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Roomba Meets Terminator: Armed SWAT-Bot
by Jordan Yerman | June 29, 2007 at 09:48 am
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iRobot, of Roomba fame, have come up with a new autonomous 'bot... this one is armed with a Taser. The reasoning is sound, I suppose: an infantry robot to support flesh-and blood troops or SWAT officers. However, the risk is high. What if it malfunctions? Well, "what if" has nothing to do with it: it will definitely, sooner or later, malfunction, as all computer systems do.
iRobot Corporation -- maker of bomb-handling and floor-sweeping machines -- has teamed up with the shocketeers at Taser International "to develop new robots that can remotely engage, incapacitate and control dangerous suspects," a company statement pronounces.The idea is to quip a PackBot with a X26 stun gun, giving "SWAT, law enforcement and military" types "a new ability to control dangerous suspects while keeping personnel, the suspect and bystanders out of harm's way."



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