Day of the Robotic Tentacle

holy_calamity writes "New Scientist is reporting on a robotic tentacle developed thanks to funding from military agency DARPA. From the video it looks to have a lot of potential, I can almost feel it fastening around my ankle right now."

Forget about the army...

[Olix]

Think about the implications for the Sex industry!

Re:Forget about the army...

[foundme]

How appropriate! When you need it to perform, just feed it with some alcohol [slashdot.org] and the "muscle" will get powered up.

Re:Forget about the army...

[Drooling Iguana]

Lechery, sir, it provokes, and unprovokes;
it provokes the desire, but it takes
away the performance: therefore, much drink
may be said to be an equivocator with lechery:
it makes him, and it mars him; it sets
him on, and it takes him off; it persuades him,
and disheartens him; makes him stand to, and
not stand to; in conclusion, equivocates him
in a sleep, and, giving him the lie, leaves him.

Re:Forget about the army...

[LordMydrin]

You think that has implications, just wait for the robotic testicle...

Re:Forget about the army...

[c_forq]

Only grandmas in Kor-my god I can't finish it, just too wrong.

Tentacles indeed

[zephc]

DARPA: taking hentai in brave, new directions. Your tax dollars at work.

Re:Tentacles indeed

[SendBot]

Just in case anyone needs a quick visual:

nsfw! La Blue Girl [amazon.com] nsfw!

Re:Tentacles indeed

[afaik_ianal]

Wow - you could have at least warn... Oh, never mind.

Re:Tentacles indeed

[kalirion]

It only takes on experience to burn into your mind the meaning of "NSFW." Mine was a couple years back.

Here comes the anime pr0n references..

[koa]

3... 2... 1....

Re:Here comes the anime pr0n references..

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

Here comes the anime pr0n references..
by koa (95614) on Monday May 08, @04:18PM (#15287964)
3... 2... 1....

Whooops!
cid=15287960 [slashdot.org] and cid=15287962 [slashdot.org]

Too late!

whoa whoa whoa

[Anonymous Coward]

don't tell Japan! think of the children!

Re:whoa whoa whoa

[Anonymous Coward]

don't tell Japan! think of the children!

Oh they will. They will.

Re:whoa whoa whoa

[CannibalSmith]

Also this will put the real tentacle monsters out of business!

Clever

[slusich]

Clever, though it seems to operate more like an elephant trunk or a prehensile tail rather then a tentacle. I would think it would perform it's job more effectively by using a vacuum system with selectable ports to help hold onto objects.

It does raise the interesting question about using design found in nature for robotics.
Personally I'm not sure if that's the right way to go, or if we could find better ways to perform these tasks using alternative designs that don't have a natural influence.

Re:Clever

[truthsearch]

So you're saying it should be able to vacuum my floors and wash my windows? I agree!

Re:Clever

[Orne]

So, you're saying that "Intelligent Design" may be better than "Evolution" after all?

(Yes, I had to go there)

Re:Clever

[Maxo-Texas]

In all seriousness,
  if they could somehow make subparts (thin end, thick end, vacuum port segment, spiny segment, rubber covered, magnetic segment, metal detecting segment, extra sensor peg segment) and randomly mix them- they might find different random configurations were more suitable to certain tasks.

GAs based on hardware

[Orne]

Actually, when I was back in college, genetic algorithms were the hot topic in one of our VLSI classes that year. What they did was apply the genetic algorthim process to a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA [wikipedia.org]) chip to solve a computation. An FPGA is sort of like a giant array of ANDs, ORs, and NOTs with a "control array" of flip-flops that allow you to control the routing of the inputs; you can just load in a new sequence and end up with different outputs using the same hardware. The genetic algorithm comes in by randomly generating the control array sequence. You then compare the output with the target output, then blend the successful solutions together until you have the final solution, all without any hardware design involved.

The story goes, some researchers did this to attempt to reproduce a non-linear equation, I think like a Fourier Transform. The plus side was, they were successfully able to demonstrate that the resultant chip configuration was able to provide the expected results. However, after analyzing the actually solution, the researchers found that the chip was actually creating resonance between different parts of the circuit in such a way that there was no direct path between the input and output signal.

The genetic algorithm had created an analog solution in digital hardware by incorporating the electromagnetic losses and field coupling of the FPGA wiring itself; if they had tried to tweak the "solution" by removing portions of the unused pieces of the FPGA circuit, or even using the same control sequence on a different FPGA, the "solution" would not work.

Re:GAs based on hardware

[Sparr0]

The solution to that problem is trivial. Just run each case on more than one independent FPGA and average (or some other function) the results.

Re:GAs based on hardware

[redhat421]

Wow, that's neat. Do you have a link to this with more information? Thanks!

Re:GAs based on hardware

[Jozer99]

A strange coincidence that 90% of the human genome is unused "garbage"? I think not.

Re:GAs based on hardware

[mdielmann]

I read about something similar years ago (determining sound frequency without a clock circuit), but the guy I read about was taking his research in a different direction. Multiple FPGAs testing each option and using the best result from a number of chips, with the results spread across all the chips again. His theory was that this would mitigate the unique elements of each chip. The long-term goal was to make very robust chips that would have minimal solutions for the required tasks, presumably for satel

Re:Clever

[kindbud]

If the designer actually exists, yes it just might.

Re:Clever

[Mouse42]

Possibly, but they're not comparable as evolution designs for survival in particular enviornments, where humans would design for various tasts (window washing for example). You can claim that you're window washing robot is more intelligently designed than what evolution has churned out, but the claim lacks any credebility because there's no evolution-designed window washer to compare it to.

Re:Clever

[ectizen]

because there's no evolution-designed window washer to compare it to

There are evolution-designed window washers.

http://www.jamster.com/jcw/goto/graphics/screensav er/cat-1509434/subcat-2768672 [jamster.com]

I think I'd prefer a human-designed robot...

Re:Clever

[enderak]

Personally I'm not sure if that's the right way to go, or if we could find better ways to perform these tasks using alternative designs that don't have a natural influence.

For robots dedicated to a single task (such as assembly line robots) I would agree, but for a general purpose robot that can adapt to varying conditions and situations, it's hard to argue with hundreds of millions of years worth of evolution.

Re:Clever

[slusich]

I would certainly agree with that if the robotics could be made to truly emulate the natural, but most of the time, it's a poor reflection at best.
Now once we're able to graft a real octopus tentacle on a robot we'll have something!

Re:Clever

[dhasenan]

There are models that walk with tentacles, though.

Here at Stony Brook, there was some research into using small (1-2 inch thick) tentacles as a means of propulsion, with obvious benefits for rough terrain. Again, DARPA or DOD (can't recall which at the moment) took over funding, and the current design features tentacles over six inches thick and a chassis that you could practically ride.

We were thinking of bringing the prototype to I-CON and showing it to Ghastly (of Ghastly's Ghastly Comic). Unfortunately,

Re:Clever

[1u3hr]

Nature has had 4 billion years to perfect its structual designs, I dont see why we should reinvent the wheel.

It's interesting that in 4 billion years, nature (or Whoever) never did invent a wheel (unless it was using us to do so).

Re:Clever

[DrSkwid]

What use half a wheel ?

Anime

[Recovering Hater]

Hey robot designer: You need to cut down on the consumption of the weird anime. You know who you are. And don't even think about driving that thing near my wife you perv!

Re:Anime

[Vyvyan Basterd]

I doubt anyone into anime will wanna use it on anyone old enough to marry.

That reminds me...

[Anonymous Coward]

...when purple discovers some new uses for tentacles [reelfilm.com].

As a pastafarian...

[truthsearch]

As a Pastafarian I'm offended by this immitation of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It's a blatant mockery of all I find sacred. I demand reparations!

Re:As a pastafarian...

[scooter.higher]

But this is no mockery! This is an homage... a show of support from the scientific community that they too have been touched by His Noodly Appendage.

They just wanted to be touched more often :-)

Couldn't have called it a "robotic elephant trunk"

[Anonymous Coward]

We couldn't have called it a "robotic elephant trunk", could we? Never mind that it more resembles an elephant's trunk than a tentacle, noooo. Never mind that TFA also mentioned that resemblance.

Oh no, we had to use the term that will cause 99.9987% of the posts to fixate upon the hentai aspects of this.

Re:Couldn't have called it a "robotic elephant tru

[JeremyALogan]

I'm sorry, but I'm unfamiliar with this "hentai" of which you speak. Does it have something to do with tentacle-overlords?

Re:Couldn't have called it a "robotic elephant tru

[binarybum]

"Also, I'm pretty sure nobody on the team had any idea of the jokes that might be spawned."

    yes quite right, it seems unlikely that a bunch of math and engineer nerds would have any idea whatsoever. I mean it's like if I drew a ven diagram you'd have one circle representing hentai fans and another circle representing robot jocks, and they'd be like almost completely separate.

3rd group

[DrYak]

if I drew a ven diagram you'd have one circle representing hentai fans and another circle representing robot jocks, and they'd be like almost completely separate.

Yes, they will be separated by the vertically oblong group of girlfriendless frutrated slashdotters.

Sorry, bad joke. To early in the morning.

Re:That's even worse.

[Fred_A]

Can you pick a peanut with your "elephant trunk" ?

So stop making silly comparisons.

Just the beginning

[ch-chuck]

It's just a step toward the robotic cthulu.

Re:Just the beginning

[sgant]

Yeah, loved those movies that had Mecha-Cthulhu vs. original Cthulhu...but they're hard to watch because every time you actually see Cthulhu, you lose sanity points.

Re:Just the beginning

[swv3752]

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! Iä! Iä!

There I pronounced it for you.

Re:Just the beginning

[Plunky]

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! Iä! Iä!"

Hm, I wonder if Vim [slashdot.org] has a spell checker for that?

When can I take on spiderman!!

[haplo21112]

I can't wait to get fitted with my backpack and start taking on the the streets of the city. I'll get that Masked web slinger if its the last thing it do.

What's wrong with Yankee nerd refs?

[Rob T Firefly]

Lots of anime' jokes already, but no Doc Ock references. How disappointing. Support American scifi in-jokes!

Re:What's wrong with Yankee nerd refs?

[Jon Luckey]

Lots of anime' jokes already, but no Doc Ock references. How disappointing. Support American scifi in-jokes!

Actually I was thinking that a device with a name like Octarm, Marvel Comics might sue claiming that their trademark Doc Oct was being diluted.

Hey! Its no more of a stretch that their trying to trademark the word Superhero!

Re:What's wrong with Yankee nerd refs?

[swv3752]

Err, #15288016 [slashdot.org] was just before your post, #15288020 [slashdot.org]. Next time, try to have a little patience. :-)

Re:What's wrong with Yankee nerd refs?

[Rob T Firefly]

I disagree. If I had a little less patience, I could have made it in five posts sooner, and not looked like such a loser. :-D

One step closer to the abyss...

[Eric Smith]

"So raise your hand if you think that was a Russian water tentacle."

simple math

[maniac/dev/null]

Tenticle Robot + Tenticle Pr0n = Tenticle Robot Pr0n.

Gross.

Re:simple math

[ettlz]

Tenticle Robot + Tenticle Pr0n = Tenticle Robot Pr0n.

Yes, I've always wondered what the sound of a hundred pencil-jockeys simultaneously hitting deviantART sounded like.

Now I know.

Re:simple math

[Red Flayer]

Must be some kind of fuzzy math you got there. Sorry to disprove you, but:

Robot Tentacle + Tentacle Pr0n = Tentacle (Robot + Pr0n)

Since we all know that Octopi have 8 tentacles, lets go ahead and substitute.

Robot Tentacle + Tentacle Pr0n = 8 (Robot + pr0n)

We can, of course, substitute I for Robot, leaving us with

8 (I + pr0n)

Since that's a capital I, we know it represents an integer, and not an imaginary number. Given that the Romans were into tentacle pr0n, we can assume that's a Roman numeral, and substitute accordingly.

8 (1 + pr0n)

Now, we all know the emoticon 8(1 represents an unhappy glasses-wearing person with a scruffy asymmetrical beard, or an unhappy nerd. So via substitution we have:

Tenticle Robot + Tenticle Pr0n = An unhappy nerd + pr0n

As we all know, this is a logical fallacy, since a nerd with pr0n is never unhappy.

I figured, if you were going to posit that ax + ay = axy, I might as well take the fuzzy math a little farther.

Re:simple math

[RedNovember]

Sorry but you screwed up here:

Tenticle Robot + Tenticle Pr0n = An unhappy nerd + pr0n As we all know, this is a logical fallacy, since a nerd with pr0n is never unhappy.

An unhappy nerd + pr0n = A happy nerd. Therefore Tentacle Robot + Tentacle Pr0n = A happy nerd. Makes sense to me.

Re:simple math

[Darkman, Walkin Dude]

An unhappy nerd + pr0n = A happy nerd. Therefore Tentacle Robot + Tentacle Pr0n = A happy nerd.

Yup, thats slashdot, keeping kleenex in business since aught-three. Can we get a poll to decide if that should be the new motto under the header? Or at least some sort of sponsorship deal for a case mod or something...

I've seen this!

[KefabiMe]

Uh oh... Someone find three (two?) time-travelling uber-dweeby dweebs, a crowbar, and some fake vomit immediately!

I for one...

[Null Nihils]

welcome our robotic tentacle overlords.


... I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist. :(

Doc Ock

[msbmsb]

How many Doctor Octopus wannabes are jumping on couches about this?

Hmmm....

[flyweight_of_fury]

Is that a Robotic tentacle [newscientisttech.com] or toothpase [aquafresh.com] ?

...I smell a lawsuit coming...

Re:Hmmm....

[mobby_6kl]

>..I smell a lawsuit coming...

Obviously, you're not applying enough Aquafresh.

Re:Hmmm....

[1u3hr]

Is that a Robotic tentacle

... or is it just glad to see me?

Day of the Robotic Tentacle

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Completely OT:

I remember going to a big dinner for a family reunion. I told them all about this game I was playing, 'Day of the Tentacle'. It wasn't until I noticed that everybody had stopped eating and all eyes were on me that I realized I had said 'testicle'.

We'll know that the day of A.I. has arrived...

[Nom du Keyboard]

...when it reaches out and starts tapping on its own programming keyboard. Be afraid. Be very afraid!

Seven more of those

[ettlz]

and you've got a God-damned Sentinel. Destroy the bloody thing!

The newest treatment

[robertjw]

This is just the latest treatment for erectile dysfunction.

Quick!

[Dark Paladin]

Hide your Japanese schoolgirls! Don't let it near the convention!

Oh, good lord - there's a 300 pound man dressed in a Sailor Moon uniform! Run, you fool! Runnnnn!

As I remarked to my wife the other day while we were watching "Sci-Fi Channel", can we ever invent a robot that Hollywood doesn't depict as trying to kill us?

Re:Quick!

[swv3752]

Ohh, I don't think these tentacles will be trying to kill girls.

I surely didn't need the image of a large fat man in a skirt being "worked over" by tentacles either.

Re:Quick!

[Blakey Rat]

As I remarked to my wife the other day while we were watching "Sci-Fi Channel", can we ever invent a robot that Hollywood doesn't depict as trying to kill us?

Yes. Both "Batteries Not Included" and "Short Circuit."

"Batteries Not Included" had the bonus that they were *alien* robots, and they still didn't try to kill us.

Re:Quick!

[Grey_14]

Wasn't Johnny #5 a military robot? as in, designed to kill SOMEONE if not all of mankind? It was just a fluke that he became self aware and went the other way (Kind of unlikely really :P)

Re:Quick!

[zippthorne]

Yes it was a war-bot. In fact, since it was designed to kill but didn't, one could say that it's just another case of hollywood depicting robots inevitably malfunctioning yet again.

Re:Quick!

[Jeremi]

As I remarked to my wife the other day while we were watching "Sci-Fi Channel", can we ever invent a robot that Hollywood doesn't depict as trying to kill us?

Probably not, but we can at least make it challenging for them: I for one would pay good money to see "Day of the Scoobas [irobot.com]"...

Did anyone else see this and think...

[utexaspunk]

...Aquafresh? Surely the coloring they chose is not coincidental...

Re:Did anyone else see this and think...

[John Meacham]

I was wondering about that too. My best therories as to the wacky coloring are that either someone found an old pillow case to make the covering out of, or they were studing the "twist" of the arm with computer vision, so having the multi-colored stripes along the length of the tentacle let the computer (or even the people) easily see how much the tentacle was being torqued and twisted around its axis. Of course, this is just speculation. I'll check out their papers if available to see if there is any insig

At last..........

[hyperbotfly]

My HENTA1 fantasies can come true!!!1!1111!!!1

Greetings space arm

[From A Far Away Land]

I wonder if this is an attempt by the USA to thwart Canada's plan to take over space one arm at a time? As the designer of the Canadarm in the space shuttles and Canadarm II on the ISS, I wonder if my country has a reaction to being felt up by an American robotic tentacle?

Source?

[sootman]

I can almost feel it fastening around my ankle right now.

Ankle? You must read different comics than I do.

Re:Source?

[cfuse]

Ankle? You must read different comics than I do.

I'm not wearing a sailor suit and piloting a huge robot either, if we must concentrate on our differences.

Video = Slashdotted

[TubeSteak]

However, I found some other .edu website with video clips & info that are a bit more technical.

http://www.ece.msstate.edu.nyud.net:8090/~bjones/p rofessional/research/OCTOR/octor.htm [nyud.net]

The clips are at the bottom, but don't ignore the videos linked in the "Journal publications" section.

Coralized so as not to /. a second university.

Video is back online

[TubeSteak]

It's 55MB, so the Coral network won't save them.
Not direct linked on purpose

-http://www.ces.clemson.edu/~ianw/icra06_vid.mpeg

Can it...

[HoosierPeschke]

... be powered by beer [slashdot.org]?

I for one...

[jpellino]

... oh, you know the rest.

They need to get out more

[nizo]

He believes the robotic tentacles could perhaps one day be used to create a robotic octopus or even a backpack with extra limbs.

They need to learn from Spiderman; this just can't turn out good.

Uh oh

[Conspiracy_Of_Doves]

Schoolgirls all over Japan just felt an icy chill of fear whip through them.

Fear?

[Vorondil28]

Fear? Initially, yes, but we all know the the first and only rule to tentacle pr0n:

If she survived, she liked it.

;-)

Re:Uh oh

[MasterPoof]

I heard a voice as if thousand of Japanese schoolgirls everywhere cried out in ecstasy... (well, you know the rest)

Acronyms...

[jawschlech]

They were developed through a project called OCTOR (sOft robotiC manipulaTORs)

MOSCREND (soMe Of theSe aCRonyms arE gettiNg riDiculous) is all I have to say.

HELAD (wHEn wiLl the mAdness enD)?

Brave New World

[Wellington Grey]

One can only imagine the affect this will have on the rate of recruitment of Japonese school girls into the armed forces.

-Grey [wellingtongrey.net]

Anyone else watch Teletubbies?

[Gax]

Seriously. It's Noo-Noo [tripod.com] without the casing.

Scientists, eh? They'll be getting ideas from Postman Pat.

Octor?

[AyeRoxor!]

"OCTOR (sOft robotiC manipulaTORs)"

SHENANIGANS.

Doc Ock

[euxneks]

From TFA: ...believes the robotic tentacles could perhaps one day be used to create a robotic octopus or even a backpack with extra limbs....

Is anybody even reading this? Where are the Doc Ock references? Entertain me dammit!

Doesn't look like a tentacle at all...

[ConceptJunkie]

They should have made it green and slimy with suckers running down the bottom.

But instead, it looks like the robot is squirting out an industrial-sized amount of Aquafresh toothpaste.

Comics Come to Life

[AnotherBrian]

Rape Rape Revolution [ghastlycomic.com]

pork barrel...

[eagl]

So, who do I have to bribe to get my robotic godzilla darpa project funded???!!!!!111one

Quick someone get Spiderman

[g0bshiTe]

FTFA

He believes the robotic tentacles could perhaps one day be used to create a robotic octopus or even a backpack with extra limbs.

I think Doc Oc will soon pay us a visit.

I for one welcome our new multi-apendage tentacle overlords.

Re:Kludgiest acronym ever?

[ettlz]

Digital Intelligent Logical Dextrous Operator. Oh, I love this game!

Re:Kludgiest acronym ever?

[PateraSilk]

created by the Kludgiest Random Acronym Producer, probably.

Re:Let's just hope

[Mistshadow2k4]

With all the "geekier than thou" claims on /., it's kind of sad to see that no one else seems to be getting that joke.

Re:tomorrow: Doctor Octopus

[John Meacham]

Just like the crazy idea of creating a protocol to allow networking a bunch of computers at separate locations together they funded a while ago. I am sure many didn't see the point then either. As we learn to swim the deep-end doesn't seem so deep any more. Plus, selection bias, DARPA funds a huge number of projects, only the ones with a certain type of appeal end up on the front page of slashdot. It's like the news, if you thought it was representative of a random sampling of society you would think the wo

Three words: Search and rescue

[technoextreme]

Okay, seriously: what is the point in this? I mean, it's cool and all, and it probably demonstrates some serious technology, but where would it honestly be used? I don't think a lot of octopuses have had their tentacles amputated lately.

Hehehe... I've been expecting this since I went to the Robotics confrence in Boston last year. A lot of search and rescue operations can only be done with a camera on a stick. The other alternatives are simply not viable. Unfortunately, a camera on a stick is usually hard