Sep 3 2009Eeeek, Kill Them!: I-SWARM Robotic Army
Bugs don't scare me. But tiny robots? Tiny robots scare the shit out of me. Just look at those evil bastards ganging up on that defenseless screw. It's sickening.
These tiny (4 millimeters on a side) robots are members of the I-SWARM project, which stands for Intelligent Small-World Autonomous Robots for Micro-manipulation. Each robot is simple, with three legs and a little poker to manipulate stuff with. They're designed to work in large, cheap, mass producible, replaceable groups doing things that insects would be good at... Surveillance, obviously, but they could also do things like clean your house by taking care of one bit of dust each.
No, really, this isn't necessary. If I wanted teeny little robots running around everywhere I would have killed myself and gone to hell. Because that's exactly what it's like. Except they're on fire. And they crawl in your holes.
I-SWARM Micro Robots [botjunkie] (the very thought of which makes me sick)
Thanks to Nick, Michael, MDGrein, Ashley and Skynet (screw you!), who are all cool in my book. Except for Skynet. Skynet should implode.
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THERE IS NOTHING OKAY ABOUT THIS (09/25/2009)
Toyota Develops Running Humanoid Robot (08/03/2009)
Reader Comments
1. MatthewC - September 3, 2009 2:58 PM
FIRST!
and cool!!! lol
2. DOYOUTHINKESAURUS - September 3, 2009 2:58 PM
My pee pee hurts
3. Me - September 3, 2009 2:59 PM
Does no one realise how close we are to doom??? where are the authorities to stop this madness?!
4. LSDiesel - September 3, 2009 3:03 PM
Has anyone seen my thumbtack?
Yeah, it's in the corner getting gangbanged by mini robots.
5. Ryan - September 3, 2009 3:03 PM
I wonder if they're immune to fire and ice..... and dinosaur poop... and grenades.
6. asian sensation - September 3, 2009 3:04 PM
these robots make my P-P hard
7. Thomas Beckett - September 3, 2009 3:12 PM
Don't take a piss. Robots will swim right up through your dick. Good night.
8. Mr. cow - September 3, 2009 3:16 PM
Moo
9. Taylored - September 3, 2009 3:33 PM
That canned bacon is looking more and more appealing.
10. Jenny - September 3, 2009 3:40 PM
Wow....Kind of makes me think what would happen if you fell asleep and they decided to crawl into your ears....eeek!
11. Milkman - September 3, 2009 3:51 PM
Thats super cool. I welcome the robot apocalypse, as long as it involves miniature robots which absolutely will not end up morphing into replicators from sg1.
No, that will never happen. We're totally safe, and so is the galaxy, and most of all, the asgard.
12. Cinema Obsessed - September 3, 2009 4:01 PM
Oh god... next stop, nanobots.. like in GI JOE... we're all gonna die!
13. Pat - September 3, 2009 4:05 PM
Each has a poker?! Eeek!
14. Fade - September 3, 2009 4:05 PM
Least they are cool looking...
http://fade-to-extra.mybrute.com/
15. Dishy Dishyington - September 3, 2009 4:24 PM
I want! They're sooooo cuuuuuuuuuuuute!
http://icanhasrobot.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/doindisshesnew.jpg
16. ham bone - September 3, 2009 4:25 PM
Thanks GW i always wanted to have a nightmare everynight for the rest of my life
17. cbobgo - September 3, 2009 5:02 PM
Here's some video of the last thing you will see before the swarm comes to take you away.
http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/08/29/i-swarm-micro-robots-realized-impressive-full-system-integration
18. hobotech - September 3, 2009 6:28 PM
can everything stop being called ****ing i-Xxxxxx already? it's not clever, the ipod was ok, but not worth of name every thing in its honor.
actually i can;t wait until apple build robots, they're sure to be chrome white, and a triumph of form over function, all the better to crowbar come the apocalypse.
19. Jessica Barnes - September 3, 2009 7:29 PM
i might be a tadbitawholelot scared of these thingies @_@
20. Airkeeper - September 4, 2009 1:01 AM
We're all gon' die....
21. Jaded Icon - September 4, 2009 7:11 AM
One small step to achieving nanobots and one large step in creating man eating insect bots that swarm.....and ....PAIN, OH GOD THE PAIN!!!
22. hilaryimready - September 4, 2009 9:07 AM
they are going to kill us all.
23. Flyboy - September 4, 2009 1:58 PM
Someone read Prey from Crichton?
24. geekogee - September 5, 2009 6:18 AM
Must See!!!
http://alturl.com/obg7
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28. Pedro - September 8, 2009 4:46 PM
Naaa... there's still much to do. They're not going anywere with that yet.
29. Jared - September 10, 2009 10:56 AM
This would probably not be the time to mention the S.M. Stirling novel Drakon, in which a swarm of ant-sized robots kill a guy after forcing entry via a bodily orifice. I'll let you guess which one.
30. ganmerlad - September 10, 2009 12:04 PM
My cats would eat them and die. I would end up stepping on them all the time, lego brick style. Pure evil.
31. Travis - September 10, 2009 4:12 PM
There are some cool videos of the I-Swarm locomotion over at Hizook.com
http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/08/29/i-swarm-micro-robots-realized-impressive-full-system-integration
32. Nike Air Max - September 11, 2009 11:54 PM
Good blog, very good article. I have book mark the site.I will come again.
33. aboniks - September 25, 2009 10:50 PM
what the hell good are they? All they can do is poke things? Who pokes anymore? The inquisition is over, and witches aren't scared of robots anyway.