Word: robotics
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...cowardly and exasperated Englishman who really only wants a cup of tea but ends up finding love and playing a major role in the Universe’s political affairs. Alan Rickman (“Dogma”) supplies the perfect tone of voice for Marvin the clinically depressed robot and Sam Rockwell (“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”) helps to bring the character of Zaphod Beeblebrox—the brash, unintelligent President of the Universe—some contemporary significance by making him seem ever so slightly, well, Texan...
...hundred feet away, hidden inside a trade-show booth, operator Bob Quinn chuckled as he sat in front of a small remote-control box. His Talon robot, a product of the engineering firm Foster-Miller, wasn't on an actual battlefield mission. He was just showing off last week amid the Pentagon's biggest gathering for the latest in military gizmos...
Much of the emphasis at this year's show was on innovations, such as the remodeled Ford, that take soldiers a step away from maximum danger. Quinn, the robot-program manager, thinks the future belongs to those who will move humans even farther from the battlefield. Several of his Talons are already on their way to Iraq...
...Leave The TV On? Japanese robot technology is often more spectacle than utility, but the anthropomorphic Nuvo is bridging that gap. By day, the 38-cm robot keeps an eye on the house with a digital camera that transmits images to its owner's mobile phone. It's kind of a webcam on legs?but, oh, what legs! Nuvo dances and plays music at a mere voice command. Price: $5,500-$8,335 each...
...Tougher Than Tough On the scarier side of robot technology are real-life battle-bots. Armed with an assault rifle and equipped with temperature and image sensors that detect and track targets, these machines can either shoot automatically or be controlled remotely. Two such robots are being used by South Korea and the U.S. in Iraq. Seoul plans to deploy such bots on its 250-km border with North Korea by 2011. Price: $79,000 each