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"Science fiction operates a little bit like science itself, in principle. You've got thousands of people exploring ideas, putting forth their own hypotheses. Most of them are dead wrong; a few stand the test of time; everything looks kind of quaint in hind"
- Peter Watts

Sniffer Robot  
  A small robot that gathers odors from a crime scene for analysis.  

At this point in the film, an electronics engineer has been killed with a unique kind of bullet. How can the Runaway squad find out more?

The answer: the sniffer robot.


(Sniffer Robot from Runaway)

"It's picking up diphenyl compounds and tetrahydrocarbons. The tetras are explosives and the diphenyls are solid propellant like those used in rockets. How big did you say these missiles are?"

[Ramsay gestures -between thumb and forefinger] "About that big."

Technovelgy from Runaway, by Michael Crichton.
Published by Tri-Star Pictures in 1985
Additional resources -

Thanks to the sniffer robot, some of the chemical compounds found on the body provide useful information about the smart bullet. Here's a side view of the sniffer robot.


(Sniffer Robot side view)

The mechanical hound from Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 was also able to detect scents.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Runaway
  More Ideas and Technology by Michael Crichton
  Tech news articles related to Runaway
  Tech news articles related to works by Michael Crichton

Sniffer Robot-related news articles:
  - SPOT-NOSED Nanobiosensors For Doctors
  - SIL06 Robot Land Mine Detector
  - Bioelectronic Nose To Have Biomimetic Chemical Sensors
  - Nanotech Electronic Nose Sniffs Explosives Like Dogs
  - Stratuscent Electronic Nose
  - E-Nose NOS.E Knows Whiskey With One Sniff
  - Scent-Identifying Robot Uses Machine Learning

Articles related to Robotics
Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On

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