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Robot Seeks Illegal Aliens In Britain
A small robot the size of a briefcase is helping border guards find illegal immigrants trying to get into Britain. The robot - named "Hero" - is able to perform minute searches of the undersides of trucks and cars.
It can also be used inside of vehicles to find concealed human beings. Hero the robot can be fitted with heartbeat detectors as well as sensors to identify chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear materials.
It has been adapted by the armaments company BAE Systems from devices used by troops in Afghanistan to search buildings or examine suspected bombs and mines. British border guards at Calais have tested it and senior officials may now introduce the robot at other ports.
(Deckard in hot pursuit of replicants)
As soon as I read about this, I thought about Blade Runner. Deckard chases replicants (artificially-made adroids) who sneak back onto Earth illegally.
There has been a lot of discussion among the movie's many fans regarding the possibility that Deckard himself was a replicant... Anyway, that's what I thought of.
All right, try this one. In his 1958 story Arm of the Law, Harry Harrison wrote about a very helpful robot that could help the police; in fact, it was pretty much a rookie cop robot:
The robot came up smooth and fast as a rocket, landing two feet in front of me and whipping out a snappy salute."Police Experimental Robot, serial number XPO-50-934B reporting for duty, sir."
(Read more about the police robot)
From Telegraph.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/20/2008)
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I might also be thinking of K-9 from Doctor Who.
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.
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