De-weaponizing Robotic Killer Spiderbots

doom-razor

I just got a Combat Creatures Attacknid Doom Razor robot. It’s your basic everyday killer spider bot, controlled by a 2.4GHz handheld remote, capable of shooting foam rubber projectiles at “enemies.”  It retails for $79.99.  It requires 4 AA batteries for the spider, and 2 AAs for the remote. Since I have sworn to defend mankind against the eventual rise of the killer bots, I determined to convert my killer spiderbot to more peaceful uses.  Removing the snap-off weapons platform

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from the bot leaves you with a payload bay of approximately 4.5 by 2.5 inches;

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large enough for an Arduino,

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a Raspberry Pi,

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a BeagleBone Black,

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or one of the smaller smartphones.

My Galaxy Pocket phone fit perfectly on the payload bay, so I affixed it to the spider with some earthquake putty. I then fired up Ustream on the phone, and turned the killer spider bot into a search/exploration bot, complete with live video feed.

Imagine what you can do with a better camera, or a sensor platform? At least there’s one robot that won’t be joining the uprising against humanity.

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Patrick is an editor at MAKE. He is the author of the books Environmental Monitoring with Arduino, Atmospheric Monitoring with Arduino, The Science of Battlestar Galactica, and This is What You Just Put In Your Mouth. He has sworn to defend mankind against the eventual rise of the killer bots.

View more articles by Patrick Di Justo
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