Smart Robot Capable of Hunting For Its Own "Food"

coondoggie writes "Ok, maybe this is getting a little too close to bringing Terminator-like robots to life. For starters, eco-friendly engine builder Cyclone Power this week inked a contract from Robotic Technologies, Inc. (RTI) to develop what it calls a beta biomass engine system that will be the heart of RTI's Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR). The purpose of EATR is to develop and demonstrate an autonomous robotic platform able to perform long-range, long-endurance missions without the need for manual or conventional re-fueling — in other words it needs to 'eat.' According to researchers, the EATR system gets its energy by foraging, or what the firms describe as 'engaging in biologically-inspired, organism-like, energy-harvesting behavior which is the equivalent of eating. It can find, ingest, and extract energy from biomass in the environment as well as use conventional and alternative fuels (such as gasoline, heavy fuel, kerosene, diesel, propane, coal, cooking oil, and solar) when suitable.'" We can only hope they don't team up with the Multi-Robot Pursuit System project to "search for and detect a non-cooperative human."

Comments

Not like Terminator

[DoofusOfDeath]

Ok, maybe this is getting a little too close to bringing Terminator-like robots to life.

No, too-Terminator-like would be if it said, "You are not Sarah Connor. But I am a bit peckish...."

Re:Not like Terminator

[ShieldW0lf]

Come on... look on the bright side. Instead of your child getting blown apart by a land mine left over from the last invasion, they can get blown apart by a hunter-killer drone. That's WAY cooler.

Reminds me of Stephen King's The Dark Tower... maybe they could dress it up like a bear...

Re:Not like Terminator

[memnock]

... more like The Matrix.

Only a few questions

[ari_j]

1. Am I "biomass"?
2. Is my kitten, Fluffy, who likes to go outside, "biomass"?
3. If I died in my home, would I then become "biomass"? In other words, will Fluffy have any competition for my corpse?

Re:Only a few questions

[nizo]

...that the energy required in harvesting anything that moves is far in excess of the energy that the robot will be able to extract from it.

Tell that to every ambush predator on the planet. As an added bonus, I bet the standby mode on the robot burns less energy than most waiting ambush predators too.

"Hey, is that a new trashcan outside the Dunkin Donuts? Huh I think it moved....WAARGHHHHHHH...."

Re:Only a few questions

[ceoyoyo]

I imagine a robot that can eat biomass would do pretty well as a trashcan outside Dunkin Donuts anyway. Lots of fat and sugar getting tossed in when the doughnuts go stale.

Or McDonalds, for that matter.

Re:I'm starting to think that the Amish

[$RANDOMLUSER]

I'm sure the robots will find them delicious as well.

Re:I'm starting to think that the Amish

[SatanicPuppy]

I bet the Amish could apply for the "organic" label.

If a machine only eats "organic" people, do you think they'd be eligible for tax breaks as a "green" consumer?

My worst fear

[parascott]

I have visions of the energizer bunny as a mutant omnivore.

It just keeps going, and going, and going.....

Remember the most important lesson...

[Anonymous Coward]

Limit the robots to a six foot power cord.

Unstopable!

[snspdaarf]

Great. This thing will siphon your fuel tank, and if that fails, threaten to eat your cat unless you hand over the charge card for the local service station.

What will it do when it figures out WE are biomass?

Re:I'm starting to think that the Amish

[Smidge207]

I bet the Amish could apply for the "organic" label.

As in Amish potato salad?

=Smidge=

Re:Not at all premature

[Covert Penguin]

You're assuming that the lawn mower was tasked with the cat's safety in addition to cutting the grass.

Alternatives:
1.) Make the wheels smaller so the cat can't enter the business end of the machine.
2.) Get a dog. Most are too big for the lawnmower to injure, and will keep the cat off the grass.
3.) Reconsider feline sympathy.

My home would be an ideal habitat

[srussia]

When can I get a Roomba that runs on nacho crumbs and spilled Mountain Dew?

Ummm, I'm thinking that, in this situation

[wiredog]

they'd be the "consumed" rather than the "consumers", so no tax break. Unless you're talking about giving the robots a tax break.

Re:Ummm, I'm thinking that, in this situation

[Retric]

I don't think the "consumed" need a tax break. So, I expect he was talking about the robots.

Re:I'm starting to think that the Amish

[SatanicPuppy]

No, more like "Genuine Corn Fed Humans, no extra processing, no artificial hormones or sweeteners! Raised on the farm without cages!"

Dr. Frankenstein

[SL1200MKII]

"Cyclone brings to this project one of the most advanced external combustion engine technologies we have seen," stated Dr. Robert Finkelstein, President of RTI"

Maybe it's just me but I find it a little worrying that this monster of a robot was created by Dr. Finkelstein

It's alive Igor, It's Alive!!

Protection

[ohnotherobots]

Fortunately my tinfoil hat will cause the robots to think I am not made of organic material.

Re:Alternative to scary Sci-Fi plots

[lucas_picador]

"Attention, citizen! I am Robocop(rophage). Step away from the doggie doo and nobody gets eaten."

"Thank you for your copro-peration."

(Sorry, I just can't stop.)

Re:biomass to fuel?

[internerdj]

I misread your post and got the mental image of waking up, preparing for work, going to the garage and finding my car has wandered off in search of fuel because it "got hungry."

Re:How much longer

[Anonymous Coward]

So the nuclear war was really just emo-skynet cutting itself?

DARPA's new endeavor

[NonUniqueNickname]

long-endurance missions such as search and rescue in the mountains and caves of Afghanistan and Pakistan

Greetings person in Afghan cave.
I am a robot.
I am here to rescue you.
*chainsaw*
Stand still so I can rescue you.

NOM NOM NOM

[Antlerbot]

So I think I see a solution to the homeless problem coming up...

Re:WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong

[ari_j]

Let's just hope they read xkcd:

thisAlgorithmBecomingSkynetCost = 999999999;

Re:Oh shoot!

[couchslug]

"So we've got omnivorous assassin bots that consume their "target" after "acquisition" to remove evidence of the mission. That's just great."

"Whirrrr...click....BLAM!

OM NOM NOM NOM.

Sploot.

Whirr...."