The Mini Cooper Autonomous Robot

Colin Mayhew, an engineer at a British division of BMW, decided to
convert a mini cooper r50 into an autonomous biped robot. The results are quite impressive. In particular, check out
this video. The no-frills design of the page makes it seem quite believable. But
sleuths on Slashdot have determined that it's a hoax. The url is registered to an ad agency working for BMW. (via
Things Magazine)
Posted By: Alex | Date:
Mon Mar 29, 2004 |
Permalink |
Total Comments: 78
Category:
Advertising,
Websites,
Technology
Comments
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
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I know Wayne Saunders personally and he is not developmentally challenged. I also happen to know his Grandmother, a delightful woman with a spryness that belies her advanced years. If Grandma Saunders says it's so, then it is so. And, for those of you who doubt me, you should know that Optimus Prime and I are quite close. He would be more than willing to provide references, if it comes to that.
Posted by ponder stibbons on Wed Jun 23, 2004 at 06:28 PM
I am Wayne Saunders' grnadmother, and I simply abhor that he is being criticised for simply relating one of my own personal experiences. So I've decided to post my own account so as to get him off the hook. First of all, it was not God I felt, but, I belive, one of these gigantic autonomous mini cooper conversion contraptions, and it not only saved me from imminent disaster, but also criticised the flock of cats in question and found them all loving homes. And as for you, "Shwag", if that is your real name, which i doubt, if you ever question my fine young grandson's mental capacity again, I shall beat your candy-ass blue and punch the heart out of your sunken chest, you pea-brained crotch-jockey.
Posted by Pleasance Braithwaite-Saunders on Wed Jun 23, 2004 at 06:42 PM
After 12 years of sunday school and 6 years of boarding school turned me into a bipedal robot concerned only with the endless consumption of (low octane) beer and crap electronics, I can't deny the possibility of this godly mini-me. Are there female versions or do they all have that wimpy hair dryer handing off the front?
Posted by JohnA in Sydney Australia on Mon Jun 28, 2004 at 02:08 AM
Listen guys this is true. I live next door to wayne and one day i was just playing with my microwave and i looked out the window and saw wanye and his robot. I saw the robot making lemonaid and playing the banjo. So I walked over there and I asked wayne if his robot would give me a haircut. wayne said sure and proceded to press a few buttons on a small white keypad. the robot put an apron on itself and was about to begin when all of the sudden grandma saunders ran out of the house. she was screaming about how she had just seen a ghost. waynes robot immediatly heard this and began to use his electromagnetic photons to disprupt the quantum layer of the astroplain, there by eleminating any need for a setbelt to secure my head in place. thank god for that. so to make a long story short, me, wanye, grandma, and r50 had some more special tea and grasshoppers.
Posted by HUH? in UK on Fri Jul 16, 2004 at 09:04 PM
I think this is a conspiracy initiated by the molson brewing co. they are orchestrating this plan to put all American brewing companies out of business. This robot is able to save and fix cars. thus eliminating the need for towtrucks. further more, we all know that towtruck drivers consume more then 87% of all domestic beers. I also believe that this is interrelated to the polish sausage industry, seeing as the U.K. has had many disputes over who shall reclaim rights to the original style of bratwurst, beer battered or regular.
Posted by Estofon on Fri Jul 16, 2004 at 09:13 PM
This is fake. I cant beleive anyone would beleive this. If this were real, it would be all over the news. remember when the segway came out? it got so much publicity and it wasn't even that great.
http://www.maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=segway_more_complicated_than_it_needs_to_be yeah, Segway is so amazing. but this, this is a gigantic robot made out of a car that stops people from crashing.
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/leglab/robots/robots.html
look at that^ there is a University (Massichussets Instatute of Technology AKA MIT) that is dedicated to technology and robotics. Here is a video of their latest project as of 1998. it's hard to imagine that 4 years later, some guy turns a car into i giant huminoid robot that can lift up cars. Once again, this invention would be all over the news if it were real.
Posted by karl the dog on Sun Jul 18, 2004 at 03:19 PM
Here is the truth, the robots are real I was there to see one. It was late, the car in front of us slid out of control. Out of the blue a giant robot with horns came and was narrowly able to stop the car before impact with a tree. We drove away as fast as we could with fear in our hearts. They ARE REAL and they WILL TURN ON US.
Posted by Turd Furgison in Oxford, UK on Thu Jul 22, 2004 at 03:58 PM
Posted by Bumblebee in Normally, Cybertron - but currently at Autobotcity on Fri Jul 23, 2004 at 11:21 AM
This is so obviously fake that it makes me laugh.
note that in the videos the robot white backgrounds were used to make the CG easier to draw. The orange lines on the car stopping video is to give the CG artist references to create a more convincing CG.
Also look at this:
http://www.adrants.com/2004/05/nyt-catches-up-on-month-old-mini.php
Posted by Common sense on Fri Jul 23, 2004 at 02:50 PM
Posted by m.wood on Fri Aug 20, 2004 at 01:40 PM
M Wood... Real, as in a real advertisment. Fake as in THERE'S NO MINI ROBOT. Don't you think that this would be front page news by now if it was real?
Posted by Drunk Stepdad on Fri Sep 10, 2004 at 01:04 AM
If you want to see a REAL mecha checkout this site, sure its shameless, but not as shameless as intentionally trying to dupe people with a CG Mecha which is totally fake, a good fake, but a fake nonetheless. Kudos to the rednerers of that fake! The NMX04-1A is quite real and shall soon be seen by the world as it debuts upon its completion. If you dont think that mecha are an inevitability, think again.
Posted by Charles Alvarez in Alaska, USA on Tue Sep 21, 2004 at 04:25 PM
Posted by FOF on Wed Dec 22, 2004 at 08:47 PM
this robot is real. yaaaaay
Posted by bob on Thu Dec 30, 2004 at 05:41 PM
The argument that this must be fake because "its not all over the news!" is false based on precedent alone. When Honda introduced their bipedal robots back in the mid 90's they received very little coverage until several years later.
Posted by craig in san francisco on Thu Jan 06, 2005 at 04:13 PM
This Mini Cooper robot thing is a really cool idea. I am currently tryig to reaserch it for a project on hoaxes. It seems to me like a lot of work to put into making this whole thing up, especially with that "Man of Metal" insert. The video on the website itself shows a shadow formed by the robot but not by the car. If this was a hoax and the robot was digitally put in, wouldn't the editor notice somthing as glaring as that??? There are also the eyewittness accounts which are questionable as well. When I get some more solid evidence I will relay it.
Posted by Thomas on Wed Jan 12, 2005 at 09:57 PM
Okay. Enough! I think I ought to step in here now. I am from the company that made the advert. We filmed in a disused warehouse a few months ago. The Landrover was actually the fake. The shadows were placed incorrectly, which was realised too late. The robot was actually REAL and WAS made from the Mini parts. However, the big black cable connecting it was liquorice. The robot could only be run on black liquorice. There were NOT computers running it! Our control unit for it consisted of a hampster running on a wheel, with a dynamo connected. This generated the 6vdc required to power this 3 tonne machine. Also, to keep the weight down, the entire machine was made out of cornflake boxes and sticky back plastic. So now you know!
Now back to breaking out of this damned padded cell....
Posted by Dave Francis in UK on Sat Jan 15, 2005 at 01:54 PM
......all robots are evil. EVIL!!!
Their in the pipes you know. Just watching me. Waiting. Waiting. They want to hurt me. Evil pipe monsters are everywhere. Controlled by the imps. They live in the plumbing. Help me....help....me.....
:O\
Posted by Dave Francis in UK on Sat Jan 15, 2005 at 02:04 PM
-----That was an excerpt from the mind of one of the believers of the initial story-----
Posted by Dave on Sat Jan 15, 2005 at 02:07 PM
you all got pwnd!!!!!!!1111111oneoneoneKEKEKEKEK^____^
Posted by Billy in Here on Sat Jan 22, 2005 at 03:28 AM
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