these must be the First Variety

January 30, 2005 8:34 PM

I, for one, welcome our cockroach robot overlords. (Be sure to check out the video.)
posted by neckro23 (15 comments total)

Please, please, please don't use Fark cliches on MeFi. This is where I come to escape them.
posted by TheGoldenOne at 8:42 PM on January 30, 2005

People keep cockroaches as pets?
posted by tellurian at 8:50 PM on January 30, 2005

This is not a Fark cliche.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 8:51 PM on January 30, 2005

Please, please, please don't use Fark cliches on MeFi. This is where I come to escape them.

What you didn't realize is... IT'S A TRAP!
posted by Krrrlson at 8:51 PM on January 30, 2005

This is freakishly awesome. I'm still waiting for them to give it bee wings, though.

TheGoldenOne: Fark cliches and SomethingAwful image macros and all manner of Internet detritus have been on Metafilter far, far, far longer than you or I.
posted by Ryvar at 8:55 PM on January 30, 2005

Well, it technically originated with the Simpsons, but I'm pretty damn sure I saw it on Fark before MeFi. To excess. In a bad way that makes me cringe whenever I see it. I also hate cockroaches, robots, and most people. Just for the record.
posted by TheGoldenOne at 8:57 PM on January 30, 2005

Airborne Mini Whegs.... awesome...
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 8:58 PM on January 30, 2005

I particularly liked the Whegs, though it seems to be a rather silly name. They seemed to solve the problem of travelling in harsh terrain rather well, though I'm wondering if all they can do is go in a straight line.
posted by dhruva at 8:59 PM on January 30, 2005

This isn't as scary as those killer robots that are being used in Iraq. The Predator drones and the SWORD robots really freak me out.
posted by VP_Admin at 9:14 PM on January 30, 2005

Creepy. Just seeing the bug like movement makes my primitive brain rather convinced that the thing is alive.
posted by ontic at 9:44 PM on January 30, 2005

though I'm wondering if all they can do is go in a straight line.

You didn't watch the video? The mini-Whegs has a turning radius of 2.5 times it's body length. The mini-Whegs can be dropped 7 stories with just some styrofoam wings. The jumping mini-Whegs can surmount obstacles more than twice it's body length in height.

I want one so bad. How much?
posted by rafter at 10:01 PM on January 30, 2005

Why not just use the real thing (warning: creepier still)
posted by abcde at 10:19 PM on January 30, 2005

I just had a horrible vision of a swarm of these things bearing down on me, each loaded with some kind of explosive.
posted by picea at 5:25 AM on January 31, 2005

Yep, this is why I continue to have nightmares.
posted by Hands of Manos at 5:41 AM on January 31, 2005

More RoboRoaches

RHex from Berkeley was written up in last week's Science. (sry no access without subscription. "Scurrying Roaches Outwit Without Their Brians). The upshot is that roaches and the robot, because they have springy legs, can scramble over rough terain without any involvement of their brain. And they can scoot along the edge of a wall with only minimal input from their antennas.

Check out the video on the linked page.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 12:46 PM on January 31, 2005