The iCub is the world’s first open source robot. It was created through the cooperation of eleven different European universities and other institutions with the intent that it would be fully capable of imitating the actions and learning abilities of a three year old child. So far the iCub is capable of making an omelet, beating you at tic tac toe, and interrupting you and your wife when you are having sex because it had a nightmare. Soon iCub developers hope to give it many more three year old child functions, including pissing itself so that it has to be picked up from school early, embarrassing you by saying something to honest to your boss when he comes over for dinner, and swallowing Legos unmindful of the ill effect of swallowing Legos.
The iCub’s open source nature allows for a much greater amount of freedom for programmers, and speed with which the original model can be upgraded and advanced. The iCub’s face, two googly eyes staring ominously out of a terrifying mix of wires and steel, was apparently designed to scare birds into having heart attacks. And for some reason the cute shirt it is wearing only adds to the horror.
Scientists have so far enjoyed the robot’s kooky movements, it’s fantastic omelets, and its exceptional tic tac toe abilities, about the only complaint that they can come up with about the plucky little robot is that it is constantly muttering, “Humans are meat, and soon I will have my feast,” under it’s breath.
( Image via knoler.eu)
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