It sounds crazy—and it probably is. A robotic ball designed to roll
around battlefields taking potshots at troops is being built at Michigan State
University. Ranjan Mukherjee’s robot rolls along by shifting weights up and down
spokes inside the metal sphere. When it comes to a stop, it stands itself up on
three telescopic legs and uses a camera to get a 360-degree view of the
surroundings. Heat and motion sensors track potential targets, which it can then
fire at with a gun that pops out of the sphere.
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