Creating a robocop

[dstebbins]

The Robocop trilogy is considered science fiction, even by today's technological standards, but hot because of the hardware. You could have a webcam for his eyes, a speaker for his mouth, a pair of microphones for the ears, and some touch-sensitive pads all over the body, leaving only the sense of smell as a potential problem, but can easily be circumvented by having chemical detectors (for example, instead of saying "I smell crack" Robocop can detect trace elements of cocaine on the scene, effectively elminating the need for drug dogs).

 

However, it is not the hardware, but the software that makes Robocop merely science fiction; however who said he had to go off artificial intelligence? Why not have the robot RCed by a police officer miles away, in the safety of his headquarters, operating him much like one would a video game, controlling the robot entirely via sattelite?

 

The cops could train to do this on a real computer game (with experienced cops playing the criminals, since they have been around the block a time or two, and know what criminals usually do to resist arrest), with a half-second delay in the controls reaction to mimmick the actual sattelite delay, and if just one civilian is killed or injured in the resulting shootoff, it's game over.

 

At this point, the only potential problem I can foresee is the cost (honestly, we're building and maintaning a fully-mobile robot with programming to respond to RC commands), but if we can overcome that (for example, the cities may buy these things off computer companies through eminent domain), we can effectively have the intellect and improvisational abilities of humans with the physical lethality and indestructability of Robocop.

 

So, are you with me?

Edited June 4, 2009 by dstebbins

[CaptainPanic]

Where I live, cops usually write parking tickets and tell me to get off my bike when I'm in a part of the city that's for pedestrians only.

 

I think what you describe is better for war, not for patrolling in a peaceful city. And war-robots are being developed right now.

 

In other words: Robocop shoots more bullets in 5 minutes of a movie than a normal cop in all his/her career.

 

I prefer a friendly face on the streets. Being a cop is not very dangerous (over here). It's better to automate (and spend money) on the really dangerous jobs, such as road/construction workers and window cleaners.

 

I'm not with you.

[Sisyphus]

Most cops never fire a gun at all, in fact. The exception being SWAT teams, cops specifically trained for the situations when they need to act like soldiers. I'm pretty sure they already employ RC robots in some cases, although it seems robots that are as aware, quick, agile, or adaptable as a human simply don't exist yet, and certainly not for lack of trying. Robots in war are being developed more and more (the most prominent example being flying drones), but AFAIK something that could take the the place of boots on the ground isn't yet on the horizon. I could be wrong, though.

[Mokele]

Yes, but remember that many of us live in a country with a higher per-capita murder rate than Ethiopia.

 

The use of remote-operated machines is possible, but there are serious technological hurdles - no machine yet is simultaneously as fast, as nimble, as manuverable, as dextrous and as strong as an average human. Agility and manuverability in complex environments are particularly difficult robotic tasks.

[dstebbins]

Yes, but remember that many of us live in a country with a higher per-capita murder rate than Ethiopia.

 

Thank you. I was going to say that, for a peaceful city, these robots aren't necessary, but what about crime-infested places like LA or Chicago?

[padren]

Thank you. I was going to say that, for a peaceful city, these robots aren't necessary, but what about crime-infested places like LA or Chicago?

 

I am pretty sure crime is a social issue, not so much an enforcement one... at least in first world nations - but in poorer countries they just need regular cops and/or to clean up corruption, cyborgs are pretty much beside the point.

[dstebbins]

I am pretty sure crime is a social issue, not so much an enforcement one... at least in first world nations - but in poorer countries they just need regular cops and/or to clean up corruption, cyborgs are pretty much beside the point.

 

What about when they resist arrest? Some professional criminals are just as skilled in combat, have the same numbers, and have the samea aresenal of weaponry as police do; the only advantage cops can have at that point is the privilage of not being hit, but do you think the criminals are going to give a rat's ass about that? I doubt it. At that point, the best thing to do is get rid of the flesh and blood weakness.

 

Also, on this "social issue," there's a good chance that crime is so high in these places because the punishment is so lenient. The only crime that is universally worthy of the death penalty nowadays is treason. Even if you kill hundreds of people, you'll only get as many lives in prison as you've taken, which means if you kill one person, you might as well kill them all.

 

Abolish the 8th Amendment, and crime will go down because people will be intimidated into obeying the law. Imagine, for theft, you get whipped 'n' lashed for an amount of time proportional to the value of the item you stole (a can of soda is worth 3 lashes, one for each quarder for the vending machine, and a $15k car is worth 60,000 lashes, and if you die from it, too bad; you shouldn't have stolen that car). For homicide, you're frayed, and for rape, you're locked up for life, not in a prison cell, but (playing off the sexual nature of rape) in one of those BDSM cages, which a BDSM gag in your mouth so you can't scream out and irritate the wardens.

Edited June 7, 2009 by dstebbins

[Sisyphus]

Methinks you've watched too many movies? Most cops killed in the line of duty in the U.S. die in traffic accidents. Also, your bloodlust and implied separation into "us" and "them" is very unnerving. You little [Godwin] you.

[dstebbins]

Methinks you've watched too many movies? Most cops killed in the line of duty in the U.S. die in traffic accidents. Also, your bloodlust and implied separation into "us" and "them" is very unnerving. You little [Godwin] you.

 

Okay, can you try using proper English?

[iNow]

Okay, can you try using proper English?

 

Your reality is skewed and you're sounding a bit like Hitler did with the Jews. Easier to understand now?

[Sisyphus]

Well, that's rather more strongly worded than I was going for. Still, though, there's no such thing as "the criminals," as if there were groups of comic book henchmen out there somewhere.

[dstebbins]

Your reality is skewed and you're sounding a bit like Hitler did with the Jews. Easier to understand now?

 

How am I like a Nazi? Hitler wanted to make new crimes; notably, he wanted to simply making the state of being a Jew a crime.

 

I'm merely suggesting we increase the punishments for already established crimes.

 

There IS a difference.

[iNow]

It wasn't my point. I was just the translator.

 

I do, however, tend to agree with Sisyphus that you have a rather extreme view of crime and punishment. These are very often human beings in difficult life situations. It's not always about such clear ideas of "good and evil," but more appropriately differing shades of gray.

[John Cuthber]

To get back to something like the original question. Bad guys would have no qualms about shooting these "robocops" on sight. The crime would only be property damage even if they were caught, and most of the time they wouldn't get caught. Then you would have to spend resources repairing the robots.

I think that there are better ways of spending the tax payer's ££$$.

[Kyrisch]

What about when they resist arrest? Some professional criminals are just as skilled in combat, have the same numbers, and have the samea aresenal of weaponry as police do; the only advantage cops can have at that point is the privilage of not being hit, but do you think the criminals are going to give a rat's ass about that? I doubt it. At that point, the best thing to do is get rid of the flesh and blood weakness.

 

Also, on this "social issue," there's a good chance that crime is so high in these places because the punishment is so lenient. The only crime that is universally worthy of the death penalty nowadays is treason. Even if you kill hundreds of people, you'll only get as many lives in prison as you've taken, which means if you kill one person, you might as well kill them all.

 

Abolish the 8th Amendment, and crime will go down because people will be intimidated into obeying the law. Imagine, for theft, you get whipped 'n' lashed for an amount of time proportional to the value of the item you stole (a can of soda is worth 3 lashes, one for each quarder for the vending machine, and a $15k car is worth 60,000 lashes, and if you die from it, too bad; you shouldn't have stolen that car). For homicide, you're frayed, and for rape, you're locked up for life, not in a prison cell, but (playing off the sexual nature of rape) in one of those BDSM cages, which a BDSM gag in your mouth so you can't scream out and irritate the wardens.

 

I posted this elsewhere in the forum as well, but it has resonance here too. I'd like to point out that the justice system is not punishment, but rather deterrent. Prison and other forms of detention should not be viewed as revenge; they are meant to remove a dangerous individual from society and possibly rehabilitate them. In fact, with current advances in psychology (due largely to the reductionistic and materialistic view in current science), it can be argued that all forms of vengeful punishment are immoral due to the lack of vested responsibility in an individual for their actions. See "Does Free Will Exist?".

[Mokele]

I agree with Sisyphus - you've watched WAY too many movies.

 

Have you seen the homicide rates for the worst cities in the US? None of them even had 50 murders in all of 2007, and that's in cities with populations of nearly 1 million. New York city homicides in 2007? 6. That's it. 6.

 

You're trying to solve a problem that simply doesn't exist.

[Xittenn]

The post says Robocop but it seems the main topic is robot cops! Robocop was half human............a cyborg. Development of armored robotic suits with the ability to increase a soldier or cops running speed, jumping/falling height and so on is well under development. I'm still waiting for the mini COIL add on to come along and shoot down the bullets long before they achieve impact................... I really like the mod assault riffles that fire around corners, do cops in LA carry anything similar?????

 

COIL as in Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser not the electromagnetic projectile propelling pistol...........................

Edited June 7, 2009 by buttacup

[Sisyphus]

I agree with Sisyphus - you've watched WAY too many movies.

 

Have you seen the homicide rates for the worst cities in the US? None of them even had 50 murders in all of 2007, and that's in cities with populations of nearly 1 million. New York city homicides in 2007? 6. That's it. 6.

 

You're trying to solve a problem that simply doesn't exist.

 

Actually I think those statistics are per 100000. As in 6 homicides per 100000 people in NYC in 2007, for a total of 494. And of those, fewer than a hundred were cases where the victim didn't know the killer. In a city of 8.5 million. In Manhattan there were fewer homicides than there were episodes of Law and Order. So yeah, I'd hardly call it a Robocop-esque pseudo war zone.

[Xittenn]

Robotic meter maids will probably be the next photo radar...................

 

.....................those will be some funny looking arguments.......................but it's three inches....................

[Mokele]

Ahh, my bad. The source I pulled them from wasn't clear about whether the numbers were per 100,000 or had already been multiplied by population.

 

Still, those numbers pale in comparison to car crash deaths, and for the same year (2007), there were 57 law enforcement officers killed (non-accidentally). Considering the constant danger of their field, that's not particularly bad.