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"IMHO, having students do computer games projects is absolutely the best possible way to teach programming, graphics, software engineering, object oriented programming, etc."
- Rudy Rucker
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| Spider (Robotic Insects) | ||
| Scuttling insect robots. |
Maniacal bad guy played by KISS' Gene Simmons creates scuttling insect robots with acid-tipped stingers; they chase Tom Selleck. What more do you need to know?
 (Killer-Spider-Robots attack Tom Selleck in Runaway) |
| Technovelgy from Runaway,
by Michael Crichton. Published by Tri-Star Pictures in 1985 Additional resources -
|
These little guys were pretty scary - and they worked in packs.
See this video (*spoiler alert!) for creepy details.
Here's an excerpt from the movie script:
I can't have any witnesses.The spiders have been programmed to
kill the first one off the elevator.
They'll let you in.
But they won't let you out.
There's nothing you can do!
Compare to the metallic spider from The War of the Worlds (1898) by H.G. Wells, the scarab robot from The Scarab (1936) by Raymond Z. Gallun, the spider robot from The Mystery of Element 117 (1949) by Milton K. Smith, the mechanical hound from Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury, the metal insects from The Invincible (1954) by Stanislaw Lem, the Sheem spider robot from The Witches of Karres (1966) by James Schmitz, the spider tripod from Rendezvous With Rama (1972) by Arthur C. Clarke, the spider cable device from The Web Between the Worlds (1979) by Charles Sheffield and the recon spiders from Minority Report (Movie) (2002) by Steven Spielberg.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Runaway
More Ideas
and Technology by Michael Crichton
Tech news articles related to Runaway
Tech news articles related to works by Michael Crichton
Spider (Robotic Insects)-related
news articles:
- RISE Robot: Six-Legged BIODYNOTICS Runaway
- N.S.E.C.T. Robotic Attack Insect From Tyco
- Wall-Climbing Robots Use Compliant Electroadhesion
- A-Pod Robot Hexapod Video
- Dancing DIY Hexapod Robot Video
- DreamROBO Climbing Robots
- KMR-M6 Hexapod Robot
- Robots Race Ahead - On Cockroach Legs
- Oh Great, Fence-Climbing Robots
- TITAN-III Spider Robot Is WAY Too Quick (Video)
- Oh Great (Part 2), Fence-Climbing Robots
| Robot Hand Separate From Robot |
| Is Optimus Autonomous Or Teleoperated? |
| Robot Masseuse Rubs People The Right Way |
| Optimus Robot Can Charge Itself |
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'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
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'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
