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
 |
Demolition Robots Help Destroy Building
Robots suspended from cranes will be used to demolish the structure of one of Madrid's tallest buildings. The building was damaged by fire; the ruined structure is too dangerous to be handled by human workers.
The 32 story Windsor building, the city's eighth tallest tower, stands above four underground train lines, a major road and a department store. An alternative plan, in which the building would be taken down by explosives after the road tunnels beneath it had been filled with sand, was deemed too risky.
Robots hanging from cranes will cut up the concrete and steel structure, with giant neoprene sheets in place to catch falling debris.
(Will Smith flees demolition bot in I, Robot)
No such precautions were taken in the above scene from I, Robot. A giant demolition robot stomped and smashed its way through the house while Will Smith (and a cat) were still inside. I, Robot is, of course, based on the works of Isaac Asimov.
Real-world demolition robots don't stride Transformer-like through construction sites. However, bots like the Brokk 330 (see below) have been used around the world in hazardous sites, like the recent decommissioning of Brookhaven National Laboratory's old underground graphite reactor. And the demolition robot's stats - 4200 kilograms, thick tank-like treads, sturdy stabilizing feet, and the capacity to handle tools weighing up to 550 kilograms - make it the right tool for the job on hazardous sites.
(Brokk 330 Demolition Robot)
If you liked this story, you'll probably like T52 Enryu Support Dragon Hyper Rescue Robot. See the original story at Robots help demolish one of Madrid's tallest buildings.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/23/2005)
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 ( 3 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
Unitree CEO Wang Xingxing Runs With His G1 Robot Army
'Does thinking you're the last sane man on the face of the Earth make you crazy?'
Blue Collar AI Goes To Work To Mine Its Own Crypto
Blue collar bot.
HandelBot Helps Two-Handed Robots Learn Piano
'I request that you feed the correlation between those dots and the levers of the panel into my memory banks.'
Woven Fiber Electronic Skin For Robots
'... all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.' - Harl Vincent, 1934.
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
Worm Disrupts Physics Simulations Undetected For A Decade
'It diverts integers of the data, the fundamental message-units, so that they no longer agree.'
Muxcard Redditor's DIY Credit Card-Sized Computer
It's a computer, but just barely.
'Soft Assembly' Fashions That Fashion Themselves On The Wearer
'Clothes are no longer made from dead fibers of fixed color and texture that can approximate only crudely to the vagrant human figure...'
Orwell's Nightmare Of AI-Written Novels Comes To Pass
'Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces.'
ISS Plagued By Leak - Again!
'There were perhaps a dozen bladder-like objects in the tunnel...'
Ridiculous 'Ghost Murmur' Tech Still Science Fiction
'...it rears and spreads its fan. It can pick one man out of a crowd.'
Outdoor Video Screens Can Be Arbitrarily Large
The Shape of Things To Come
Infrared Contact Lenses To See In The Dark
'I can see in the dark, Case.'
What'll You Have? Extinct Animals Returned, Or Synthetic Eggshells?
'...a new plastic with the characteristics of an avian eggshell.'
Sunbird Pulsar Fusion Like Leinster's Space Tug
'It was a pushpot, which could not possibly be called a jet plane because it could not possibly fly. Only it did.'
RentAHuman App Lets AI Agents Hire Humans
'She wouldn't stop until Antar had told her everything he knew about whatever it was that she was playing with on her screen.'
Unitree CEO Wang Xingxing Runs With His G1 Robot Army
'Does thinking you're the last sane man on the face of the Earth make you crazy?'
AIs Turn Marxist Under Bad Management
'It was a general strike of the robots...'
Moscow Attacked By Hundreds Of Drones
'It hurtled on down with inconceivable speed until it was visible as thousands of tiny robot planes...'
Nifty Folding Electric Bicycles!
'Separate paths were provided for them...'
FTC: Says Ring Employees Illegally Surveilled Customers
'Then she looked up with a smile and moved closer to the camera.'
