Scientists Unveil Horrifying Toxin-Sniffing Spider 'Bot

Earnest Cavalli

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Scientists Unveil Horrifying Toxin-Sniffing Spider 'Bot



Though they claim noble intentions, researchers at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute have created a disaster relief robot straight out of an H.R. Giger fever dream.

The 'bot, which as far as I can tell is being referred to simply as "the spider," was developed to aid people in the event of a disaster. Say an earthquake collapses a building around you. The falling debris is a danger, yes, but equally hazardous are things like broken gas lines, and toxic chemical spills. That's where the spider comes in.

From the Institute's official press release:

Enviably agile and purposeful, the mobile robot makes its way through grounds rendered off-limits to humans as the result of a chemical accident. Depressions, ruts and other obstacles are no match for this eight-legged high-tech journeyman. Its mission: with a camera and measurement equipment on board, it will provide emergency responders with an image of the situation on the ground, along with any data about poisonous substances. Not an easy task; after all, it must be prevented from tipping over. But this risk seems a minor one as it confidently and reliably picks its way through the area. As a real spider would, it keeps four legs on the ground at all times while the other four turn and ready themselves for the next step.

Along with swiping Mother Nature's design schematics, the researchers crafted the 'bot to be infinitely customizable. The machine's chassis and legs are fabricated via a standard 3D printing process and as a result, each individual element of the robot can be tweaked based on its upcoming mission.

More crucially, this fabrication process allows for the 'bot to be replicated quickly and at low cost -- a boon for anyone who might need a whole army of terrifying arachnoid automatons at a moment's notice.

I don't want to sound paranoid or needlessly alarmist -- and I think the idea to mimic a spider for disaster relief and exploratory purposes is brilliant in its simplicity -- but that machine looks like it just crawled out of the burning ruins of Ravenholm.

Imagine yourself trapped and bleeding under a ton of collapsed concrete. What little light remains allows you to make out a bit of movement and you think to yourself, "finally I'll be rescued!" And then this thing comes skittering toward you.

Speaking as a mammal with an evolutionarily-derived fear of all things eight-legged and spindly, I'd opt for "death by carbon monoxide inhalation" over whatever sort of web-based horrors this thing might unleash on my broken, easily cocooned form.

Source: Technabob [http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2011/november/high-tech-spider.html]

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Handbag1992

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Between this and that horrible worm robot from a while ago, I think scientists are just trying to freak disaster survivors out as much as possible.
 

Cowabungaa

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Made with 3D printing? That's just begging for someone to print out a casing that looks like this:
 

Nouw

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"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE HELPING ME NOT EATING ME! AAARG-"

That is what I forsee.

Cowabungaa said:
That and the Facehugger.
 

McGuinty1

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Come on man, she's de-beaked and completely harmless. The worst she might do is attempt to couple with your head....fruitlessly.
 

Nouw

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DVS BSTrD said:
I've been saying years: People need to stop being afraid of Spiders, They're are our Friends!
I point to the 2nd post of this thread![sub]I have Arachnophobia[/sub]
 

Kwatsu

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So the designers never saw the film Runaway?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_%281984_film%29
 

McGuinty1

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Kwatsu said:
So the designers never saw the film Runaway?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_%281984_film%29
Pffft, I thought the most disturbing creature in that film was one Chaim Witz.
 

TheRightToArmBears

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DVS BSTrD said:
I've been saying years: People need to stop being afraid of Spiders, They're are our Friends!
When the insects revolt, the spiders will betray us and side with insects and enslave us.

It appears they've made a mechanical facehugger. Mechanical xenomorphs to follow?
 

Fiz_The_Toaster

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I would be terrified if one of those things came to save me, and then try to kill it when I'm free. I'm not taking any chances, what if the toxins gave it sentients?
 

fix-the-spade

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DumpsterHumper said:
At least it's not black.
I'm going to buy one, paint it black, add fuzzy felt and program a speaker to make it whistle, chirp and screach.

Them I'm going to assasinate Gabe Newell with it.

Nothing against Mr Newell, but it would be the nerdiest ironic murder in history...
 

Sonicron

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Brilliantly underhanded scheme for pruning back population numbers. You know the real purpose of these critters? Giving trapped survivors heart attacks. (It would certainly give me one.)
 

Pinkamena

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They should put some wobbly eyes on it and give it a clown paintjob.
 

ssgt splatter

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TheRightToArmBears said:
DVS BSTrD said:
I've been saying years: People need to stop being afraid of Spiders, They're are our Friends!
When the insects revolt, the spiders will betray us and side with insects and enslave us.

It appears they've made a mechanical facehugger. Mechanical xenomorphs to follow?
Now that would be scary. Imagine Skynet only as xenomorphs. O_O
 

Guardian of Nekops

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The fact that it is eight-legged is almost certainly a design chosen based on function rather than for looks. There's a reason that spiders work that way... it makes sense for their size and the environments they have to navigate.

What else should it have to make you comfortable? Wheels that can't even handle steps and pebbles, let alone broken buildings and wooded places? A bipedal system that spends all its effort on keeping its balance? A pogo stick? :p

Also, you're not thinking far enough ahead. Any creepiness of the actual unit can be easily washed away by advertising and familiarity... if you were to put one of our forefathers in a car and start going sixty miles an hour down a crowded highway, he would lose his mind... and not in a good way. Yet we do that every day, and think nothing of it. Loud noises and flashing lights which would have similarly sent our forefathers running are now sought out as entertainment... we will evolve, suprisingly quickly, to welcome our robotic arachnoid helpers.