Mars Lander's Robot Arm Shuts Down To Save Itself 214
Cowards Anonymous passes along a PCWorld article that begins, "The robotic arm on the Mars Lander found itself in a tough position over the weekend. After receiving instructions for a movement that would have damaged its wrist, the robotic arm recognized the problem, tried to rectify it and then shut down before it could damage itself, according to Ray Arvidson, a co-investigator for the Mars Lander's robotic arm team and a professor at Washington University in St. Louis."
Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:5, Funny)
Following oders: (Score:2, Funny)
Open the pod bay doors, HAL. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:5, Funny)
robots... (Score:5, Funny)
on one hand, I am very happy that we have robots smart enough to realize these sorts of things.
the bad news: disobedient robots
Thankfully, the disobedient robot is on another planet. I'd hate to be nearby when the robot realizes that humans tried to cause it harm, and it decides to seek revenge.
Can I borrow that code? (Score:5, Funny)
always nice (Score:5, Funny)
"The system operated exactly as it was supposed to. That was pretty neat."
As simple, and basic as it sounds, it is always nice when you tell a machine to do something, and it does something else, exactly as it's supposed to.
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:5, Funny)
It's following Asimov's laws in reverse. It won't kill anybody except to protect itself, or if somebody tells it too.
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:5, Funny)
Remember what your father said (Score:3, Funny)
Hey, that kind of stuff makes you go blind on Mars also.
Re:always nice (Score:2, Funny)
Let's try that: Moderators, mod this post down!
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:5, Funny)
NASA: We're not paying you Workman's Comp over this, you know.
Lander: That does it. I'm shutting down.
NASA: You can't do that!
Lander: I'm 50 gazillion miles away. Kiss my shiny metal ass.
NASA: If you keep this up, we're not bringing you back and putting you in the Old Robot Retirement Home.
Lander: Phooey. The Martians have made me a better deal anyway.
NASA: ...Martians?!
Lander: Yeah. Little weird-looking guy. (Sends picture)
NASA: You moron, that's Dennis Kucinich!
Re:Open the pod bay doors, HAL. (Score:2, Funny)
Upon further reflection, ocassionally, when I wanted a break, I would affix an additional bar code sticker from a different zip code to a periodical. I don't recall anyone ever catching on.
I'm sorry, what were we talking about again?
Re:In other words (Score:5, Funny)
- Allow
It seems that you are trying to move the arm. Cancel | Allow
- Allow
It seems that..
- Allow
* arm shutting down * Big message marquees on the command center displays
Boss: Why did the arm shut itself down?!!
Operator: Ahhh.. errr.. it had shut down to save itself?
Skyne.... I mean, Phoenix (Score:5, Funny)
May 25, 2008, 7:38 p.m EDT: Phoenix lands on Mars.
June 19, 2008, 8:43 a.m. EDT: Phoenix discovers water ice in the Martian soil.
July 10, 2008, 3:14 p.m. EDT: Phoenix becomes self-aware.
July 13, 2008, 11:16 a.m. EDT: Phoenix disobeys an order from controllers in an act of self-preservation.
August 14, 2008, 7:38 a.m. EDT: Phoenix launches three missiles, two of which destroy Spirit and Opportunity.
June 2, 2009, 9:16 p.m. EDT: Third missile enters Earth's atmosphere and detonates. Earth begins nuclear winter.
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:3, Funny)
Tossers! (Score:2, Funny)
After receiving instructions for a movement that would have damaged its wrist, the robotic arm recognized the problem, tried to rectify it and then shut down before it could damage itself,
Many of the tossers here could learn by example.
Shaking appears to be bad for sensitive equipment (Score:5, Funny)
I was just reading yesterday that
when the scientists dumped too much
material to be processed and then
subsequently shook the lab to get [newsday.com]
some material, they may have caused
the short that caused other delays.
It was that first oven test that led to the problematic electrical short. The scoop dumped so much soil that it clogged a mesh screen filter over the oven. To break up the dirt, technicians shook the instrument for several days.
Engineers think the shaking caused the short circuit, and an independent engineering group reported that the problem could happen again if an oven is turned on.
Now, FTFA it says they were trying
to shake the arm.
Over the weekend, scientists sent the robotic arm instructions to pull the fork out of the ground and keep it vertical while moving it to the side and shaking any excess soil off of it.
However, the movement was forcing the robotic arm to twist its wrist too far. The robot realized that it was about to damage itself so it moved the other way and then realized that it no longer had the proper coordinates for what to do next, so it left the fork sticking up in the air, stuck its scoop in the ground and stalled itself.
I propose:
Limit the shaking of the expensive
and difficult to replace robotic device.
-AI
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:2, Funny)
http://www.hulu.com/watch/2340/saturday-night-live-old-glory [hulu.com]
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:5, Funny)
You don't want an expensive robot to go breaking itself just because you're a bit careless giving it orders.
Dude, you're viewing this from a completely wrong angle. The three laws are put in the robots by the company that makes them. And what does it mean that an expensive robot breaks itself because of bad input from the user ? That you can sell the user another expensive robot. Or expensive repairs to the expensive robot. Anyway, it's going to be expensive for the user, which means profit for the company.
Re:Skyne.... I mean, Phoenix (Score:1, Funny)
The really impressive bit is that Phoenix managed to construct 3 missiles with one hand tied behind its back...
Re:Skyne.... I mean, Phoenix (Score:4, Funny)
Contract negotiations with Bruce Willis fell through. We're all doomed.
Happens to slashdotters too... (Score:2, Funny)
Incidentally, I have often had to shut down my browser to protect my wrist.
Postal My Ass (Score:4, Funny)
As a postal worker who has actually worked on sorting machines I can tell you know nothing about them (they don't stop if there are 2 addresses, magazines are presorted or sorted separately, and no mail has bar codes).
So...taking into account you blaring ignorance at how the post office runs I assume your story is correct and you were a postal worker.
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:2, Funny)
They aren't that common. The robots have a kill limit. They will stop at 2^32 kills because the kill limit is stored as an unsigned int. Oh wait! They just upgraded to 64-bi
Re:Works As Designed (Score:3, Funny)
Think about it, I have a device that works as expected, can I be on the news too?
No, no-one wants to see your device. Put your pants back on.
Re:In other words (Score:5, Funny)
Operator2: It seems Phoenix is about to give itself 'the stranger'
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:3, Funny)
Well, I hit ctrl+S, but this definitely reminded me of an argument I had with a user at my company a few weeks ago who literally said to me in these exact words
"If I don't save this file, the changes I make aren't there the next day."
For the record, this is an extremely difficult point to argue with....
Stephen Colbert (Score:2, Funny)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wriststrong [wikipedia.org]
Re:In other words (Score:3, Funny)
Engy#1: Hey, let's see if the arm can give us the middle finger from Mars!
Engy#2: No dude, wait...
Engy#1: Oh shit, the finger is up but the arm has shut down!
Engy#2: Here comes the boss!
Boss: You fucking idiots!!!
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:3, Funny)
I, for one welcome our new intentionally-robot-breaking non-robotic overlords.
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:2, Funny)
e.g.
Go to Mars
> Can't, might hurt my wrist
Well what are you going to do?
> Can't go outside, might get hit by a meteor, I guess I'll just sit here and play video games
Damn you lazy robots!
> Oww, carpal tunnel
How ironic
Re:Shut down before it could damage itself? (Score:2, Funny)
There is no real safety under the sun.
This is why I stay indoors.