Image: oogoody2000/Flickr
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The Hummingbird quadrotor is equipped with a monocular camera and circular target so that a team of similar robots can fly in formation for collaborative exploration or transportation of a large object. Image: Justin Thomas/GRASP
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Image: Justin Thomas/GRASP
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At this point, the most common reaction to nano-quadrotors is more along the lines of, “Hey check out this video, Cool!” The question is, would GRASP’s quadrotors ever wander into the category of killer robots? While it’s possible, the prevailing opinion is that it’s not the intention.“People are afraid of robots being armed with weapons and having the autonomous ability to shoot. I don’t think that will happen,” Thomas said, “We don’t want these robots weaponized.”But Lin noted that it’s not beyond the realm of possibility. “These quadrotors can have strike and lethal capabilities, and can be weaponized if they can carry the payload,” he said. Not necessarily a sub-machine gun as in this fake viral video of a machine gun-toting drone, “but something smaller, or biological weapons like ricin.”“These quadrotors can have strike and lethal capabilities, and can be weaponized if they can carry the payload."
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