Althouse: "Headless running robot cat."

June 18, 2013

"Headless running robot cat."

"The headless, four-legged robot is about the size of a house cat, and its legs were designed with a typical kitty in mind..."

A typical kitty without a head...

15 comments:

Icepick said...: A typical kitty without a head...

You'd be surprised how often that happens in neighborhoods with pit bulls.; 6/18/13, 8:07 AM
Larry J said...: A typical kitty without a head...

My wife is allergic to cats so of course she's a cat magnet. At last, here's a cat she could tolerate.; 6/18/13, 8:08 AM
marvel said...: It's a highly unconventional vehicle!; 6/18/13, 8:13 AM
Wince said...: "A typical kitty without a head..."

Bang the cat slowly.; 6/18/13, 8:33 AM
campy said...: It's a highly unconventional vehicle!

Yes, yes it is.; 6/18/13, 8:38 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: I'd like to see it jump up on the kitchen counter and demand a drink from the faucet.; 6/18/13, 8:42 AM
lemondog said...: Saves on cat food.....and need for a litter box.; 6/18/13, 8:43 AM
edutcher said...: A pussy without a head is de rigeur in the Moslem world.; 6/18/13, 9:18 AM
Methadras said...: This is no different than the robotic DARPA mule.; 6/18/13, 11:00 AM
TML said...: Seriously?!?! No effing video in that article? Ridiculous oversight. That's all most people will link over for. Cheat.; 6/18/13, 11:29 AM
Crunchy Frog said...: Betamax3000, please pick up the white courtesy phone...; 6/18/13, 11:52 AM
Old Grouch said...: No effing video in that article?

Here's MIT's version, with a video: IEEE Spectrum

It'll do 13+ mph.; 6/18/13, 1:24 PM
bagoh20 said...: It claims it can do seven body lengths per second. So I calculate a four foot long model would do:

4x7x60x60/5280 = 19mph

Pretty good for a robot. It could run you down and kill you. Jump in the pool!; 6/18/13, 2:23 PM
bagoh20 said...: If you've seen the Movie "Red Planet" then that video in Old Grouch's link above is pretty damned scary.

The kitty in the movie:

http://youtu.be/8ZKITq_2ORw; 6/18/13, 2:52 PM
Carl said...: Love the naivete or ingenuous deceptivity of the Times here. Rescue kitty!

Uh huh. Sure. They ought to know that the primary and driving force for these robots is warfare. "Kitty" is going to peek around the corner when a squad of jarheads is under fire to spot the sniper, and then v2.0 is going to trot at seven body lengths per second up the stairs of the sniper's hidey-hole and drop 100g of high explosive before scampering away. Bang. Remember, the President intends to close Guantanamo.

It will have civilian applications, too, tee hee. The LAPD will have one not long after the USMC.

But things will really get interesting when the narco-gangs also start using robots. Brave new world! Here kitty kitty...; 6/18/13, 3:47 PM