Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies
It can also be used as a weapon, after a fashion. Just looking at it makes my stomach do slow rolls... On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:14 AM, Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com wrote: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies by Leslie Katz http://www.cnet.com/profile/Leslie+Katz/ - Font size - Print - E-mail - Share - 27 commentshttp://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10375216-1.html#comments - Yahoo! Buzzhttp://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=cnet_crave854guid=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cnet.com%2F8301-17938_105-10375216-1.html%3Ftag%3Dyahoobuzz Share503http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cnet.com%2F8301-17938_105-10375216-1.htmlt=iRobot%27s%20oozy%20ChemBot%20amazes%20and%20terrifies%20%7C%20Crave%20-%20CNETsrc=sp For now, it's palm-size, sure, but what if something terrible happens, and it can't stop inflating? (Credit: YouTube screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET) We're getting a first glimpse of that shape-shifting ChemBothttp://news.cnet.com/8301-17912_3-9970345-72.htmlwe first told you about last year, and well, it looks like the love child of a beating heart and a wad of Silly Putty. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research Office awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to iRobot to create the flexible military bot. The maker of the Roomba and Scooba, along with University of Chicago researchers, showed off the oozy results at the Iros conferencehttp://www.iros09.mtu.edu/index.php/IROS_2009:_The_2009_IEEE/RSJ_International_Conference_on_Intelligent_RObots_and_Systems(the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) in St. Louis this week. DARPA envisions the palm-size ChemBot as a mobile robot that can traverse soft terrain and navigate through small openings, such as tiny wall cracks, during reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions. It gets around by way of a process called jamming, in which material can transition between semiliquid and solid states with only a slight change in volume. In ChemBot's case, a flexible silicone skin encapsulates a series of pockets containing a mix of air and loosely packed particles. When air is removed from the compartments, the skin attempts to equalize the pressure differential by constricting the particles, which shift slightly to fill the void left by the evacuated air. In that way, the weird little blob inflates and deflates parts of its body, changing size and shape--and scaring the living daylights out of us. We don't know exactly when ChemBot will join the Armed Forces, but we can only beg: please, oh please, keep it away from us. *(Via IEEE Spectrumhttp://spectrum.ieee.org/blog/robotics/robotics-software/automaton/irobot-soft-morphing-blob-chembot) * -- If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script? -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies
This brings back my childhood fear of the blob. On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:13 AM, Martin Baxter martinbaxt...@gmail.comwrote: It can also be used as a weapon, after a fashion. Just looking at it makes my stomach do slow rolls... On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:14 AM, Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com wrote: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies by Leslie Katz http://www.cnet.com/profile/Leslie+Katz/ - Font size - Print - E-mail - Share - 27 commentshttp://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10375216-1.html#comments - Yahoo! Buzzhttp://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=cnet_crave854guid=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cnet.com%2F8301-17938_105-10375216-1.html%3Ftag%3Dyahoobuzz Share503http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cnet.com%2F8301-17938_105-10375216-1.htmlt=iRobot%27s%20oozy%20ChemBot%20amazes%20and%20terrifies%20%7C%20Crave%20-%20CNETsrc=sp For now, it's palm-size, sure, but what if something terrible happens, and it can't stop inflating? (Credit: YouTube screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET) We're getting a first glimpse of that shape-shifting ChemBothttp://news.cnet.com/8301-17912_3-9970345-72.htmlwe first told you about last year, and well, it looks like the love child of a beating heart and a wad of Silly Putty. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research Office awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to iRobot to create the flexible military bot. The maker of the Roomba and Scooba, along with University of Chicago researchers, showed off the oozy results at the Iros conferencehttp://www.iros09.mtu.edu/index.php/IROS_2009:_The_2009_IEEE/RSJ_International_Conference_on_Intelligent_RObots_and_Systems(the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) in St. Louis this week. DARPA envisions the palm-size ChemBot as a mobile robot that can traverse soft terrain and navigate through small openings, such as tiny wall cracks, during reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions. It gets around by way of a process called jamming, in which material can transition between semiliquid and solid states with only a slight change in volume. In ChemBot's case, a flexible silicone skin encapsulates a series of pockets containing a mix of air and loosely packed particles. When air is removed from the compartments, the skin attempts to equalize the pressure differential by constricting the particles, which shift slightly to fill the void left by the evacuated air. In that way, the weird little blob inflates and deflates parts of its body, changing size and shape--and scaring the living daylights out of us. We don't know exactly when ChemBot will join the Armed Forces, but we can only beg: please, oh please, keep it away from us. *(Via IEEE Spectrumhttp://spectrum.ieee.org/blog/robotics/robotics-software/automaton/irobot-soft-morphing-blob-chembot) * -- If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script? -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies
Ha-ha! The Blob scared you? Why is that? Although, I guess I can understand that. What used to creep me out was that bubble hunter thing from The Prisoner, that would chase down and cover people, leaving the outline of the screaming person inside. I'd start having trouble breathing as soon as I saw that thing bouncing across the sand. Movies dealing with malevolent spiritual beings--vengeful spirits of the dead, evil demons--can get me too, since I was raised in a very traditional Christian tradition, and thoughts of servants of the Devil and stuff still hit that inner part that fears pure Evil. You know, outside of that, few movie monsters or supernatural creatures scare me, at least, in terms of staying with me much past the movie. But what can stay with me in the light night when the house is creaking? Anything I've seen about serial killers and all-too-mortal psychoe: movies like Psycho, the first Friday the 13th, Halloween. I never worry too much about opening the front door in the wee hours and seeing Dracula, Frankenstein, or the Wolfman on my front stoop. But a crazy, cannibalistic killer like a Dahmer who's running around with a knife or ax or something? It's not out of the realm of possibility ... - Original Message - From: Tracy Curtis tlcurti...@gmail.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 2:22:39 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies This brings back my childhood fear of the blob. On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:13 AM, Martin Baxter martinbaxt...@gmail.com wrote: It can also be used as a weapon, after a fashion. Just looking at it makes my stomach do slow rolls... On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:14 AM, Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com wrote: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies by Leslie Katz • Font size • Print • E-mail • Share • 27 comments • Yahoo! Buzz Share 503 For now, it's palm-size, sure, but what if something terrible happens, and it can't stop inflating? (Credit: YouTube screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET) We're getting a first glimpse of that shape-shifting ChemBot we first told you about last year, and well, it looks like the love child of a beating heart and a wad of Silly Putty. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research Office awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to iRobot to create the flexible military bot. The maker of the Roomba and Scooba, along with University of Chicago researchers, showed off the oozy results at the Iros conference (the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) in St. Louis this week. DARPA envisions the palm-size ChemBot as a mobile robot that can traverse soft terrain and navigate through small openings, such as tiny wall cracks, during reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions. It gets around by way of a process called jamming, in which material can transition between semiliquid and solid states with only a slight change in volume. In ChemBot's case, a flexible silicone skin encapsulates a series of pockets containing a mix of air and loosely packed particles. When air is removed from the compartments, the skin attempts to equalize the pressure differential by constricting the particles, which shift slightly to fill the void left by the evacuated air. In that way, the weird little blob inflates and deflates parts of its body, changing size and shape--and scaring the living daylights out of us. We don't know exactly when ChemBot will join the Armed Forces, but we can only beg: please, oh please, keep it away from us. (Via IEEE Spectrum ) -- If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script? -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies
I agree, Dahlmer and company are the real monsters that can get you. Jack the ripper, BTC, the Boston Strangler all were real. On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 1:35 PM, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.netwrote: Ha-ha! The Blob scared you? Why is that? Although, I guess I can understand that. What used to creep me out was that bubble hunter thing from The Prisoner, that would chase down and cover people, leaving the outline of the screaming person inside. I'd start having trouble breathing as soon as I saw that thing bouncing across the sand. Movies dealing with malevolent spiritual beings--vengeful spirits of the dead, evil demons--can get me too, since I was raised in a very traditional Christian tradition, and thoughts of servants of the Devil and stuff still hit that inner part that fears pure Evil. You know, outside of that, few movie monsters or supernatural creatures scare me, at least, in terms of staying with me much past the movie. But what can stay with me in the light night when the house is creaking? Anything I've seen about serial killers and all-too-mortal psychoe: movies like Psycho, the first Friday the 13th, Halloween. I never worry too much about opening the front door in the wee hours and seeing Dracula, Frankenstein, or the Wolfman on my front stoop. But a crazy, cannibalistic killer like a Dahmer who's running around with a knife or ax or something? It's not out of the realm of possibility... - Original Message - From: Tracy Curtis tlcurti...@gmail.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 2:22:39 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies This brings back my childhood fear of the blob. On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:13 AM, Martin Baxter martinbaxt...@gmail.comwrote: It can also be used as a weapon, after a fashion. Just looking at it makes my stomach do slow rolls... On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:14 AM, Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.comwrote: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies by Leslie Katz http://www.cnet.com/profile/Leslie+Katz/ - Font size - Print - E-mail - Share - 27 commentshttp://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10375216-1.html#comments - Yahoo! Buzzhttp://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=cnet_crave854guid=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cnet.com%2F8301-17938_105-10375216-1.html%3Ftag%3Dyahoobuzz Share503http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cnet.com%2F8301-17938_105-10375216-1.htmlt=iRobot%27s%20oozy%20ChemBot%20amazes%20and%20terrifies%20%7C%20Crave%20-%20CNETsrc=sp For now, it's palm-size, sure, but what if something terrible happens, and it can't stop inflating? (Credit: YouTube screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET) We're getting a first glimpse of that shape-shifting ChemBothttp://news.cnet.com/8301-17912_3-9970345-72.htmlwe first told you about last year, and well, it looks like the love child of a beating heart and a wad of Silly Putty. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research Office awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to iRobot to create the flexible military bot. The maker of the Roomba and Scooba, along with University of Chicago researchers, showed off the oozy results at the Iros conferencehttp://www.iros09.mtu.edu/index.php/IROS_2009:_The_2009_IEEE/RSJ_International_Conference_on_Intelligent_RObots_and_Systems(the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) in St. Louis this week. DARPA envisions the palm-size ChemBot as a mobile robot that can traverse soft terrain and navigate through small openings, such as tiny wall cracks, during reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions. It gets around by way of a process called jamming, in which material can transition between semiliquid and solid states with only a slight change in volume. In ChemBot's case, a flexible silicone skin encapsulates a series of pockets containing a mix of air and loosely packed particles. When air is removed from the compartments, the skin attempts to equalize the pressure differential by constricting the particles, which shift slightly to fill the void left by the evacuated air. In that way, the weird little blob inflates and deflates parts of its body, changing size and shape--and scaring the living daylights out of us. We don't know exactly when ChemBot will join the Armed Forces, but we can only beg: please, oh please, keep it away from us. *(Via IEEE Spectrumhttp://spectrum.ieee.org/blog/robotics/robotics-software/automaton/irobot-soft-morphing-blob-chembot) * -- If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script? -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies
Well, I was around 5 or 6 when I first saw the movie. I guess it was that it did all the things this chem-robot is supposed to do. I was always looking under door cracks and checking out the vents. Plus when I looked out of my bedroom into a partially illuminated hallway, I could always convince myself that any rounded shadow was moving, and therefore might be the blob. On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 3:35 PM, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.netwrote: Ha-ha! The Blob scared you? Why is that? Although, I guess I can understand that. What used to creep me out was that bubble hunter thing from The Prisoner, that would chase down and cover people, leaving the outline of the screaming person inside. I'd start having trouble breathing as soon as I saw that thing bouncing across the sand. Movies dealing with malevolent spiritual beings--vengeful spirits of the dead, evil demons--can get me too, since I was raised in a very traditional Christian tradition, and thoughts of servants of the Devil and stuff still hit that inner part that fears pure Evil. You know, outside of that, few movie monsters or supernatural creatures scare me, at least, in terms of staying with me much past the movie. But what can stay with me in the light night when the house is creaking? Anything I've seen about serial killers and all-too-mortal psychoe: movies like Psycho, the first Friday the 13th, Halloween. I never worry too much about opening the front door in the wee hours and seeing Dracula, Frankenstein, or the Wolfman on my front stoop. But a crazy, cannibalistic killer like a Dahmer who's running around with a knife or ax or something? It's not out of the realm of possibility... - Original Message - From: Tracy Curtis tlcurti...@gmail.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 2:22:39 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies This brings back my childhood fear of the blob. On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:13 AM, Martin Baxter martinbaxt...@gmail.comwrote: It can also be used as a weapon, after a fashion. Just looking at it makes my stomach do slow rolls... On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:14 AM, Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.comwrote: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies by Leslie Katz http://www.cnet.com/profile/Leslie+Katz/ - Font size - Print - E-mail - Share - 27 commentshttp://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10375216-1.html#comments - Yahoo! Buzzhttp://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=cnet_crave854guid=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cnet.com%2F8301-17938_105-10375216-1.html%3Ftag%3Dyahoobuzz Share503http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cnet.com%2F8301-17938_105-10375216-1.htmlt=iRobot%27s%20oozy%20ChemBot%20amazes%20and%20terrifies%20%7C%20Crave%20-%20CNETsrc=sp For now, it's palm-size, sure, but what if something terrible happens, and it can't stop inflating? (Credit: YouTube screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET) We're getting a first glimpse of that shape-shifting ChemBothttp://news.cnet.com/8301-17912_3-9970345-72.htmlwe first told you about last year, and well, it looks like the love child of a beating heart and a wad of Silly Putty. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research Office awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to iRobot to create the flexible military bot. The maker of the Roomba and Scooba, along with University of Chicago researchers, showed off the oozy results at the Iros conferencehttp://www.iros09.mtu.edu/index.php/IROS_2009:_The_2009_IEEE/RSJ_International_Conference_on_Intelligent_RObots_and_Systems(the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) in St. Louis this week. DARPA envisions the palm-size ChemBot as a mobile robot that can traverse soft terrain and navigate through small openings, such as tiny wall cracks, during reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions. It gets around by way of a process called jamming, in which material can transition between semiliquid and solid states with only a slight change in volume. In ChemBot's case, a flexible silicone skin encapsulates a series of pockets containing a mix of air and loosely packed particles. When air is removed from the compartments, the skin attempts to equalize the pressure differential by constricting the particles, which shift slightly to fill the void left by the evacuated air. In that way, the weird little blob inflates and deflates parts of its body, changing size and shape--and scaring the living daylights out of us. We don't know exactly when ChemBot will join the Armed Forces, but we can only beg: please, oh please, keep it away from us. *(Via IEEE Spectrumhttp://spectrum.ieee.org/blog/robotics/robotics-software/automaton/irobot-soft-morphing-blob-chembot) * -- If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote
Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies
I can relate to that. When you're that young all kinds things can be ssary. I can clearly remember waking up in the middle of the night to see shadows from tree branches cast on the curtains of my bedroom window. To my sleepy eyes the shadows would look like some man standing outside the window. Scary! I remember closing my eyes tightly in fear, waiting for him to go away. And let's not get started on seeing Dad's hat and coat hanging on the wall, transformed by my sleepy eyes into a scay figure *in my room*! - Original Message - From: Tracy Curtis tlcurti...@gmail.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 6:58:38 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies Well, I was around 5 or 6 when I first saw the movie. I guess it was that it did all the things this chem-robot is supposed to do. I was always looking under door cracks and checking out the vents. Plus when I looked out of my bedroom into a partially illuminated hallway, I could always convince myself that any rounded shadow was moving, and therefore might be the blob. On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 3:35 PM, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net wrote: Ha-ha! The Blob scared you? Why is that? Although, I guess I can understand that. What used to creep me out was that bubble hunter thing from The Prisoner, that would chase down and cover people, leaving the outline of the screaming person inside. I'd start having trouble breathing as soon as I saw that thing bouncing across the sand. Movies dealing with malevolent spiritual beings--vengeful spirits of the dead, evil demons--can get me too, since I was raised in a very traditional Christian tradition, and thoughts of servants of the Devil and stuff still hit that inner part that fears pure Evil. You know, outside of that, few movie monsters or supernatural creatures scare me, at least, in terms of staying with me much past the movie. But what can stay with me in the light night when the house is creaking? Anything I've seen about serial killers and all-too-mortal psychoe: movies like Psycho, the first Friday the 13th, Halloween. I never worry too much about opening the front door in the wee hours and seeing Dracula, Frankenstein, or the Wolfman on my front stoop. But a crazy, cannibalistic killer like a Dahmer who's running around with a knife or ax or something? It's not out of the realm of possibility... - Original Message - From: Tracy Curtis tlcurti...@gmail.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 2:22:39 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] The Scared Yet files: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies This brings back my childhood fear of the blob. On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:13 AM, Martin Baxter martinbaxt...@gmail.com wrote: It can also be used as a weapon, after a fashion. Just looking at it makes my stomach do slow rolls... On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 6:14 AM, Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com wrote: iRobot's oozy ChemBot amazes and terrifies by Leslie Katz • Font size • Print • E-mail • Share • 27 comments • Yahoo! Buzz Share 503 For now, it's palm-size, sure, but what if something terrible happens, and it can't stop inflating? (Credit: YouTube screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET) We're getting a first glimpse of that shape-shifting ChemBot we first told you about last year, and well, it looks like the love child of a beating heart and a wad of Silly Putty. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research Office awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to iRobot to create the flexible military bot. The maker of the Roomba and Scooba, along with University of Chicago researchers, showed off the oozy results at the Iros conference (the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) in St. Louis this week. DARPA envisions the palm-size ChemBot as a mobile robot that can traverse soft terrain and navigate through small openings, such as tiny wall cracks, during reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions. It gets around by way of a process called jamming, in which material can transition between semiliquid and solid states with only a slight change in volume. In ChemBot's case, a flexible silicone skin encapsulates a series of pockets containing a mix of air and loosely packed particles. When air is removed from the compartments, the skin attempts to equalize the pressure differential by constricting the particles, which shift slightly to fill the void left by the evacuated air. In that way, the weird little blob inflates and deflates parts of its body, changing size and shape--and scaring the living daylights out of us. We don't know exactly when ChemBot will join the Armed Forces, but we can only beg: please, oh
