The Rise of the Machines!

Sheesh! And I thought the red-light camera robocops were an affront to human dignity!

I did security for... well, practically forever, in one form or another. These buckets of bolts will be cutting into the livelihoods of my brothers in arms, one of the few job descriptions we never had to worry about getting shipped overseas - unless we WANTED to be shipped overseas.

I'll bet you dollars against donuts that some of these junior-grade robocops are going to need some "sick days"... I'd even bet that more than one of them is going to require the services of an undertaker i.e. "scrapyard".

At least one of those robocop red-light cameras in a mid-sized southern city had to be replaced FOUR TIMES before they got the hint and just gave up.

It's almost as if they were planning coming riots, isn't it?

Escalation - riots will then start being held of more... difficult... terrain to counter the robotic mobility, and the robot designers will then improve the mobility... and on and on.

I wonder what happens to a several thousand dollar robot's effectiveness when countered with a 4 dollar can of spray paint to it's "eyes"?

"Demolition Derby"?

I'm going back to re-watch the terminator movies, see if I can pick up any pointers.

If a 3 million dollar helicopter can be brought down with a coffee can full of rocks and some steel fishing leaders, there HAS to be effective counters for self-propelled beer kegs!

Reply to Ninurta:

I'm thinking that if we're talking seriously for a moment? These early versions would be very easily defeated or bypassed. 

Say I were a nasty burglar and I wanted to burgle something protected by this bot? Well, to avoid any 'after we figure out how...' solutions, I can stick with the basics. First, that trashcan would look better as Casper. The ghost...that is.

How well do you figure the initial units see through cloth? Yeah..I doubt they have thermal or microwave sensors either. So...throw a heavy sheet over them, after figuring out the very basic estimate of height and diameter. (watching an edge run too far so it can run over the corner and pull the sheet right back off just wouldn't do).

Then? Well.... The guys I grew up around used to make their own "slick pads". Enviromentalists would scream bloody murder and more than one business owner probably wished for our early demise after seeing the mess in their parking lots....but we found Motor oil on a solid surface is downright slippery. Anti-freeze makes motor oil look downright sticky by comparison, too. 

So...put a gallon puddle of antifreeze just short of the door opening leading to wherever you are and the bot has to reach in it's little patrols. It'll hit the puddle, spin wheels and go no further. Either way? Cameras never saw anything useful and the little can has been effectively trashed for that evening.

Now then, how much investment did those $10 ideas just totally negate? (grin)