Upcoming Military Robot Could Feed on Dead Bodies

[sazerac]

............

Upcoming Military Robot Could Feed on Dead Bodies
Wednesday, July 15, 2009

It could be a combination of 19th-century mechanics, 21st-century technology — and a 20th-century horror movie.

A Maryland company under contract to the Pentagon is working on a steam-powered robot that would fuel itself by gobbling up whatever organic material it can find — grass, wood, old furniture, even dead bodies.

Robotic Technology Inc.'s Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot — that's right, "EATR" — "can find, ingest, and extract energy from biomass in the environment (and other organically-based energy sources), as well as use conventional and alternative fuels (such as gasoline, heavy fuel, kerosene, diesel, propane, coal, cooking oil, and solar) when suitable," reads the company's Web site.

That "biomass" and "other organically-based energy sources" wouldn't necessarily be limited to plant material — animal and human corpses contain plenty of energy, and they'd be plentiful in a war zone.
(more)

Upcoming Military Robot Could Feed on Dead Bodies - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com

It already exists!! :shock:

 

[Arch Enemy]

wooo hoooo
Starr Craftttt

 

[LiveUninhibited]

lol... wow... That's kind of twisted.

 

[Donkey1499]

Oh wow. :shock:

And for a minute there I almost brushed this off as an article from The Onion.

 

[RyanWalker]

Well the title alone does spur thoughts of something the likes of The Onion!
An interesting concept, and very useful...of course feeding on dead bodies is a bit...taboo to say the least.

 

[Tucker Case]

nom nom nom!

 

[tlmorg02]

Does it sound like Arnold?

 

[Morality Games]

So it looks like the Terminator and can eat people.

Okay.

 

[American]

Shouldn't this thread be in on the lighter side?

 

[obvious Child]

wooo hoooo
Starr Craftttt

Don't be dissing the Defiler!

 

[Shadow Serious]

Post has been updated. Says the Terminator is a Vegie.

Biomass-Eating Military Robot Is a Vegetarian, Company Says - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com

it was fun while it lasted.

 

[Zyphlin]

Shouldn't this thread be in on the lighter side?

If it was a joke article, yeah. Strangely, its not. (Though it doesn't ACTUALLY look like a terminator. More like a tank from hell)

 

[Oftencold]

I certainly hope there are diversity guidelines in place for the consumption of bodies. We wouldn't want a piece of Government Property propagating old stereotypes about which ethnic groups taste better.

Further, since almost everyone likes Italian, this device could present a threat to a friendly nation.

And will the robots have advanced cybernetic decision making routines? If not, I could see problems developing with endless loops forming when consuming the fallen of under-nourished countries such as North Korea. Imagine one of these devices trying to decide "NK Army, less filling/tastes great."

And would a war with China be a start and stop affair, with the robots fully fueled, only to need to refuel again in an hour?

Finally, if fighting in the Middle East, sensitive as we are to cultural heritage and religious practices of the countries where we engage in combat, do we go with the kosher diet, or the halal? And whose troops are which?

 

[dirtpoorchris]

So now you got Israeli robot snakes exploding the living under bomb rubble. And American EATR bots cleaning up all the ones in the street. **** does not look good for our enemies. The good Ol' days of body stackin and mass graves make way to soylent green.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

So now you got Israeli robot snakes exploding the living under bomb rubble. And American EATR bots cleaning up all the ones in the street. **** does not look good for our enemies. The good Ol' days of body stackin and mass graves make way to soylent green.

Right now most of these bots aren't all that deadly.

Stand on a chair and you've got away from it.
If anything you should be more worried about what people at home are building.
:twisted: