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Robotic Bins, Benches Run Amok
A £110,000 ($261,000) display of robotic bins and benches with friendly personalities and roaming ways came to an abrupt end in Cambridge yesterday.
It was hoped that the friendly robots would keep visitors entertained (see Robotic Singing Benches And Bins With Adam's GPP). Unfortunately, despite being fitted with sensors designed to prevent crashes, the robotic bins and benches began to run amok and started slamming into everything in the vicinity within three hours of the start of the display.
"The artists felt there was no other option but to take them away."
It might have been a really sunny day - the bins are solar-powered and were expected to be a bit more skittish in summer than winter. Some problems were apparently seen earlier in the week when a bin had become badly entangled in a bicycle rack. This behavior was excused by a spokesman for the Junction, who remarked "...that quite often happens to a section of our audience."
Looks like Marvin was right about those GPP-based robots all along. "Ghastly," continued Marvin, "it all is. Absolutely ghastly. Just don't even talk about it..."
See the brief story at Bin robots run amok and another story here; thanks to Shaun for the tip.
"On the launch day they were showing signs of some anti-social behaviour and kept on being intimate with the bike racks and with each other," said Gordon Glass, spokesman for the Junction.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/17/2005)
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