Robotic ball that chases burglars

Hrmm... Gore, how's this to keeping you out of server rooms you ain't supposed to be in?? :D Talk about physical security!

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Source: Telegraph News UK

A large black ball, originally designed by Swedish scientists for use on Mars, could be the latest weapon in the war against burglars.

The device, developed at the University of Uppsala, acts as a high-tech security guard capable of detecting an intruder thanks to either radar or infra-red sensors. Once alerted, it can summon help, sound an alarm or pursue the intruders, taking pictures.

It is capable of travelling at 20mph, somewhat faster than a human being. Even worse for intruders, the robot ball can still give chase over mud, snow and water.

The ball relies on an internal pendulum to control its motion which, when shifted, changes the centre of gravity and starts it rolling.

Other devices, including microphones, cameras, heat sensors and smoke detectors are mounted on its central axis.

Nils Hulth, co-founder of Rotundus, the company which is marketing the ball, said it was especially well-suited to patrolling perimeter fences.

The prototype, just under 2ft in diameter, weighs about 10lb. "It is extremely light, which is why it moves so fast," Mr Hulth said.

While the current version can only raise the alarm, it could be adapted to corner an intruder if the customer wanted, Mr Hulth added.

Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP who is campaigning to give people greater rights to defend their property against burglars, thought the robot ball could have potential: "It would be interesting to see whether the ball had used grossly disproportionate force or whether it would be deemed reasonable.

"But I would much rather a burglar be terrified of householders and shopkeepers, rather than some sort of futuristic device."

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IM bretty sure getting hit in the ankels by a 10lb ball at 20mph would deter me from trying to break into places...

The doggon thing would definitely not be a kick-ball. Could you imagine if someone thought otherwise? The foot pursuit would be rather short with the crook hobbling along with a broken foot. (Although Gore might be able to use his Bass Guitar as a 3 Wood and launch the bugger out about 250yds.)

Anyway back on track, it’s a great idea. So equip it with a motion detector and pepper spray/red dye combo and the crook will be easily found (make sure your pets go home with you before turning the thang on!)

It would need some kind of defense or offense otherwise it would be very easy to stop this oversized bowling ball simply by dropping a desk or shelf on it...or even throwing a blanket on it...or locking it in a room.

Now...if it was equipped with police caliber tazers capable of shooting charges 20 or more feet, and gave out 10,000 volts if you touched it, or anything else that wasn't grounded...now that would be a deterent. :D

Now you'll see people stealing those instead, haha...infrared or thermal cameras? Expensive deterrents like that will easily be stolen and modified accordingly. Not to mention, what defines a crook versus a cleaning person or someone who stayed late? You know how end users will take to this, rofl...

Good concept..one method I just thought of that's a lot easier than voltage or spray (which are easily worked past)...sound. Get a few grand decibels going and that'll cause anyone to not go near it.

I had to giggle when reading this - and I kept picturing that wonderful new hi tech gadget called the baseball bat. Amazingly enough, they can't seem to invent technology that's immune to it. I wonder what one in the aluminum variety would do to that 10lb ball...

Aye, Matey...speakin' o' bats...more than once I've thought of takin' a good ole' Louisville slugger to this ere' computer...unfortunately...the only bats around my house are either of the flying kind or the plastic kind my kids use ! :D

Uhm, I can think of one way to easily defeat it.

Climb some stairs.

yea, it has ALOT of weaknesses. but it would still be fun to have for say a jail yard or something at night. Big open area. dark.

I dunno. I suppose I wouldn't mind one for my backyard, to chase off the pets of neighbors who refuse to control them... Is it weatherproof?

I think if it had some type of projectile it would be much better. that would stop people running up stairs lol.

It actually has some potential if it started atop some stairs.. It could then drop on the intruder's head... It's sort of cool in strange way. I can think of a better alternative.. It's called a pissed off dog.

I know I'm from a backward place, but we already have something like this! It's called 'dog' and works on ambulances and fire-engines too!

Seriously, I don't think you'll be hearing much of this: "Oh, quick, get out! RUN! RUN! A black ball will be here any minute! The horror! The horror!"

Now, replace 'ball' with 'dobermann'...

the whole thing about balls is that there rolling resistance is quite low, and I dunno what material this is using so the co-eff of friction could be pretty haigh or at the other extreme pretty low. cos if you do the maths bringing a 10lb ball to a halt at 20mph is quite a bit off force, coupled with the roundness its a wounder this thing doesnt cause more property damage than the burglur, then your probably not covered by the insurance becuase most companys have to pay extorsonate rates for robotic equipment insurance.

Id far sooner club the burglar I think that unleash some expensive toy, if i were the burgluer id get it to chase me into the back of my van and then yoink the robot as well.

i2c

stuff security...

think robot warz..

"Battle of the Balls" .. put a bunch of these on a football field, a few obstructions, a suitable weapon (paint ball gun of course) and a web camera mounted inside and a wlan link back to a users PC and let the battle begin..

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Id far sooner club the burglar I think that unleash some expensive toy

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Or...better yet...make 200,000 of them, program them to find Bin Laden, drop them in the Middle East , and sit back and watch the bowling match begin ! :D

" Today on Fox Sports: Bowling for Bin Laden, this week the site of the match will start in Syria...place your bets on which ball finds Bin Laden and detonates on target ! " :D

/somewhat off-topic

This is kind of eerie ...............back in the late 1960's, early 1970's we had this cult TV series called "The Prisoner" (Patrick McGoohan)..............the perimeter of this prison (Port Merion IRL) was guarded by giant demented beachballs...............30 years later................ :eek:

Aluminium bats?..................aren't baseball bats supposed to be made of hickory?...............I seem to recall that my softball bat was made of ash, and my cricket bat is certainly willow.

:D

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nihil...I think I saw that movie...or something like it...every once in awhile I get a kick out of those old low budget thrillers ( eg. Attack of the Killer Tomatos ) when you're in the mood for something off-the-wall.

"Aluminium bats?"...yeh...sorry to say but wood's being slowly cast aside...even in hockey they have some aluminium sticks. :( choppin' down an aluminium tree just doesn't have the same traditional feeling...what's next...aluminium Christmas trees !? :D

Aye Nihil, aluminum. I wouldn't want to ruin my good Louisville Slugger on said ball were it metal - they're scarce these days.

Oh yes, it's sad but true, we are doomed to make fictional props into reality - such is our technological bent.

I think Undertaker and Egal are both onto something here - robot wars, bowling for Ben Laden, let the wagers commence! (bet the little weasel wouldn't last 2 days with that many chukker balls rollin round - my ankles have sympathy pains.)

Speaking of bowling, think how much you game would improve with a modified one of these! :D

I used to have an earlier version of one of these things - only it was pink, made of rubber, alot smaller, and attached to a paddle via an elastic string. No matter how hard I used to beat the crap out of this ball, it would ricochet back and leave welts on my forehead. :eek:
Seriously though. cool idea. Just keep it the hell away from me. :D

Talk about a tool to teach the kids to respect and mind the teacher in school, bus, and even home. "I said sit down and dont move. I'm telling you I will switch the "Ball" on and then there goes your outside playtime!" After all they did "ban" true disipline now days.

"Robo Ball Deathmatch 2005"

hmm.... deathmatch pc gaming meets Americas most wanted.. load these suckers with a .357 or a crossbow... and you score on stealth and the hit...

Other critters you might add to your security force:

An armed robot?

http://www.nosc.mil/robots/land/robart/spie96.html (See Fig 7. Multi-barreled Gatling Gun!!)


A force field?

http://www.defense-update.com/products/l/LPIC.htm

A phaser?

http://www.thememoryhole.org/mil/wea...p_contract.htm
(By the way, sometimes this link goes down. Maybe someone doesn't like them?)

A system known in polite circles as "slippery snot" (one you see it, you will know!!)

http://www.joshrubin.com/coolhunting...ty_denial.html

Yanno Gandalf, until I went to the link I had in mind the Navy's Phalanx close in weapons system for your first bot - aka 'R2D2', 'Sea-whiz', and 'the fartmaker' (for what it sounds like when it fires), ciws is that very same radar-guided high speed gatlin gun you mentioned. It's been around forever or so now, and it's most effective. I wonder if we put one of those puppies on wheels... At 3k rounds per minute anything bigger than an earthworm would be instantly vaporized.

Read more about CIWS here:
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/.../wep-phal.html

Now I am a pretty big guy at 6'6", I also consider myself pretty agile and physically able.

So what I'm siting here wondering is how a 10 pound ball rolling at somebody is going to deter anything. They said it works by pendulum action, which basically translates into "this thing will move, but not like its been launched out of a cannon". The simple deterent would be to step out of the way and detain the damned thing!

Now maybe if they had a 500 pound version that looked like a mace and rolled 50 MPH they'd be in the game... :D

Oh man - when I read through this thread - I just kept thinking of the "PHANTASM" movies - anyone who saw those movies remember the flying spheres (I hestitate to use "flying balls") in the movies. I think they were powered by the captured souls by the "Tall Man." I wonder if me brain is up to finding out more...

Ping! Found 'em - careful there is a gorey animated pic at the bottom of the page:

http://www.phantasm.com/hpages/SphereFAQ.html

Now THAT would be a great defensive measure - you would just have to get rid of the whole undead/demonic thing.

Does anyone remember Dr Who? (It's unlikely you would unless you're from the uk). If you do, do you remember the Daleks? They couldn't get up stairs, so every time Dr Who encountered them, he'd attempt to run up a flight. One time they developed the ability to float up the stairs...

lol, this ball just reminds me so much of loads of different old sci-fi tv shows...amazing.

ac

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Does anyone remember Dr Who? (It's unlikely you would unless you're from the uk).

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that is why my custom title is "The Doctor" and yes I live in the outer suburbs of Londinium, in the village of Queensland, Aus-bloody-tralia..

those b grade sci-fi movies were a great educater.. and dr who .. I want that bloody sonic screwdriver..

They always show reruns of Dr. Who in Canada, and of Carnation Street, comedies, sit-coms, etc...we get alot of British programming on our specialty channels and PBS ( which also airs the BBC News )...I assume most of the U.S. within range of Canadian channels pick them up too.