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Self-Destructing Robot Carnage at the Antimov Competition

by Warren Riddle on October 21, 2010 at 09:50 AM

brunner's robots on fire
Boulder, Colorado carries a reputation as an idyllic college town where free spirits and outdoor enthusiasts whimsically cavort among sun-drenched mountains. The town's dreadlocked preppy-hippies must have cowered in fear, though, when suicidal robots overran the pristine community during the recent Antimov competition.

Sponsored by SparkFun Electronics, the Antimov contest aims to disprove the third law of Isaac Asimov's 'Three Laws of Robotics.' The law dictates that "a robot must protect its own existence," but the Antimov participants clearly demonstrated that robots possess impressive self-flagellation and self-immolation capabilities. Several of the self-destructive 'bots were captured on camera, and the footage includes the fiery demise of a robo-waiter and the Goldberg-esque annihilation of an unfortunate LEGO-bot. Robotophile Dennis Brunner and his admirable brood (13-year-old Brian and 11-year-old Rebecca) reportedly won both the live contest and the video entry competition, both of which you can watch after the break.

The event is scheduled to return next year, so hopefully more contestants will follow the innovative lead of the Brunner clan. It's definitely enjoyable to watch Earth's future overlords destroy themselves -- particularly since the bots are already ignoring those first two pesky Asimov laws.


Tags: antimov, Boulder Colorado, BoulderColorado, brian brunner, BrianBrunner, colorado, dennis brunner, DennisBrunner, isaac asimov, IsaacAsimov, rebecca brunner, RebeccaBrunner, robots, SparkFun Electronics, SparkfunElectronics, three laws of robotics, ThreeLawsOfRobotics, top

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