'Lightsaber' Swinging JediBot Uses XBox Kinect To Know Where Your Saber's At

Seen here about to untenure a professor, a robotic arm swings its "lightsaber" during a demonstration of its sword-tracking capabilities. FINIIIIIIIIIIIISH HIM!! "Whoa whoa whoa -- the old man or the robot?!" Huh? Sorry, I was watching my dog pluck the eyes out of a stuffed animal.

Basically, the robot arm is pre-programmed with a bunch of "attack moves" and it defends by using the Kinect to track the green lightsaber. To attack, JediBot performs a random attack move, and if it meets resistance -- another lightsaber, a skull, some ribs -- it recoils and performs another, seemingly random, attack. It can attack once every two to three seconds -- so it isn't exactly punishing, but presumably it would only require a little knob-tweaking to make it a truly killer robot.

Wanna know how to stay safe? Don't use a green lightsaber. Use a pink one. Alternatively, don't go anywhere near the table the arm's bolted to. Unless it starts throwing lightspears, you should be safe pelting it with rocks from across the room.

Hit the jump for a video of arm in action.

Lightsaber + Kinect + robotic arm = JediBot [extremetech]

Thanks to Alan, who gave the robotic arm the green lightsaber and watched it try to fight itself until it caught fire and melted.

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