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Aibo the Alpha predator

Robots for killing cane toads
  (+10, -1)(+10, -1)
(+10, -1)
  [vote for,
against]

Many ecosystems are now suffering from imported pests. Usually these pests have no local predator, such as the cane toad or the new whistling frogs in Hawaii.

Things tend to go very wrong every time humans try to solve the problem by importing a new predator, so this time we should just build one. Aibos, Furbys and similar cheap plastic robots should be fitted out with CCD cameras, frequency gated microphones and solar power cells. When the robot comes across something the right size and color of a pest animal they can either jump on it (hard robotics problem) or sit on it (easier) until the pest dies. Then the killer Aibo moves on.

To help keep things ecological, the Aibos should either be recyclable or re-usable.

Hunting Aibos could either be specialty items, or standard mecha-pets that go hunting while the owner sleeps.

tenhand, May 10 2002

Hawaiian whistling frogs http://www.iht.com/articles/57160.htm
very loud, no native predators, not enough prey to go around. [tenhand, May 10 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]

cane toad page http://www.jcu.edu....TM/staff/rsbufo.htm
cane toads were brought in to kill other pests [tenhand, May 10 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]

invasivespecies.gov http://www.invasivespecies.gov
there sure are a lot of them. [tenhand, May 10 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]

The Slugbot http://www.robotboo.../robotic-hunter.htm
Even powers itself off of the deceased pests [spartanica, May 10 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Cane Toads (1988) http://us.imdb.com/Details?0130529
Hilarious documentary. Rent it if you get a chance. [jutta, May 10 2002]

[link]






       Why not just start a new food chain?
reensure, May 10 2002
  

       Wait a minute, Furbys *are* imported pests. It would be fun to watch them hunt each other down though. +
spartanica, May 10 2002
  

       mmm, Tiny Terminators?
dare99, May 10 2002
  

       Is this another job for flocking road cones?
beauxeault, May 10 2002
  

       Language, beauxeault!
dare99, May 10 2002
  

       Great idea! You will have to develop one that can climb trees so we can rid the UK of those damned North American Grey Squirrels. Then we might see our nice native Red Squirrels (Smaller, quieter and not as violent or destruuctive) in our gardens again.   

       I suggest you develop a robo-cat for this purpose, our cats are quite adept at killing squirrels. But they don't get enough of them, they need robo-back-up!   

       Chocolate-chip freshly baked Croissant from the streets of Paris....
ferret, May 10 2002
  

       i remember in biology we had to watch a movie on them and it was just full of them mating. it was so gross. its kinda the comming of age at our school. once you have seen it your officially a high schooler
resascup, Oct 12 2002
  

       A giant scorpion abio would do the job nicely me thinks, grab the nasty cane toad and then stab it with its big sharp stabbing tail, if that dosent work though you can always resort to dowsing them in petrol setting them on fire and hitting them with a golf club.
Gulherme, Oct 13 2002
  

       What a great idea! I have been working on a plan to (a) teach the birds in my neighborhood to eat rabbit and (2) develop a garden treatment chemical that make the rabbits eating my plants poisonous, yet tasty, to the birds. But maybe I just need 2 varieties of seeker/killer robot!
DavidCC, Jul 11 2003
  

       It's ideas like this that are going to lead to the overthrow of human civilization.
ywong, Nov 11 2003
  

       //the overthrow of human civilization// Six years later, here we still are.   

       Intelligent, autonomous killer-robots? Not enough I say! They must also be self-replicating.
mouseposture, Mar 21 2010
  

       //self-replicating// and made out of old toad parts.
FlyingToaster, Mar 22 2010
  

       //made out of old toad parts// [marked-for-tagline]
mouseposture, Mar 22 2010
  

       Er... Aibos are, within limits, learning robots so there would have to be a delimiter to that or else they'd end up targeting the family dog.
Nelipot, Mar 22 2010
  

       Er... Aibos are, within limits, learning robots so there would have to be a delimiter to that or else they'd end up targeting the family dog.
Nelipot, Mar 22 2010
  

       [Nelipot] Nothing can possibly go wrong. go wrong. go wrong...
mouseposture, Mar 22 2010
  

       EEK.
Nelipot, Mar 22 2010
  
      
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