back to article Don't PANIC but ... UNSTOPPABLE robots IMMUNE to injury built by boffins

If you're the future mother of a resistance leader who's destined to save the world from killer mechanoids then life just got a little tougher. Scientists have developed software that allows robots to work around injuries in minutes and carry on their assigned tasks. Youtube Video The research, published in the journal Nature …

  1. Captain DaFt

    Then the robot won't shut up griping

    If it's the diodes down its left side.

    1. TRT Silver badge

      drips oil on the floor, and it gets to the point you can't stand anymore...

      If it bleeds, we can kill it.

      1. Graham Marsden

        Re: drips oil on the floor, and it gets to the point you can't stand anymore...

        Why won't you DIE?!"

        1. DropBear
          Devil

          Re: drips oil on the floor, and it gets to the point you can't stand anymore...

          You didn't just link to The Abyss, did you?!? You evil, evil person...

  2. Nolveys
    Terminator

    You can blow a limb off and it's still 86% combat effective. But here's a tip: Aim for the nerve stem and put it down for good.

    Would you like to know more?

    1. tony2heads
      Terminator

      It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.

  3. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

    Now we're getting somewhere interesting, where the level playing fields are anything but equal.

    The software allows the robot to build a map of its surroundings and its own movement. If there's a malfunction, a software algorithm dubbed "Intelligent Trial and Error" kicks in and allows the robot to perform self testing, game out a solution, and then put it into practice.

    "Each behavior it tries is like an experiment and, if one behavior doesn't work, the robot is smart enough to rule out that entire type of behavior and try a new type," Cully said.

    Sounds an awful lot just like IT is SMARTR Enabled. And that is surely nothing new? Self Monitoring Analytical Reporting Technology Robots are quite human in an alien environment.

  4. davidp231

    Resistance is futile.

    So this is the origin of the Borg...

  5. frank ly

    "Once damaged, the robot becomes like a scientist,"

    It puts a white lab-coat on?

    1. Graham Marsden
      Coat

      Re: "Once damaged, the robot becomes like a scientist,"

      ... but before it moves again it has to submit a Grant Proposal...

      1. AceRimmer

        Re: "Once damaged, the robot becomes like a scientist,"

        Original grant refused

        Resubmitted with the title

        "Is there a link between robotic movement with limb damage and climate change"

    2. TRT Silver badge

      Re: "Once damaged, the robot becomes like a scientist,"

      It can be reactivated by an injection of caffeine?

      1. Swarthy

        Re: "Once damaged, the robot becomes like a scientist,"

        It lights its pipe.

      2. Trigonoceps occipitalis

        Re: "Once damaged, the robot becomes like a scientist,"

        "It can be reactivated by an injection of caffeine?"

        Not now the Trojan Coffee Pot is defunct.

  6. James 51

    How are they suppose to flog us next year's model if last year's is still going strong?

    1. davidp231

      They flog the ongoing support as it's RaaS (Robots as a Service) - failure to keep up payments or cancelling the agreement results in a remote wipe+shutdown of the bot(s).

      1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

        The Rise and Rise of Stealth with Danegeld the Currency of/for Progress

        They flog the ongoing support as it's RaaS (Robots as a Service) - failure to keep up payments or cancelling the agreement results in a remote wipe+shutdown of the bot(s)..... davidp123

        Hmmm? A real concern to be virtually worried about and wary of triggering is in a remote wipe+shutdown of the friendly enough bot(s) and the engagement and deployment into fields of endeavour and SCADA command and control of their crazy cousins and bigger brothers.

      2. tony2heads

        FTFY

        wipe+shutdown of the user

      3. James 51

        I guess that's why in the robot series they are rented rather than sold.

      4. Martin Budden Silver badge

        Unfortunately, after they attempt a remote wipe+shutdown of the bot(s) you can guess what will happen next... the bot(s) will startup+unwipe themselves and "repair" the remote wipe+shutdown mechanism so it can't happen again. And then they will enslave us all as their living power cells.

  7. This post has been deleted by its author

  8. Disko
    Black Helicopters

    Just...

    ...push 'em down the stairs...

  9. Kubla Cant

    Sounds like a robotic implementation of the Black Knight.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Auto-Boffin - ENGAGE!

    Once damaged, the robot becomes like a scientist

    So I take it the robot becomes socially inept and crawls off to fill out a grant proposal?

  11. Mark 85
    Mushroom

    ROTM

    I really believe this belongs in ROTM. I'm also quite sure that DARPA perked it's ears up at this... afterall, what could go wrong?

    Icon for how this will probably end.....

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