Masdar Smart City and Robotics - GineersNow Engineering Magazine Masdar: The Future of Sustainable City in Abu Dhab | Page 63

#2
What about the machines in our offices,
and our cell phones? Well, they could
attack us but their options are limited. They
could start annoying us with ringtones and
irritating noises. Our desks would start to
rattle because all our phones would be set
on vibrate. In the end, the only physical
damage our cell phones could do is if it falls
off the desk (because of the simultaneous
vibrations) and fall on our toes. Ouch!
#3
Most modern cars have computers now, so
they’ll join the revolution. This would be way
more dangerous, but mostly to their drivers
and passengers. But there are options to fight
back, drivers could still control the steering
wheel, which has a direct mechanical link
to the wheels. The driver could also pull the
parking brake.
#4
What about industrial robots found in
factories. Most factory robots are bolted
to the floor, so they won’t be able to hurt
humans if they suddenly fled the area. All
they can actually do is assemble things.
#5
Military Robots would be the most dangerous
of them all, but there are very few of them in
the world. Most of them are kept in storage
lockers, and if there were machine-gun-
armed military robots on the loose, they can
be easily subdued by a couple of military
men.
Military Drones on the other hand is the
closest to the terminator description, and
they are dangerous. However, they easily run
out of fuel and missiles.
Photo by Corbett Report
With all these scenarios, there is still a part of
the story that gives us hope. We still have our
nuclear weapons to counter their attacks. In
addition, nuclear explosions cause powerful
electromagnetic pulses (EMP’s). EMP’s
overload and destroy sensitive electronic
circuits which in turn could destroy the
robots. A few more strikes from us and the
human race will be able to eradicate them
completely.
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
63