Hey, there! Log in / Register
Charlestown company developing robots that don't look like they plan to murder you
By adamg on Fri, 10/26/2018 - 9:48am
Sure, Boston Dynamics's jumping, cinderblock-flinging would-be metal assassins get all the attention, but in a distant part of Charlestown, another company is quietly designing genial robotic luggage that follows you like a puppy while carrying up to 40 pounds of your stuff, the Charlestown Patriot-Bridge reports.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Nice. A robot that saves me
Nice. A robot that saves me all the trouble of holding a handle on a suitcase. This leaves my hands free to do other things. Except now that think of it, I can accomplish the same thing with a backpack. And as far as being "answer for getting out the door without grabbing your car keys," that was already answered by the invention of the bicycle, often paired with the aforementioned backpack or a saddle bag. So I guess I'll save my money for the debris-flinging killbots, thank you anyway.
"I used to be with it, but
"I used to be with it, but then they changed what *it* was. Now what I'm with isn't *it*, and what's *it* seems weird and scary to me. It'll happen to you..."
No way man. We're going to
No way man. We're going to keep on rockin forever. Forever. Forever. Forever.
man, and here I was, thinking
man, and here I was, thinking this was a cool solution for the elderly and people with mobility problems, including wheelchairs
Yeah, I guess technically a
Yeah, I guess technically a bike key isn't a car key.
Every time I look back, it's still there!
WHAT DOES IT WANT FROM ME?!?
Rover
I AM NOT A NUMBER! I AM A HUMAN BEING!
I've seen this before...
Terry Pratchett is somewhere laughing his head off. Somebody went and invented The Luggage.
Which was ...
far from being "harmless".
To be fair ...
... looking like you plan to murder someone isn't always the most reliable strategy.
#competent
Don't worry.
You just have to click the "customize" link on the purchase page.
Under "secondary function" use the drop down to select MURDER.
This is perfect for all the
This is perfect for all the lazy lards that will be shuttling around on those golf cart style scooters byrd is deploying. This way they can exert themselves even less, while fossil fuels completely take over all functions humans used to do, for maximum fat storage potential. We are getting very close to Idiocracys vision of the future. Big Techs vision of a bike and walking free future is approaching.
Big Tech? Sure it's not Big Tush?
n/t
Repost from 1908?
We've been building our society around technology that runs on fossil fuels and allows people to be lazy for over a century now - it's called the automobile. If anything, this might help people who are absolutely convinced that there's no way to live in a city without a car realize that there are some other options.
That was what uber and lyft
That was what uber and lyft said when they started, it will help take people away from all having their own cars and use public transit more. Instead, studies have shown lots of people buy cars to drive uber and lyft and most uber lyft trips would have otherwise been on public transit/walking, or are extra trips people wouldn't have taken if not for this livery style service. So net result has been decrease I public transit and more driving.
Hope the Security was Designed-in
This seems innocuous enough until you think of the potential for ulterior usage
Suppose that these become popular and start appearing on the sidewalks in great numbers
Good Hackers might reprogram your pup to pull-off as you pass an alley -- just for fun
Bad Hackers might do the above and then reprogram your pup [now either reloaded or substituted by an alter egopup] to now become a Tsarnaev-inspired pup -- and then as you go along into a particularly juicy area -- All Go BOOOoooooOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!
40 pounds is more than enough cargo capacity to make one nasty explosion
more benign malicious usage includes: knocking down people on the sidewalks, causing accidents for bicycles, scooters, automobiles in the Streets, vandalizing storefronts by colliding with windows and doors, swimming in fountains, rolling over people lying on the beach, etc.
Basically -- it could become a hackers paradise -- still I guess it beats people stealing shopping carts from stores and then disposing of them in the Charles or the Harbor
Like I said -- hope that they designed the security in from the ground-up