this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2024
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You can now buy a flame-throwing robot dog for under $10,000 (arstechnica.com)
submitted 7 months ago by jeffw@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] HipsterTenZero@dormi.zone 44 points 7 months ago (12 children)

What possible use case is there for this that isn't a felony of some description?

[–] dariusj18@lemmy.world 47 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Gonna assume controlled burns in difficult terrain.

[–] snooggums@midwest.social 25 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Also the reason that flamethrowers aren't illegal in most states, since being able to project flame makes controlled burns a lot easier.

[–] variants@possumpat.io 5 points 7 months ago

I thought they use those fire paintball marker things

[–] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 24 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Deer hunting. Don't think, just buy one and do it. It's the American way.

[–] vegaquake@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

get a nice char on them fuckers while they twitchin

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Don't even bother shooting them, just use the flamethrower for everything. There may be collateral damage but it's worth it.

[–] adam_y@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago (1 children)

West bank.

[–] adam_y@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

I say that, but I, in no way, want that to happen.

But yeah, Boston Dynamic have long said that they don't want their robots weaponised, but here we are seeing it happen.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 9 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Boston Dynamics has made multiple robots for DARPA. If they make a really great platform, I expect they're probably gonna be weaponized at some point. Maybe not by them, but...

I remember a buddy of mine who was working on an autonomous, self-mapping rover research project at his university on a DARPA project. He was just working on the navigation side, part of a larger project. He was telling me how he had a "huh" moment when they got the first control unit and it had a big red button on it labelled "weapon".

[–] moon@lemmy.ml 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Boston Dynamic didn't let this happen. Their EULA explicitly prevents people from doing this so they used this robot from Unitree instead

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 9 points 7 months ago

Employees trying to unionize.

At least it seems like that sort of thing never ends up being a felony...

[–] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Seems perfect for mole problems.

[–] potatopotato@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago

Now that's how you kill all the gophers

[–] EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 7 months ago

How else am I gonna light the fireplace without getting up from the couch?

[–] NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Bored on a weeknight

[–] Zorque@kbin.social 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I don't know if I'd ever be bored if I had a Wee Knight to ride.

[–] NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth 0 points 7 months ago

You should really get the full size, mine tires out too quickly

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Rapid heating of slabs of meat for some weird meat effect rich people pay for

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

They are not actually that expensive. You just feel posh when you use one.

My girlfriend came with one, it's great for grilled cheese. But I'm not allowed to use it anymore because I set fire to a chocolate bar.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 1 points 7 months ago

But I’m not allowed to use it anymore because I set fire to a chocolate bar.

Huh. TIL.

https://kitchenroar.com/flammable/chocolate/

Chocolate, or more so cocoa, is highly flammable. If it catches fire, the blaze is difficult to extinguish since cocoa powder contains 10 to 20 per cent fat and has a huge surface area. Yes, chocolate is flammable. Most solid foods possess at least some level of flammability because they are organic, and chocolate is no exception.

See, I don't see how one would have known that without having actually experimented and set a chocolate bar on fire, though.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 2 points 7 months ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butane_torch

Culinary

Butane torches are frequently employed as kitchen gadgets to caramelize sugar in cooking, such as when making crème brûlée. They may be marketed as kitchen torches, cooking torches, or culinary torches. Use of the butane torch in the kitchen is not limited to caramelizing sugar; it can be used to melt or brown toppings on casseroles or soups, to melt cheese, and to roast or char vegetables such as peppers.

[–] cabron_offsets@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Fuck up the rabbits that eat my flowers and leave a monolayer of rabbit shit on my property?

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Have you considered a regular dog that doesn't shoot flames? Our non-flamethrowing dog does a very good job taking care of the rabbits she can't chase away.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Probably leaves a monolayer of dog shit, though. Now, a flamethrower robo-dog, there's the dog of the future.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago

You can pick up dog shit. You can't unburn your lawn.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Roofing

[–] LeroyJenkins@lemmy.world 0 points 7 months ago

throw flames at your enemies from your roof

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 1 points 7 months ago

I hate having to carry around a .5g firelight, this will save me the immense difficulty.

[–] zbyte64@awful.systems 1 points 7 months ago

Kudzu abatement.