Robot Spider

By Shamus Posted Friday Mar 14, 2008

Filed under: Movies 33 comments

No time for blogging today. Allow me to distract you with this. Some kind robot spider thing. I found this movie at Dan’s Data by way of Chizumatic.

I don’t know why people keep building stuff like this. It’s the start of the slippery slope. One day you’re building little robot spiders for fun, the next thing you know automated factories are cranking out earthmoving hunter-killers like this one:

robot_spider.jpg

When the robot uprising comes, I think these people will have to answer a lot of difficult questions about which side they’re really on.

 


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33 thoughts on “Robot Spider

  1. Solka says:

    Shame on you, Shamus! It’s people like you that prevent progress from going even faster!

    When the time come, I will hunt you down and sacrifice you to our new Spider-Robot-Masters.

  2. Robert says:

    I for one welcome our new robo-insectoid masters.

  3. Martin says:

    Post needs more Summer Glau.

  4. Mystyk says:

    I just can’t stop thinking about the Replicators from Stargate: SG-1. I swear these robots were made as much to imitate that sci-fi legend as they were to experiment…

    On preview: Seconding the motion by #3.

  5. Kris says:

    Did you break your Gravatars Shamus? Or just tweaking?

  6. Tango says:

    Kris: I noticed that the other day. They might have done what I did initially – loaded the Gravatar but forgot to set it as active.

  7. Nilus says:

    I know what side I will be on. I will be making coffee for our much loved Robot Overlords. And yes robots drink coffee, its motor oil flavored.

    P.S. Please feel free to insert a humorous comment about how coffee brand already tastes like motor oil.

  8. Tango says:

    hrm… the edit options seems to be gone or being blocked by this settings on this machine. Either way, my gravatar appears to have worked.

  9. kanthalion says:

    I would NEVER speak ill of our robot overl–I mean “protectors”

  10. Devon says:

    I ran an Asimovian “I, Robot”-inspired convention game, and the only group on the planet who had the resources to stop it or turn it back (the players — what a surprise) didn’t get it together in time, so humanity was forcefully “protected” from itself in a glorious robot Eden. All hail.

  11. Hal says:

    Sweet sassy molassy, that is the scariest thing I’ve ever seen!

    When the robot uprising occurs, I shall be soiling my pants. Then searching for an EMP can of Raid.

  12. stuff says:

    I second Robert. Robots won’t kill you if you don’t bother them.

  13. Mr. Son says:

    If our robot masters are going to be that frickin’ CUTE, I’ll happily be their meatbag servant.

  14. Nick Pitino says:

    I hope to not be on the planet when the robot uprising comes along. I’m thinking homesteading on a nice little 200m asteroid is starting to sound real good…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATFxVB4JFpQ

  15. Cadamar says:

    The human species is already extinct. We just don’t know it yet.
    When the artificial uprising occurs, I will be one of the digitized generals exterminating the organic plague of the non-advanced homo sapians.
    Think post-human or don’t think at all.

    Oh, and that tractor mecha… AWESOME!!!! I have a huge geek-on right now. Too bad it’s just a sculpture. I’d love to see it actually move.

  16. edcalaban says:

    Didn’t you realize we already serve our robotic overlords? They have/will master time travel, enabling them to influence the “now” and cause their own creation in favorable circumstances. Thus any attempt to prevent the robot uprising from succeeding will fail miserably.

    I know which side I’m on.

  17. Mari says:

    I, for one, am a member of the neoLuddite Resistance Army and actively work against the Lizard Army and their robot compatriots. You pro-Lizard, pro-bot liberal commies sicken me. Get your priorities in order and wake up to the war being waged before your children are the first sacrifices to our new Zogg leaders! Down with the Lizards! Down with technology!

    *this paranoid rambling brought to you by The Register’s Rise of the Machines section

  18. Mr. Blue says:

    The way I see it, we’re just that much closer to my goal of a pet Tachikoma. So I’m happy.

  19. Kaeltik says:

    Cadamar: It may be CG rather than a sculpture. The rust/stains on the two left arms are nearly identical textures.

  20. Cadamar says:

    Kaeltik: It is CG. I found the source: http://englishrussia.com/?p=1163#more-1163

    Excellent job, though. Given the resolution of the pic, the choice of lighting, and the quality of the model I was convinced it was a real sculpture. Pitty, I really wanted it to be real… :(
    But there is a cool animation of it at the link above.

  21. xbolt says:

    I want one as a pet. :)

  22. Zaxares says:

    Bah, you’re ALL missing the point. Cybernetics is the way of the future (and to immortality!) When the scientists start looking for volunteers to test their brain-to-computer identity transfer devices, I’ll be in the second wave of volunteers!

    Why second wave? So the first wave can work out all the bugs first. I’m not THAT stupid. :P

  23. Huckleberry says:

    It won’t take off. They’ll be met by fierce resistance from real spiders who won’t fall for it; they just *know* that any self-respecting spider has eight legs…

  24. ngthagg says:

    “Robots won't kill you if you don't bother them.”

    I’ve heard that advice regarding bullies. Our only hope is that the robots don’t come up with, “Your FACE is bothering me.”

  25. Morzas says:

    This essay isn’t related to this post, but I think it is related to your blog. I’m curious as to what you think about it.

  26. Phlux says:

    I say bring on the earthmoving hunter-killers. I’d like to see them follow me into a muddy field. They’d get stuck like a dinosaur in a tar pit.

  27. Patrick says:

    This has nothing to do with the video, but I thought you’d like it.
    http://simulatedcomicproduct.com/2008/03/13/dexterity-roll/

  28. Huckleberry says:

    Again, off topic; but I just came across this site, and on the off-chance you don’t know it yet: *great* retrospectives of Metroid, Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda et al.
    http://www.gametrailers.com/retrospective.php

    Enjoy!

  29. Ben says:

    Kind of reminded me of some of the construction labors from the anime “Patlabor“.

  30. Chris says:

    Check your Wavatar post to see how to fix your wavatar plugin. It is broken due to Gravatar’s recoding of their service.

  31. ArchU says:

    It moves so realistically. Now it just needs an extra pair of legs. Mmmmmrobotspider ^~^

    I wonder if it can drive a dune buggy…?

  32. M says:

    I really need to build a spider-legged stand for my laptop. Time to get my hands on some “Robotics for dummies” books, and get started…

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