• Forums Software Updates

    The forums will be undergoing updates this weekend: Saturday 7th - Sunday 8th June 2025.
    Little to no downtime is expected.

Robot Round-Up

MorningAngel said:
Maybe hoping someone else will. I see many humans who wait without pressing the button.
Click to expand...
My point is though is that the little wheeled robot doohickeys don't have hands to press the button to cross, whereas yer average human person does have hands and can press the button, should they so desire.
 
Trevp666 said:
I saw one waiting at a pelican crossing (they're the ones with traffic lights to stop the traffic) and I thought to myself "how do they press the button?"
Click to expand...

The Starship robots wait at mapped pedestrian crossings until the light turns green for foot traffic or the robot evaluates crossing as safe.

https://medium.com/starshiptechnologies/robots-and-road-users-e819a3dae98

Starship delivery bots can be remotely controlled in addition to using their onboard autonomous navigation skills.
 
If I wanted to steal some crappy fast-food from one of these little delivery bots I wouldn't be just grabbing ahold of it and trying to pull the lid off.
No. I'd take to it with my 3 foot long, inch thick, crowbar, which I have found is pretty much 'at the top of the food chain', an 'apex predator', when it comes to accessing pretty much anything in short order.
1667209583327.png

Brute force and determination usually wins through in any situation, I have found.
 
Trevp666 said:
If I wanted to steal some crappy fast-food from one of these little delivery bots I wouldn't be just grabbing ahold of it and trying to pull the lid off.
No. I'd take to it with my 3 foot long, inch thick, crowbar, which I have found is pretty much 'at the top of the food chain', an 'apex predator', when it comes to accessing pretty much anything in short order.
View attachment 60341
Brute force and determination usually wins through in any situation, I have found.
Click to expand...
If we reach a point where there is mass-starvation, people will do just that.
 
My brother bought me some kind of 'smart speaker' thingumabob as a chrimbo pressie a couple of years ago.
I unboxed it, read the instructions about allowing it to have access to my google stuff, phone numbers, email addresses, etc etc etc,..........then reboxed it and it has been sitting in the back of a cupboard ever since.
 

Human+ Tech Talks | The Future of Robots in Our Everyday Lives: A Transdisciplinary Discussion​


Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities

Oct 18, 2022

Robots that will populate our social everyday lives have become an ubiquitous figure of the sociotechnical imaginary of the Global North. They can take the shape of smaller artifacts to life-sized humanoid robots. Researchers have been examining the gendered, racialized and ableist dimensions of designing, building and implementing so-called social robots. This discussion aims to not only formulate a humanistic critique of engineering practices, but rather to deliver the points of departure to engineer social robots differently.

The panel will tackle these main questions, among others:
● How can robotic engineers and humanities scholars work together?
● What kind of future robots do we envision when collaborating?
● How could robots become socially useful in new, not yet known ways?

Speakers:
Dr Pat Treusch, Human+ Programme Fellow;
Dr Conor McGinn, Assistant Professor, Mechanical, Manufacturing & Biomedical Engineering, Trinity College Dublin;
Benjamin Cowan, Associate Professor School of Information & Communication Studies University College Dublin;
Fiona McDermott, Research Fellow, SFI CONNECT Centre.

 
Trevp666 said:
My brother bought me some kind of 'smart speaker' thingumabob as a chrimbo pressie a couple of years ago.
I unboxed it, read the instructions about allowing it to have access to my google stuff, phone numbers, email addresses, etc etc etc,..........then reboxed it and it has been sitting in the back of a cupboard ever since.
Click to expand...
Why would a [presumably] bluetooth speaker need all that? Normally all you need to do is pair it with the device you connect to the internet with.
 
Beats me pal.
That was what I thought but these 'smart' things are a step up from just a bluetooth speaker. (It wouldn't have worked unless I set up an amazon prime account as well. And then also download an app. And allow access to all my info.)
I mean, my phone will link with the audio system in my car via bluetooth and play the music, but it doesn't automatically actively listen to me and order me a burger to be delivered when I'm at the next set of traffic lights if I happen to mention that I'm hungry.
Probably a poor example but you know what I mean.
 
Trevp666 said:
Beats me pal.
That was what I thought but these 'smart' things are a step up from just a bluetooth speaker. (It wouldn't have worked unless I set up an amazon prime account as well. And then also download an app. And allow access to all my info.)
I mean, my phone will link with the audio system in my car via bluetooth and play the music, but it doesn't automatically actively listen to me and order me a burger to be delivered when I'm at the next set of traffic lights if I happen to mention that I'm hungry.
Probably a poor example but you know what I mean.
Click to expand...
Blimey I'm behind the times. So what else could a smart speaker do apart from produce sound, that just a bluetooth wouldn't?
 
hunck said:
Blimey I'm behind the times. So what else could a smart speaker do apart from produce sound, that just a bluetooth wouldn't?
Click to expand...
Crikey - yes you are. You need to get with the modern stuff, grandad! lol.
I'm lead to believe that you can pretty much treat the thing like some sort of disembodied secretary.
You can call out to it to make a phone call, set you an alarm, play you music, order your take-away, book your flight tickets, link it to your TV so it shows the stuff you ask it to....all sorts of stuff, but you do need to surrender all your info to its database and be prepared for it to know your every movement.
 
Trevp666 said:
Crikey - yes you are. You need to get with the modern stuff, grandad! lol.
I'm lead to believe that you can pretty much treat the thing like some sort of disembodied secretary.
You can call out to it to make a phone call, set you an alarm, play you music, order your take-away, book your flight tickets, link it to your TV so it shows the stuff you ask it to....all sorts of stuff, but you do need to surrender all your info to its database and be prepared for it to know your every movement.
Click to expand...
Hmmm….. think I’ll just stick with bluetooth.
 
https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/23/23475817/san-francisco-police-department-robots-deadly-force

San Francisco police consider letting robots use ‘deadly force’​

The San Francisco Police Department submitted a proposal that would give robots the ability to use deadly force in dangerous situations.​

Click to expand...
The San Francisco Police Department is proposing a new policy that would give robots the license to kill, as reported earlier by Mission Local (via Engadget). The draft policy, which outlines how the SFPD can use military-style weapons, states robots can be “used as a deadly force option when risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent and outweighs any other force option.”
As reported by Mission Local, members of the city’s Board of Supervisors Rules Committee have been reviewing the new equipment policy for several weeks. The original version of the draft didn’t include any language surrounding robots’ use of deadly force until Aaron Peskin, the Dean of the city’s Board of Supervisors, initially added that “robots shall not be used as a Use of Force against any person.”
However, the SFPD returned the draft with a red line crossing out Peskin’s addition, replacing it with the line that gives robots the authority to kill suspects. According to Mission Local, Peskin eventually decided to accept the change because “there could be scenarios where deployment of lethal force was the only option.” San Francisco’s rules committee unanimously approved a version of the draft last week, which will face the Board of Supervisors on November 29th.
As outlined in the equipment policy, the SFPD currently has 17 remotely piloted robots, but only 12 are functioning. In addition to granting robots the ability to use deadly force, the proposal also authorizes them for use in “training and simulations, criminal apprehensions, critical incidents, exigent circumstances, executing a warrant or during suspicious device assessments.”
While most of the robots listed in the SFPD’s inventory are primarily used for defusing bombs or dealing with hazardous materials, newer Remotec models have an optional weapons system, and the department’s existing F5A has a tool called the PAN disruptor that can load 12-gauge shotgun shells. It’s typically used to detonate bombs from a distance. The department’s QinetiQ Talon can also be modified to hold various weapons — a weaponized version of the robot is currently used by the US Army and can equip grenade launchers, machine guns, or even a .50-caliber anti-materiel rifle.
“SFPD has always had the ability to use lethal force when the risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers are imminent and outweigh any other force option available,” says SFPD Officer Eve Laokwansathitaya, in a statement to The Verge. “SFPD does not have any sort of specific plan in place as the unusually dangerous or spontaneous operations where SFPD’s need to deliver deadly force via robot would be a rare and exceptional circumstance.”
The Dallas Police Department used a robot to carry out deadly force for the first time in 2016. It used a bomb-disposal robot — the same Remotec F5A model owned by the SFPD — armed with an explosive device to kill a suspect who shot and killed five police officers and wounded several others. At the time, Dallas police chief David Brown said the department “saw no other option but to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was.”
Last month, a report from The Intercept revealed that California’s Oakland Police Department was also considering letting shotgun-equipped Remotec F5A robots use deadly force. Shortly after the report came out, the Oakland PD announced on Facebook it decided against adding “armed remote vehicles to the department.” Meanwhile, a group of robot makers, including Boston Dynamics, signed a pledge not to weaponize their robots earlier this year.
Click to expand...
 
Yes I think we referred to that elsewhere.
It all seems a bit too much like ED-209 for my liking.
1669653382264.png
 
Herr Cloaca said:
Goofy Korean police robot with silly name

1100x619_cmsv2_6556cf94-9604-5150-b1e6-8d2213bc456a-7199136.jpg


https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/11/19/this-self-driving-patrol-robot-is-being-used-to-detect-danger-and-alert-police-on-seouls-s
Click to expand...
Following up on what I said above, this is a robot, and I wouldn't want it to be authorized to use deadly force. A remotely operated vehicle is still run by a human. A problem arises when you call remotely operated vehicles "robots", then write up the rules for them, and in the process make those rules apply to true robots.
 
Oh yeah, and this:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-63816454

San Francisco to allow police 'killer robots'

San Francisco's ruling Board of Supervisors has voted to let the city's police use robots that can kill.

The measure permits police to deploy robots equipped with explosives in extreme circumstances.

Dr Catherine Connolly, from the group Stop Killer Robots, said the move was a "slippery slope" that could distance humans from killing.

The city's police - the SFPD - told the BBC they do not currently operate any robots equipped with lethal force.

They said though that there may be future scenarios in which lethal force could be used by a robot.

A spokesperson for the police said "robots could potentially be equipped with explosive charges to breach fortified structures containing violent, armed, or dangerous subjects".
Click to expand...

More at the link above.
 
So....Typical BBC fluff, interview for and against and no not more moderate party?

Given that a US copper does a dangerous job...
 
Robots maintainstiff upper lip.

A photo of delivery robots patiently queuing at a pedestrian crossing has prompted dozens of comments from people on Facebook.

The Starship Technologies robots were introduced in Cambridge this month.

Cyclist Naomi Davies spotted the queue of seven in Coleridge Road on Tuesday and said they waited through three changes of lights before one crossed.

Starship said robots were not "shy" about asking for help, but in a very "English" way, were "happy to queue".

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-63821535
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top