (excluding the exotic stuff like using a mouse brain) my cursory review of the RFP seemed to suggest there wouldn't be a problem with a couple microchips and/or electrodes floating around in the mess, just that it couldn't be over a certain size.
WhiteWolf666 an exBush supporter. All you new-school,compassionate,save the children Republicans can rot in hell
How does changing to whom we owe money from 'China' to some other name cause inflation, much less hyperinflation?
[100% ISO 646 Compliant]
SVM, ERGO MONSTRO.
Don't you get it? This is DARPA we're talking about, they already have...
Much Madness is divinest Sense --
To a discerning Eye --
Much Sense -- the starkest Madness
While I haven't read that book, I have read several reviews which cite it as debunking the notion that ARPANET was originally created to produce a nuclear-resistant network. So I am curious about you citing it in the opposite context. As far as I can tell from Googling on that book and other sources, Paul Baran came up with the idea of packet switching to make a nuclear-strike resistant network, but that wasn't why ARPA decided to fund ARPANET.
In addition, I know an ex-DARPA program manager who asked one of the original ARPANET managers about it, who told him they were really more interested in the practical uses of packet switching than with "nuclear strikes".
I also don't know how the budget allocations are supposed to show anything.
Incidentally, the Publishers Weekly review in the very Amazon link cited states,
"And while the book attempts to debunk the conventional notion that ARPANET was devised primarily as a communications link that could survive nuclear war (essentially it was not), pioneer developers like Paul Baran (who, along, with British Scientist Donald Davies devised the Internet's innovative packet-switching message technology) recognized the importance of an indestructible message medium in an age edgy over the prospects of global nuclear destruction."
which agrees with what I wrote.
A robot composed of hot grits, in the shape of a female. Female octopus that is.
I drank what? -- Socrates
There were many reasons why our economy did well in the last half of the last century. It's hard to say exactly how much should be attributed to any one factor.
Personally, I think a more socialist economic stance could boost our economy. I have lots of business ideas I would like to explore, but I can't take on the risk of starting my own business. In the initial stages, I would not be able to afford medical care. If I fail in the long run, I would not be able to afford a comfortable retirement.
If we remove these risks, we will promote innovation.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
And so, apart from the amazing advances in medical treatment, jet engines, the internet and the first electronic computers, WHAT has military-requested government funding ever done for us! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079470/quotes
Spin that however you want, but the original intent was for a nuclear secure network, they just realized very soon into development that it was impossible and switched gears to the general networking aspect.
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
Just one critical flaw in your argument. Typically those with power never freely decide to relinquish it. The rights and freedoms we currently enjoy weren't gifted to us from on high. They were attained through centuries of struggle and activism.
This is a big reason the USA is losing its competitive edge.
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
With what sea/airlift capability, exactly?
What do you think those "Walmart" factories are for? Remember, just like us, they have a "GE" that makes toasters and military hardware also.
What?
Incentives for small-business aren't really socialist, unless they come in the form of actual "wealth redistribution". If the government provides large tax breaks for small businesses, that tends to encourage entrepreneurship, which increases economic growth. I deffinitely wouldn't call it socialist. And you're right about the rest too - having lots of natural resources certainly helped with the growth, as did not getting "blown to hell". On the other hand, Canada also didn't get blown to hell, and has even more natural resources. Russia got ravaged pretty bad, but they've got plenty of resources, and it didn't take them long to rebuild. China does fairly well in that department too, plus they have the advantage of a massive work-force as well. And just look at the middle east. Yeah, resources are important, but it means nothing without a free citizenry acting in their own interest.
State-sponsored medical care and significant retirement pensions aren't "socialist?"
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
That would be why I didn't mention socialized medicine and pensions. The government should stick to laws and taxes.
Giving tax breaks for businesses does NOT allow independent inventors to innovate. Innovative businesses need the time to develop a product before there is any revenue. When there is no revenue, tax breaks can't pay for drugs and surgeries.
Tax breaks may encourage people to open their own drywall subcontracting business, but they don't help people come up with anything actually new. In a service/knowledge driven economy, new innovations are much more important.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
That's why we have these wonderful people called "speculative investors", and "venture capitalists", who will give you money if you can convince them that you have a good idea. If your product sucks, or you're a shitty salesman, well, sucks to be you.
Since I've never, in my life, even met such a person, the system isn't working very well.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
There can be no revolution because the people are too complacent. The government could piss every single person off, including their own staff, and people still would just sit at home and bitch in front of their TV over the 6 o'clock news. It's always someone else's job to take care of it or "I don't do politics"... well politics are sadly what shapes our lives. We live in society, maybe we should pay attention to what that society is doing for us, not TO us.
-Billco, Fnarg.com