Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Scarab Robotic Chase Vehicle Concept
The Scarab is a concept device designed by Carl Archambeault; an all-electric chase vehicle to make high speed chases safer.
(Scarab concept vehicle)
The idea is that police officers who witness a car speeding can "tag" the car using a radar gun. A signal is sent to the Scarab, which chases the offending vehicle and then pulls it over until officers arrive.
The Scarab would be unarmed, but the designer points to technologies that allow police to stop cars by "ordering" the car's engine to stop.
Archambeault seems to have science fiction on his mind. SF fans would have no problem identifying both of the key ideas presented in this concept design.
(Motorcycle robot from Terminator Salvation)
As shown above, the moto-terminator Terminator motorcycles from the recent movie Terminator Salvation are quite similar in concept. Also, fans of the recent novels by Daniel Suarez are probably thinking about the razorback autonomous motorcycles from his 2009 novel Daemon.
An unarmed stop of a fleeing vehicle could be accomplished with the police-control override from Keith Laumer's 1965 novel A Plague of Demons and the cop block from Greg Bear's more recent novel Quantico.
All cars and trucks in the U.S. were now required to have Cop Block. A patrol car could radio a coded signal that slowed and then shut down the engine. Workarounds were illegal and the fines were expensive, plus real jail time.
See these examples of real-life technologies to stop miscreants fleeing in motor vehicles:
- GM OnStar Will Soon Let Police Stop Your Car
- Australasian Intelligent Speed Adaptation Initiative - Big Road Brother
- Texting UK Police May Control Your Car
- OnStar Stolen Vehicle Slowdown Foils Carjacker
Via ecofriend; thanks to Moira for the tip on this story (welcome back!).
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/8/2010)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Surveillance ")
Chameleon Personalized Privacy Protection Mask
'...the Virtual Epiphantic Identity Lustre.' - Neal Stephenson, 2019.
Spherical Police Robot Rolls In China
'Rand could effectively be in several places at once...' - Niven and Pournelle, 1981.
Vietnam To Have Full Biometric Transparency
'inscriptions too small to be seen with the naked eye; microscopic data...' - Eric Frank Russell, 1939.
Simple Way To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'... designed to foil facial recognition systems.' - Neal Stephenson, 2019.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
'The crawling... object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station
'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...'
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
'Better late than never.'
Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'
Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets
'The first revelation of the new Soviet bore-pellets.'
'Spikeless' Brand Swizzle Stick Detects Spiked Drinks
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'
Heart Patches Grown In The Lab Repair Hearts
I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
Humanoid Robots Spotted In Homes Performing Household Chores
'... nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet.'
Musk Proposes Sites For Martian Cities
'...its streets were of remarkable width, with few or no buildings so high as mosques, churches, State-offices, or palaces in Tellurian cities.'
Bambot Open Source Cheap Delivery Robot
'Not since the time he rewired the delivery robot...'
Robot Collective Acts Like A Smart Material
'...it was all composed of tiny, identical cubes, carefully laid to form a tilelike surface.'
Vipera Electric Skis From Frigid Dynamics
'JOAN strapped on her power-skis...'
Pixel Watch 'Loss of Pulse Detection' And Philip K. Dick
'He carried on his person a triggering mechanism sensitive to his heartbeat.'
Nuclear Plant Restarted To Power AI To Feed Us Dreams
'...Anything was possible in my imaginary environment.'
SpaceX's Starman Tesla Roadster In Space
'Somewhere in space, a chrome and blue automobile raced the green light of Earth.'
Pivotal Blackfly Electric Aircraft Lifts And Hovers
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair...'
