Knife Wielding Killer Robots In Action (Video)

[Frank Chloupek]

YouTube video posted by Dan Ivers (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=danivers) showing FANUC robots working on the production of F-150 gas tanks.

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Neat clip of a production line in action.

[Brad Kenney]

I guess you must have been living under a rock (or have thrown yourself off a bridge) to not have heard about the controversy over GM's 100,000 mile warranty commercial for this year's Superbowl, in which a distraught assembly robot takes the plunge off a bridge after accidentally dropping a bolt onto the auto plant floor.

In a telling sign of the times, GM actually went through the time and expense of editing the commercial to remove the "robot dream suicide sequence" (wow, I never thought I would type those words) in the interest of not offending possibly suicidal people. Volkswagen also yanked a "suicide-themed" ad to placate the same anti-suicide (is anyone PRO-suicide?) advocacy groups.

Hopefully the absurdity of the situation gave these folks a much-needed laugh.

Here's the original version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQKk3PI-DW8

And the VW ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpUGukfZnzw

[industrialuser]

A more telling sign of the times is the fact that GM thought the idea of a suicidal robot was a good one in the first place. It's yet one more dumb move on top of the many less-than-brilliant moves the company has made to get intself into this mess it is in. What were they thinking?!! The commercial is particularly cold given the huge numbers of people GM has laid off or bought off lately to thin its ranks.

However, the first video is regarding a Ford supplier, not GM, and I don't think anyone is suggesting all robots be banned. Robots can serve a useful purpose, doing things that humans can't do or shouldn't do, perhaps, for safety purposes. They are to augment human talent, not replace it.

[Brad Kenney]

Yeah, it was a bad Super Bowl ad all around -- from a symbolic aspect, the only thing that could have made it worse was if Detroit would have been one of the teams playing in the game.

Or maybe if they'd have had three big robots jumping off the bridge together?