When the Robot Revolution Begins: Know Thy Enemy

Someday when the streets are painted red with humanity's blood, we may remember the robots below as the first stirrings of a new wave. 

                            It's best you learn their faces now.

 

The robots are rising. 

Yeah, you heard me. Any day now, one of these lab rats may decide enough is enough.

MIT's bartender bot is called the Maker Shaker. It takes orders via smartphone. The project leader calls its sparse shell a metaphor for the third industrial 

revolution.

                       Image credit: http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/16/tech/innovation/robot-bartender-mit-google-makr-shakr

While Maker Shaker is the least equipped to overtake the world someday, it just might dispense enough alcohol to fuel an old-fashioned revolution.

Keep an eye on this one. 

Image credit: http://news.discovery.com/tech/robotics/cyborg-cockroach-controlled-by-phone-130611.htm

Another smartphone controlled robot: the RoboRoach. 

Okay... Technically, this one is a cyborg. 

Designed by students at the University of Michigan, the RoboRoach is controlled by a living roach. 

If you’re think this seems cruel, never fear. The roaches are given plenty of anaesthetic before the controlling device is planted within their antennae. Right?

Hey, if they're going to outlive humans, we might as well give them the vehicles to overcome us as well. 

Can’t wait to get your hands on one? Then, don’t.

Image credit: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-01/meet-diego-san-humanoid-robot-toddler

Hanson Robotics, a company gaining fame for their lifelike creations, designed the face of DIEGO-SAN for the Machine Perception Lab at the UCSD Institute for Neural Computation.
The intent behind this lively character, you ask?

Developers hope he will be useful in therapy for special needs children.

As every paranoid knows, the best way to a society is through the children. I'm not worried.

However, Boston Dynamic's BigDog is unquestioningly the most frightening creation on the scene. 

With funding from the Army Research Laboratory, this hydraulic pup is equipped with an onboard computer that has sensors for stereo vision, locomotion, navigation and system monitoring. Shock absorbers and the ability to carry a 340lb payload make it easy to see where BigDog gets its name. Not only do these shocks allow for rugged terrain conquering, including water, they give BigDog the ability to recover itself from slips, falls and even kicks. 

                                          

                                                                                                Image credit: http://www.bostondynamics.com/robot_bigdog.html

 Of course, its just that unyielding design to track and follow soldiers through any obstacle, that has people feeling unsettled. 

Or, maybe it’s the new arm that’s capable of chucking cinderblocks...

The last robot to know comes in a much friendlier package; Aiko is an android.  Some call her a “gynoid” or “fembot.” Cue whistles.

 

Image credit: http://www.projectaiko.com/

Aiko is different from other robots in that she has only a sole creator, Le Trung. Like something out of science fiction, Aiko’s purpose is to take care of those mundane household chores. 

Finally, a robot for the common people!

Her current array of technology allows her to read and speak both English and Japanese, offer helpful suggestions based on the weather, recognize simple objects and even deter intruders by recognizing strangers. Now, if she could just make a sandwich...