Smarter Honda ASIMO Can Self-Charge, Avoid People, Work In Groups

Wilson Rothman — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:40:27 EST

When scientists in some bunker in the year 2525 are trying to determine when humanity handed over the keys to the robot overlords, December 11, 2007, may be a good date, for on this day, Honda announced it had given its ASIMO servant robots three key abilities. Here we break them down, and provide a "Future Shock" analysis of each:

• Autonomous battery charging - Honda developed a Borg-like charging bay for ASIMO. When the robot's battery level drops to a certain point, it seeks out the closest bay.
Future Shock: Seeking a power source is the first step towards domination, Coppertop.

• Avoiding oncoming people - ASIMO sees an oncoming person through its eye camera, judges its inertia, guesses its speed and path, then either changes course to steer clear, or simply takes a step back.
Future Shock: If they're taught subservience, they start questioning their predestined role. Also, doesn't this sound a lot like targeting?

• Working together - This involves constant sharing of relevant data between networked ASIMOs, and a survey of which robot is closest to the most pressing task, and what his battery life status is. Among them, they "decide" which one is best suited to go in and do the job.
Future Shock: If I have to explain to you why robots working together could be a bad thing, well, you're probably already dead. [Honda]

Fast Food Self-Service Kiosks Coming, Silicon Lifeforms Taking Over World

Charlie White — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 09:57:51 EST

The conquest of the human race by robots marches on, and now the quaint phrase "do you want fries with that?" may be within the province of those cold, silicon-based lifeforms. Fast food giants McDonald's, Subway, Jack in the Box, Burger King, Taco Bell and Carl's Jr. are toying with the idea of self-service kiosks made by IBM and NCR that work just like the ubiquitous ATMs as well as those ticketing machines sprouting up at airports all over the world.

It's starting. Three Jack in the Box restaurants in San Diego are testing the custom-made fast food ordering kiosks, and twelve Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf shops in Los Angeles will be the next to try them. Others are experimenting in small tests around the US. Hey, we don't mind if those machines begin to chant the mantra "To Serve Man," as long as that's not the title of a cookbook. – Charlie White

Jack in the Box Orders Up Experimental Self-Serve Kiosks [San Diego Business Journal]
Self-service coming to fast food [Dallas Morning News]

Gizmodo: world domination

Smarter Honda ASIMO Can Self-Charge, Avoid People, Work In Groups

Fast Food Self-Service Kiosks Coming, Silicon Lifeforms Taking Over World