Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
'Peacebots' Protest Robot Conflict Event
Peacebots organized by a professor and students in an introductory Computer Science class at Bryn Mawr protested "Robot Conflict," a Battlebots-style event organized by the Northeast Robotics Club (NERC).
(Peacebot: "Code for Peace")
NERC organizers proclaimed their intentions for the Robot Conflict event:
They're not just on television any more...come experience the TRUE POWER of Combat Robotics in person at The Franklin Institute Robot Conflict on Saturday, October 20, 2007.Nearly 40 robots ranging in size from 12lb. Hobbyweights, to 30lb. Sportsman will be placed into a custom design arena where they will have 3 minutes to smash, toss, or cut their opponents to bits. Some of the 'bots will rely on their small but deadly power, while others use weapons to inflict maximum destructive damage on their opponent.
Following the event, students and others were invited to talk with the hobbyists and roboticists who competed in the event. The event draws many students from diverse backgrounds and encourages them to pursue careers in engineering and related disciplines.
However, Bryn Mawr computer science professor Doug Blank was hesitant. He took issue with the lack of gender diversity at the event, and invited his class to respond.
According to Bryn Mawr Now, an online publication hosted on the university website, Blank and his students used what appear to be off-the-shelf robots to carry signs with peaceful messages:
Code for Peace.Make code not war.
Thou shalt not press others' kill switch.
Extendable arms are for hugging.
Blank isn't entirely comfortable with using violence as a pedagogical tool, either.
"Even though it's robots that are fighting and people aren't hurt, the violence is real in a way that a video game, for instance, is not. A lot of real damage is done to the robots.""Robot parts were flying. The floor got all ripped up, and they had to keep sweeping it up because there were little bot bits all over the place."
I find myself hoping that the above quote was intended to be tongue-in-cheek; Blank also said that he just felt that there were better ways to interest young people in engineering.
I invite readers to name their favorite peaceful robot.
From Bryn Mawr via Robots.net.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/31/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 4 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.' - Aldo Giunta, 1957
Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
'About time you got here,' the astronaut said. - Pournelle and Niven, 1981.
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
'The crawling... object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...' - Philip K. Dick, 1955.
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
'Better late than never.'
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Robotic Barber Programmed With a Number of Styles
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'
Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
Caterpillar Electric Mining Loader Not Yet Ready For Moon
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'
Centipede Robots Down On The Farm
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'
Anthropic's Claude AI Creates Legal Citation From Whole Cloth
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'
Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
'About time you got here,' the astronaut said.
'They Erased My Memory' Says Ariana Grande
'...using a neutralizing electronic impulse.'
Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
'...the Hole is something like a vortex or a whirlpool?'
Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
DARPA Wants 'Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
'The crawling... object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station
'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...'
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
'Better late than never.'
Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'
Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets
'The first revelation of the new Soviet bore-pellets.'
'Spikeless' Brand Swizzle Stick Detects Spiked Drinks
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'
