Who's Got the Coolest Robot?

It seems we are getting close to SF.

Check out the milking robot:

http://www.hydraulicspneumatics.com/200/Issue/Article/False/46093/Issue

Wow that is pretty strange. Right here in New York. I'm waiting for the nano robots to appear...

It looks like a cross between a gathering arm loader used in mining , and a fearsome cartoon character. The thing looks to be operated by a person (well hopefully ) , so does that mean remote surgery would qualify (eg, Surgeon in Australia could operate on a person in Canada) as robotic too.

Well, to be honest with you, I myself was a firefighter EMT in northern California, and I have personally put out fires and pulled people out of wrecked cars. That robot doesn't look like it's got very soft fingers! I'm not so sure I would want it pulling me out of a burning building!

Jules

I'd agree with that Jules . The thing is weird . They might crack the ability to mimic hands one day , but I don't think they'll develop anything with the decision making ability of a firefighter at the scene who is 'hands-on' . With a size like that , it's not exactly mobile - perhaps the intended use is terrorist type scenarios (clearing casualties in a sniper zone /checking site before rescuers enter etc ). I think we're a long way off Robocop , but people probably said the same about flying 200 years ago . It would be surreal to find yourself being towed clear by that thing . Kris

While cruising for new robot technology, I came across this link, a science fiction classic. How about the "nanorobot?" The following article suggests that this tiny artificial intelligence may someday be allowed to roam the human body, repairing tissue and otherwise improving health. Check out this oldie but goodie:

PUBLISHED BY THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES · JULY/AUGUST 2000

Say "Ah!"

Nanorobots the size of bacteria might one day roam peopleís bodies, rooting out disease organisms and repairing damaged tissue

by robert a. freitas jr.

"In June of last year, Richard E. Smalley, A Nobel Prizeñwinning chemist at Rice University in Houston, Texas, took a break from his cancer treatments to testify before a congressional subcommittee about the promise of nanotechnology, the science of building at unthinkably small scales. Article is here:

http://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine/SayAh/index.html