Science and Technology MEGA THREAD

[azrael]

On 2/21/2025 at 10:26 AM, Old_Nash_II said:

As Captain Nascimento would say:
I already warned you that this is going to be crap

 

Anybody getting Westworld (2016) vibes from those things? *looks at YT comments*. Yep I'm not the only one.

6 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

Mine and my wife's different employers are working to get AI to help analyze and process (hopefully streamline) work flow.

We're just hoping the AI analysis will catch the nuance in human written entries.

It's hard to not be able to escape the "AI blitz in business"-trend. The question is what business are you in where human written nuance appears?

[Big s]

On 2/21/2025 at 6:07 PM, Dynaman said:

impressive as a possible first step toward more realistic artificial limbs (or a dead end).  Otherwise it is the stuff of nightmare fuel.

I do have to agree about the horror aspect, but this tech here looks like they over complicated things using outdated technology to accomplish making a jiggly mess. I think the better approach is to start simpler and perfect things that way before going this complex.

I’ve seen some prosthetics that are the majority of an arm from being lost just above the elbow. And those were able to use simplified controls to accomplish bending of the elbow and even gripping of hands, and without the loud noise and stuttering joints

[Old_Nash_II]

Waiting for Rideback bikes

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, Old_Nash_II said:

Waiting for Rideback bikes

That's interesting. However, if anyone had the current tech to corner the market on such a product, I'd think that would be Boston Dynamics, who have a proven range of bi- and quadrupedal robots. This is definitely very near future tech, though.

And from there, how long before it becomes militarized, enlarged, armed and armored, and we end up with AT-ATs? Not that I'm against the creation of a RW AT-AT, my favorite Star Wars vehicle, but the implications of such a thing actually existing could be troubling. Too, IMHO, while it looks really cool, it's pretty impractical- take out one leg and the whole thing would be one big useless pile of salvage.

[mechaninac]

5 hours ago, Old_Nash_II said:

Waiting for Rideback bikes

Whattyaknow... a mini Ligar ZOID...

[Big s]

6 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

And from there, how long before it becomes militarized, enlarged, armed and armored, and we end up with AT-ATs

Probably never. The At-At is kind of a huge sitting duck design that looks awesome in a movie, but pretty much useless otherwise. An unmanned tank is much more practical for everything from repairs and overall budget and low to the ground to avoid being an easy target. I love mecha as much as any Macross fan, but most of the cool stuff is only meant for fantasy rather than reality.

as far as this Kawasaki thingy, it’s not necessarily impossible, but it’s definitely gonna be a rich dudes toy that probably goes the way of the segway, basically a forgotten fad at best death trap at worst. It didn’t seem to be able to do much that someone skilled with a cheap dirtbike couldn’t really handle

[M'Kyuun]

6 hours ago, Big s said:

Probably never. The At-At is kind of a huge sitting duck design that looks awesome in a movie, but pretty much useless otherwise. An unmanned tank is much more practical for everything from repairs and overall budget and low to the ground to avoid being an easy target. I love mecha as much as any Macross fan, but most of the cool stuff is only meant for fantasy rather than reality.

Hence my follow-up statement that the AT-AT, though cool in a movie/toy sense, is impractical. And it is totally way cool. 

6 hours ago, Big s said:

as far as this Kawasaki thingy, it’s not necessarily impossible, but it’s definitely gonna be a rich dudes toy that probably goes the way of the segway, basically a forgotten fad at best death trap at worst. It didn’t seem to be able to do much that someone skilled with a cheap dirtbike couldn’t really handle

However, If the Corleo actually becomes popular enough to become successful beyond just being a fad, I doubt it would take long for it to find its way into the military, or a DARPA equivalent, along with mods, like longer legs for greater running speeds, or bulkier builds for carrying greater loads. Not only that, but armed variants would almost certainly be likely. A drone of similar design would have the ability to traverse terrain in ways that wheeled vehicles might not be able to which would give them a tactical advantage.

[Big s]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

However, If the Corleo actually becomes popular enough to become successful beyond just being a fad, I doubt it would take long for it to find its way into the military, or a DARPA equivalent, along with mods, like longer legs for greater running speeds, or bulkier builds for carrying greater loads. Not only that, but armed variants would almost certainly be likely. A drone of similar design would have the ability to traverse terrain in ways that wheeled vehicles might not be able to which would give them a tactical advantage.

They already have drones that can fly, I don’t think that there’s too many uses for a drone like this. The spot four legged ones are good for tight spaces though, but I don’t think there’s much of a market for this type of thing.

It’s a cool fantasy though 

Edited Sunday at 05:53 AM by Big s

[M'Kyuun]

On 4/5/2025 at 10:52 PM, Big s said:

They already have drones that can fly, I don’t think that there’s too many uses for a drone like this. The spot four legged ones are good for tight spaces though, but I don’t think there’s much of a market for this type of thing.

It’s a cool fantasy though 

I could see them used as pacification or for making forcible entry into an area that may be wired or is defended by potentially armed suspects, thus reducing the danger to a cop or soldier. Moreover, they could give chase to people who run from law enforcement, a job normally given to police dogs, who face harm at the hands of potentially armed suspects. Unlike a dog, who only has his jaws as a weapon, formidable though they may be, something akin to Corleo could be outfitted with any sort of restraining devices to capture and incapacitate. It could be designed to climb fences or jump fences too high for a dog. In lieu of a dog's nose, suspects could be marked with a traceable chemical marker that the quad-drone could detect and follow. The psychological component alone would prove as a good deterrent.

[Big s]

30 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

I could see them used as pacification or for making forcible entry into an area that may be wired or is defended by potentially armed suspects, thus reducing the danger to a cop or soldier. Moreover, they could give chase to people who run from law enforcement, a job normally given to police dogs, who face harm at the hands of potentially armed suspects. Unlike a dog, who only has his jaws as a weapon, formidable though they may be, something akin to Corleo could be outfitted with any sort of restraining devices to capture and incapacitate. It could be designed to climb fences or jump fences too high for a dog. In lieu of a dog's nose, suspects could be marked with a traceable chemical marker that the quad-drone could detect and follow. The psychological component alone would prove as a good deterrent.

It’s probably cheaper using dogs, they keep turning up at the pound. The teeth and unpredictability are their psychological deterrent. And if you replace them with a robot, then they just will end up youthanizing more dogs because the pound is already at capacity . 
as far as the other stuff, they’ve already been using spot for that stuff other than the actual arrest.

capturing of people takes far more dexterity than a four legged drone has.

Honestly, all these extra ideas all fit great for sci fi and I’d love to see it in a show or movie, but they far from this mechanical horse concept that corleo is. And we already invented motorcycles over a hundred years ago and you probably wouldn’t have as much back pain as this Robobeast would cause.

Edited Monday at 04:03 PM by Big s

[azrael]

On 4/5/2025 at 7:47 AM, M'Kyuun said:

And from there, how long before it becomes militarized, enlarged, armed and armored, and we end up with AT-ATs? Not that I'm against the creation of a RW AT-AT, my favorite Star Wars vehicle, but the implications of such a thing actually existing could be troubling. Too, IMHO, while it looks really cool, it's pretty impractical- take out one leg and the whole thing would be one big useless pile of salvage.

Think you mean the AT-RT from Clone Wars.

Dogs have much more intimidation factor than a ATV with legs. Nothing like a 60-80lb animal sprinting at you at 30 mph who could tear your arm off.

For outdoor recreational use, it's the same as taking an ATV with you. You have to conserve energy to make it back to the home base so unless that thing is solar powered, which still wouldn't collect enough energy to keep something like that charged, it's not practical except for day-tripping. Going all-terrain with something like this feels like you should be going more than an overnight trip and I don't think it has enough fuel/battery power to go that long.

[Big s]

3 hours ago, azrael said:

For outdoor recreational use, it's the same as taking an ATV with you. You have to conserve energy to make it back to the home base so unless that thing is solar powered, which still wouldn't collect enough energy to keep something like that charged, it's not practical except for day-tripping. Going all-terrain with something like this feels like you should be going more than an overnight trip and I don't think it has enough fuel/battery power to go that long.

Unless you go full sci-fi and it waits until the right opportunity to attack and drains its energy from other drones out there like a robot vampire. But that’s really just going full fantasy at that point 

[M'Kyuun]

All good points, if practical. I'm merely speculating, should the technology somehow take off and become successful, as to what direction that tech could possibly lead. Humanity is a barbarous creature and the one constant throughout our history so far as we know it is that any available weapon we create, we advance it and at some point, use it, in nearly all cases. Likewise the weaponization of seemingly benign technologies. Fortunately, we haven't crossed that line with hydrogen bombs just yet, but we're closer to midnight now than ever before. Obviously, you guys don't feel that Corleo is going to lead anywhere, but I'm not discounting anything. Our reality today includes much of what was considered sci-fi until just a couple decades ago, so dismissing anything, especially a technology that already has a real basis at present, is an underestimation. 

[Big s]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

All good points, if practical. I'm merely speculating, should the technology somehow take off and become successful, as to what direction that tech could possibly lead. Humanity is a barbarous creature and the one constant throughout our history so far as we know it is that any available weapon we create, we advance it and at some point, use it, in nearly all cases. Likewise the weaponization of seemingly benign technologies. Fortunately, we haven't crossed that line with hydrogen bombs just yet, but we're closer to midnight now than ever before. Obviously, you guys don't feel that Corleo is going to lead anywhere, but I'm not discounting anything. Our reality today includes much of what was considered sci-fi until just a couple decades ago, so dismissing anything, especially a technology that already has a real basis at present, is an underestimation. 

I just think that weaponization fits spot better. This thing is more like an expensive toy concept. Sure you can add guns to it, but you could do that with an atv much easier.