Sunday, March 3, 2013

AlphaBots: E is for ED-209

This week's AlphaBots drawing isn't a robot I'm especially fond of, though I do like the moment or scene that I've chosen for the illustration. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like RoboCop 2 as much as I like any of Frank Miller's other forays into film, but that's some pretty faint praise.

The ED-209 is an advanced police robot, designed (if I recall correctly) to build on RoboCop's success and replace the titular hero with a newer and less maverick model. (Update: I did not recall correctly. As my ED-209-drawing brother-in-Alphabots Sam Wolk reminds me, the ED-209 was a precursor to the RoboCop technology, and was visible in the first RoboCop movie, though I totally remember it from the sequel.)

But ED still has some programming glitches and design kinks to be worked out. (If you haven't seen RoboCop 2, please be aware that the clips I just linked to have some over-the-top violence.)


Anyway, ED-209 is not so good at descending a staircase. I really like the gingerly way it tries to position its chicken foot on the stairs; full props to its stop-motion animator, Phil Tippett.

The text caption for this panel came from a randomly chosen page in the nearest book to hand, the dopey pop-psych creativity manual that comes with the Ball of Whacks toy. Next time, I'll make sure a better book is nearby before I roll the die.
at

2 comments:

  1. Curious ArtMarch 4, 2013 at 2:23 PM

    I never saw these movies, but I quite like the drawing-- reminds me of me venturing down the basement stairs with my cat zigzagging in front of me! And the quote is oddly apropos...

    ReplyDelete
  2. IsaacMarch 4, 2013 at 3:40 PM

    I have already been thinking about how the caption can apply either to the robot's own incomplete knowledge or to the ignorance of someone on the other side of that door. We'll see what happens when I draw that panel from my deck!

    ReplyDelete