Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
 |
Comments on Robotic Lunar 'MoonDigger' Bulldozers Planned By NASA
Interesting proposal to make use of teleoperated MoonDiggers to prepare landing pads for upcoming missions to the lunar surface. (Read
the complete story)
| "Here is a cool video showing an 'astronaut' driving NASA's Lunar Chariot with special bulldozing attachments.
" |
| "Yes! A star-control reference!
In Star-control 2 the players arrives at Earth finding it's population enslaved. An alien moonbase is supposed to be guarding Earth but the aliens left and to maintain the illusion that the base is still active, left a bunch of "Brainbox bulldozers" programmed to move dirt around at random. (BrainBox is a brand of educational electronics kits)
Quote: "We decided that if the Earthlings figured out we had abandoned the base on Luna
they would be more likely to try something sneaky.
So we rigged up some old bio-droids to drive around on the lunar surface in bulldozers
endlessly pushing around the same piles of dirt.
In addition, we connected the base's radio transmitter to the audio portion of
`Winky's Happy Night', my favorite Melnorme FunRom
hoping that the Earthlings would think we were still there."
http://starcontrol.classicgaming.gamespy.com/sc2/images/bio1.gif" (Yossi Preminger 3/4/2009 4:38:03 AM) |
| "Heh. Plenty of SF has used robotic/telepresence lunar bulldozers. Outpost had the Robodozers, (and several other robot construction vehicles) as did Outpost II." (Ashley 3/4/2009 8:34:16 AM) |
| "Yossi, here's the (slightly enlarged) BrainBox Bulldozer from Star Control.
Star Control was released for the PC in 1990." |
| "Ashley, I can't find a screenshot for the Robodozers, part of the Outpost game released for the PC in 1994. Here's a quote from a game FAQ: 'As you run your first turns, keep using the robodozer to clear terrain around your Seed factory. Also place a robodigger at the end of one of the tubes at the Seed factory construction site so that it can start digging your first underground level. When the robodigger is finished digging, the robodigger on the map will be replaced with the top of an air shaft.'" (Bill Christensen 3/4/2009 10:38:10 AM) |
| "Apparently, the idea of a remote-controlled bulldozer has been used in Israel in demolishing buildings in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. This controversial practice makes use of an armored D-9, an enormous device the size of a small house. If I'm not mistaken, this practice is back in the news today.
Also, Caterpillar has been working on the idea of autonomous robotic bulldozers that make use of GPS and more accurate tracking and navigation systems to more fully automate the construction sites of the future. See this article I did a while ago on the construction site of the future." |
| "There's a robodozer in this screenshot from outpost:
http://www.mobygames.com/images/i/45/05/129405.jpeg
Moonbase is another PC game from 1990, IIRC it features different vehicles which extract He3 and Oxygen from moondust.
http://www.mobygames.com/game/moonbase/screenshots" (Yossi Preminger 3/4/2009 4:52:41 PM) |
| "I would like more details. What are these robots made from? How are they deployed? Can they double as science collection devices? What is their power source? I have to assume that they operated on rechargeable batteries, which are charged at some PV station, but even this is ot spelled out. They don't seem particularly optimized for weight or efficiency from what I can see of their design. A big rake could probably do a better job. Or perhaps something like a snow-impeller could chuck the dust in the right direction, and they could later drive over it to compact it. The basic need for a robot of this type has been established, but the design seems rather lacking. " (aaronc 3/7/2009 8:14:37 AM) |
Get more information on Robotic Lunar 'MoonDigger' Bulldozers Planned By NASA
Leave a comment:
Tediously, spammers have returned; if you have a comment, send it to bill at this site (include the story name) and I'll post it.
More Articles
Chaffeur Robot Musashi Will Drive Your Regular Car
'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
Space Exporers! Now, You Can Drink Your Own Urine
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
SpaceX EVA Spacesuit Tested By Polaris Dawn Crew
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
Automatic Bot Traffic Is 38 Percent Of HTTP Requests
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
Shanghai Guidelines For Humanoid Robots
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
Desktop TARS Robot From Interstellar
What's YOUR sarcasm setting?
Robots Can Now Have Smiling Faces With Human Skin
'I am a cybernetic organism...'
Virtual Rat Predicts Actual Rat Neural Activity
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
GoSun EV Solar Charger Drapes Onto Your Car
'...six square yards of sunpower screens.'
Rizon 4 Ironing Robot
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
Cognify - A Prison Of The Mind We've Seen Before In SF
'So I serve a hundred years in one day...'
Robot With Human Brain Organoid - 'A Thrilling Story Of Mechanistic Progress'
'A human brain snugly encased in a transparent skull-shaped receptacle.'
Goodness Gracious Me! Google Tries Face Recognition Security
'The actuating mechanism that should have operated by the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell...'
With Mycotecture, We'll Just Grow The Space Habitats We Need
'The only real cost was in the plastic balloon that guided the growth of the coral and enclosed the coral's special air-borne food.'
Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier?
'The border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
WiFi and AI Team Up To See Through Walls
'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'
Climate Engineering In California Could Make Europe's Heat Waves Worse
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
Optimus Robot Will Be A Good Nanny, Says Musk
'Nanny is different,' Tom Fields murmured... 'she's not like a machine. She's like a person.'
ESA To Build Moon Bases Brick By Printed LEGO Brick
'We made a crude , small cell and were delighted - and, I admit, somewhat surprised - to find it worked.'
Does The Shortage Of Human Inputs Limit AI Development?
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
