I am quite sure that anyone with a T-1000 (of Terminator 2 fame) as a bodyguard would feel really, really safe – after all, there just isn’t any other robot out there that is as bad-ass as one of these – unless you happen to be a T-800 with the script written in favor of the older model. Well, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is currently developing a different kind of robot for disaster response which has been specially designed to move around in the manner of an ape.
The RoboSimian remains headless, but it will boast of seven cameras that double up as its “eyes”, while a quartet of identical limbs would enable it to double up as either arm or leg – depending on the situation, that is. When all of them work in tandem with one another, the RoboSimian can agilely make its way through rough terrain and rubble, in addition to picking up and manipulating objects. Should the surface be deemed to be smooth enough, it will be able to make use of the integrated wheels to coast around.
Basically, the RoboSimian is meant to function as an emergency response robot, targeting action in situations like a nuclear disaster. After all, robots do not end up getting tired or fatigued, and neither will they get radiation poisoning.
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