Atlas unplugged! DARPA's unTerminator robot cuts the power cable

What can possibly go wrong?

They tell us not to worry 'cos its got a wireless kill switch and yet one of the tests is to saturate the test zone with parasitic radio signals to test the wifi. Excuse me, but if it runs amok because its internal wifi has been overcome, surely it is unlikely to respond to respond to the kill as well.

Maybe they should have equipped it with laser detectors like they use in proper wargames.

New safeguards

In order to mitigate the quiet hydraulic pump the new unit will be designed to continuously whine about its working conditions:

ooh its too cold in here

ooh someone opened the blinds and its impairing my vision

ooh this chair I asked for is actually less comfortable than my old one

Or alternatively it is designed to whistle, hum and huff all day.

Can't wait

To read the DARPA specs for the 2025 competition.......fly a plane, do battlefield surgery, go covert and build IED's?

Is that you, Gregor Samsa?

It seems odd that what we're seeing is either bipeds that need a lot of engineering just to stay upright, or quadrupeds that can't do much except run around and carry stuff (though I have seen a clip of a 'mule' that throws pieces of masonry across the room - presumably it's been equipped with a temper module).

Why hasn't anyone made a quadruped with arms - like a centaur? Or a giant robot cockroach?

It's starting to look like Bender, although whether humans have a use for a girder bending robot is another matter entirely.

That scene would be great for a new Five Nights at Freedy game.