back to article China's Dalek-like robots fear only one terrifying nemesis: Stairs

What's the difference between China's "first" robot security guard AnBot and a Dalek? One is a ruthless, slow moving and slightly menacing autonomous machine fitted with a space-age anti-human weapon and designed to weed out all those who stand against its authoritarian rule – and the other stars in Doctor Who. AnBot was …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The 1960's called and they want their design back...

    1. graeme leggett Silver badge

      would you rather the 70s?

      Second pic, after Servlan

      http://www.tv-ooh.com/2012/03/blakes-7-dvd-rewatch-season-1-episode-6.html

      1. Simon Harris

        What? There are more pictures after the one of Servalan?

        1. BurnT'offering

          Re: here are more pictures after the one of Servalan?

          So it wan't just me then? Sigh ...

      2. Graham Marsden
        Coat

        > Second pic, after Servlan

        I think you ought to know I'm feeling very depressed...

    2. Fungus Bob
      Terminator

      Fantasy Gifts called and they want their Dildonator back.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I cannot

    wait to see the first one of these toys deployed, being upturned, like a tortoise and then to be stuck there wailing and throwing a tantrum ED209 fashion.

    1. tmTM

      Re: I cannot

      With the obligatory cock spray painted on the front of it.

  3. regadpellagru

    Obligatory Borderlands 2 reference

    there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXD0Xi0JfEM

    1. Zork-1

      Re: Obligatory Borderlands 2 reference

      AT least it can't talk yet ... can it?

  4. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    78 kilograms, eight hours of continuous work

    So it's mostly batteries then. 18 kph is a bit much for something that has no peripheral awareness. I hope it knows how to detect stairs going down.

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: 78 kilograms, eight hours of continuous work

      Hmm... If they are Li-Ion they will very nicely combine with a molotov. Cannot wait to see that. Though at that weight... Probably lead acid ones. Still, they also have interesting effects when on fire.

    2. NotBob

      Re: 78 kilograms, eight hours of continuous work

      Not just stairs, though. There's drop offs and loading gates and trailer docks and so on. If it's to provide security, any and all may be encountered.

      1. laird cummings

        Re: 78 kilograms, eight hours of continuous work

        Heck, a strategically-placed broomstick will do for any pursuit.

  5. James 51

    "It has sensors that mimic the human brain"

    So it gets bored and buggers off or senses that it's low in fuel and releases insulin for a bit of a boost?

    1. lglethal Silver badge
      Joke

      Re: "It has sensors that mimic the human brain"

      What's the robot equivalent of the local donut shop?

      1. Stoneshop
        Go

        Re: "It has sensors that mimic the human brain"

        What's the robot equivalent of the local donut shop?

        A charging outlet with particularly yummy electrons.

  6. Peter Ford

    To be fair...

    If its job is riot control, then causing the miscreants to run away or escape downstairs will disperse the troublemakers to some extent.

    In fact, it's more likely to stop the rioting by causing everyone to fall about laughing.

    1. phuzz Silver badge
      Terminator

      Re: To be fair...

      Or perhaps while everyone is laughing at the robot, a real copper comes up behind and collars the rioter?

  7. Complicated Disaster
    Stop

    Off?

    The big red off button on the front might be a bit of a design flaw?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Off?

      That's the SOS button for when you can't stop laughing.

      If they add a smiley anime face and a camp voice it will be unstoppable.

      It all makes sense now, our AI overlords have got a new tactic for taking over the world, mass hysteria.

      1. James 51

        Re: Off?

        Worked for the tachikoma. ^^

      2. davidp231

        Re: Off?

        And shouts of "experminate!"?

      3. Dr Scrum Master

        Re: Off?

        If they add a smiley anime face and a camp voice it will be unstoppable.

        How about Duncan "Chase me" Norvelle?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Off?

      It could be the off switch ..... or it could be an electrode charged to 50,000 volts.

      I've kind of lost track. Are you feeling lucky Punk?

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Looks like Paul Blart is out of a job.

  9. Timbo
    Meh

    Easy to stop too - the wheels have spokes so a broomhandle through one wheel and it'll just keeping going around in circles...

    I wonder how it copes going up a slight incline ? 78 kg is pretty heavy so, it'll slow to a crawl, if it can make progress at all...

    The design reminds me of the oval shape salt and pepper pots, though this is bigger.

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      I wonder how it copes going up a slight incline ? 78 kg is pretty heavy so, it'll slow to a crawl, if it can make progress at all...

      Perfect mall rent-a-cop then.

    2. TheProf
      Happy

      Heavy

      I weigh 78 kilogrammes and have no trouble making progress. I can go up and down slight inclines and negotiate stairs too.

      I do have trouble with broom handles though.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Pirate

        Re: Heavy

        Lighter than a cow, though.

        New pastime: Robotipping

    3. Stoneshop
      Megaphone

      pepper pots

      Thank you so much. I now have this image of one, with John Cleese's pepperpot voice shrieking "Exterminate"

      1. Fungus Bob

        Re: pepper pots

        Or shrieking with Gwyneth Paltrow's voice.

  10. VinceH

    Has anyone opened one up to check if they contain a mutated species that previously had humanoid form?

    1. D@v3

      Mutated species...

      Like a mall cop?

      1. VinceH

        Re: Mutated species...

        Mall cops were once humanoid?

  11. Mage Silver badge

    It has sensors that mimic the human brain, eyes and ears.

    a) I doubt it.

    b) Wait ... a brain is a sensor?

    c) Intelligent? I'd bet the rooks and rats here have much more intelligence.

  12. TRT Silver badge

    There's already one in London...

    At 30 St Mary Axe.

  13. mix
    Mushroom

    I think they have released this on purpose to give the west a false sense of security; whilst in a secret volcano lair they are developing T2000s.

    http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2402042/chinese-scientists-create-liquid-metal-machines-that-eat-aluminium-for-power

  14. M7S

    Why automate?

    Surely China isn't running out of people to do jobs.

    Or is there, perhaps, a trust issue?

  15. TRT Silver badge
  16. msknight

    What's Chinese for...

    "Dead or alive, you are hobbling with me...."

  17. Zarko

    Microsoft did that already

    As written in this 2014 article, Microsoft has very similar looking robots, with similar features:

    http://www.psfk.com/2014/12/robot-security-guards-cruise-microsoft-campus.html

    1. martinusher Silver badge

      Re: Microsoft did that already

      ...but these will be running Andriod instead of Windows....

      These things are harmless on their own but if you deploy a couple of dozen that interact with each other then they may be a bit of a problem unless you can get enough bricks and other debris strewn around to make their wheels useless. The grabber's a bit more upscale than the traditional sink plunger.

    2. Sureo

      Re: Microsoft did that already

      Uncanny resemblance. And the security guards standing nearby are all laughing at it.

  18. Valerion

    Design

    Looks like a standard light fitting:

    http://www.stylewithin.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/pendant.jpg

  19. Otto is a bear.

    Just wait for AnBot 2019

    With TruWalk(TM) and AnBot SYNC to play calming and re-educational content.

    I walk at about 5kph, and run at about 20kph, which is average for a human, and could probably run for longer than an AnBot. I wonder how it corners at 18 kph.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Does not really look like a Babushka Doll either

    certainly I haven't seen any with wheels!

    1. David Nash Silver badge

      Re: Does not really look like a Babushka Doll either

      I think you mean:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryoshka_doll

  21. Cuddles

    "Do you know how to go down staircases?"

    To be fair, going down stairs is really not difficult at all. The trick is remaining upright at the bottom.

    1. Darryl

      Re: "Do you know how to go down staircases?"

      Yep, if it encounters a staircase at 18 km/h, it would probably only maybe hit one step on the way down

  22. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    "It's fitted with a stun weapon"

    A robot BOFH.

  23. FBee

    Weebles wobble but they don't fall down...NOT

  24. BurnT'offering

    I worry about this robot

    I think it is going to die from hurt feelings

  25. Mark 85
    Terminator

    I'll wait a bit....

    ...for the DARPA model. Or perhaps the second generation. The robot race will much like the nuke race and it's on to see who can build the better* version.

    *better may = deadlier or more nimble

  26. Jean Stone

    I've seen this before...

    All hail our great prophet who predicted the coming of such a robot and how this will all work out. The saga begins here:

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/17/bofh_2010_episode_10/

    It's uncanny, I tell you.

  27. raving angry loony

    Sorry but...

    It still looks like they've found a bunch of short people, stuck them on Segways, then encased them in a russian doll to make them utterly incapable of righting themselves when someone knocks them over.

    People actually got paid to design this? Amazing.

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "It was designed by the military's National Defense University, and is expected to help crush protests and riots,"

    Why bother with the robot thing, just hack Google's autonomous driver into a tank. That's China's normal way of dealing with protests, innit? Run over the protestors, shoot the survivors.

  29. Dr Patrick J R Harkin

    In the TV version of the Dalek invasion of London...

    ...they disabled Daleks using soup cans on elastic over their eyestalks. A quick spray with a paint and these guys are going to have problems, surely? Failing that, they don't look very topple-resistent, especially backwards.

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