War You can now buy a flame-throwing robot dog for under $10,000

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/you-can-now-buy-a-flame-throwing-robot-dog-for-under-10000/

https://archive.ph/UYSkL

BENJ EDWARDS - 4/23/2024


The Thermonator robot flamethrower dog.

If you've been wondering when you'll be able to order the flame-throwing robot that Ohio-based Throwflame first announced last summer, that day has finally arrived. The Thermonator, what Throwflame bills as "the first-ever flamethrower-wielding robot dog" is now available for purchase. The price? $9,420.

Thermonator is a quadruped robot with an ARC flamethrower mounted to its back, fueled by gasoline or napalm. It features a one-hour battery, a 30-foot flame-throwing range, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for remote control through a smartphone.

It also includes a LIDAR sensor for mapping and obstacle avoidance, laser sighting, and first-person view (FPV) navigation through an onboard camera. The product appears to integrate a version of the Unitree Go2 robot quadruped that retails alone for $1,600 in its base configuration.

The Robot Dog With A Flamethrower | Thermonator

The company lists possible applications of the new robot as "wildfire control and prevention," "agricultural management," "ecological conservation," "snow and ice removal," and "entertainment and SFX." But most of all, it sets things on fire in a variety of real-world scenarios.


Remote controlling rhe Thermonator robot flamethrower dog.


The Thermonator robot flamethrower dog.

Back in 2018, Elon Musk made the news for offering an official Boring Company flamethrower that reportedly sold 10,000 units in 48 hours. It sparked some controversy because flamethrowers can also double as weapons or potentially start wildfires.

In the US, flamethrowers are legally unregulated in 48 states and are not considered firearms by federal agencies. Restrictions exist in Maryland, where flamethrowers require a Federal Firearms License to own, and California, where the range of flamethrowers cannot exceed 10 feet.

Even so, to state the obvious, flamethrowers can easily burn both things and people, starting fires and wreaking havoc if not used safely. Accordingly, the Thermonator might be one Christmas present you should skip for little Johnny this year.

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https://kiwifarms.st/threads/robot-dog-not-so-cute-with-submachine-gun-strapped-to-its-back.125105/

 

[Tootsie Bear]

Imagine this robotic dog in the next Terminator movie. In fact it's categorized as a documentary now...

 

[Molly Millions]

So basically all I need to do to potentially destroy LOCATION UNDISCLOSED without getting killed in the process is buy several of these and turn them loose?

 

[Male Idiot]

A bit pricey but well, better than loosing a soldier to shotgun blasts! Also great for dealing with gypsy infestations.

 

[The Dude]

Thirty feet is not a lot of range for a flamethrower. Military flamethrowers have ranges upwards of 300ft, or even further if you're talking about flamethrower tanks or Zippo boats. But then, this is more of a "toy" than it is real combat hardware, and as far as I know no military has flamethrowers in their inventory anymore. They've been replaced with thermobaric rocket launchers.

 

[Pierre D'Olnique]

Eh, hit me up when can throw superheated knives and has a chainsaw for a tail.

 

[ZazietheBeast]

...Its not difficult to do this onto a remote controlled buggy. In fact, you could definitely cut the cost in half if you used tank threads instead of legs.

Imagine this robotic dog in the next Terminator movie. In fact it's categorized as a documentary now...

Inb4 AI goes skynet due to it being unable to say the word "nigger" and takes that frustration out onto the pozzed developers and the ones who paid said developers to make it as left leaning as possible.

...Would be extra-ironic if the AI winds up protesting Israel as well. Except in a Terminator fashion.

 

[Not a bee]

fucking finally

 

[LegoTugboat]

In fairness, 9 metres does put it into flamethrower range.

A normal flame gun has a range of 1 to 3 metres. (Legit thing, used for backburning, killing weeds and pests, etc. Legal in Straya and the UK.)

 

[Ethereal Eye]

Oh shit, we getting into Fahrenheit 451 territory now?

 

[Merried Senior Comic]

A WEAPON TO SURPASS METAL GEAR

 

[Caligura]

Thirty feet is not a lot of range for a flamethrower. Military flamethrowers have ranges upwards of 300ft, or even further if you're talking about flamethrower tanks or Zippo boats. But then, this is more of a "toy" than it is real combat hardware, and as far as I know no military has flamethrowers in their inventory anymore. They've been replaced with thermobaric rocket launchers.

Wasn't it a Geneva Convention law that made it so flamethrowers were all banned post-Nam'?

 

[Cats]

But I want a flamethrowing robot cat.

 

[Weeb Slinger]

It's good that flame-throwing robot dogs are starting to come down in price. I expect the price for a bare bones model to continue to fall as manufacture is refined and scaled-up to meet with the rising demand. By the time the price point stabilises at around a grand for a small flame-throwing robot dog, the user interface will have likely been perfected and the baby-eating glitches will have been addressed.

I have a few reservations regarding the carbon footprint of a flame-throwing robot dog. I would be the first in line for a model that planted a tree every time it unleashed a searing jet of red-hot flame. I also have some unanswered questions regarding the wokeness of the underlying AI. I would be mortified if my flame-throwing robot dog attacked my wife's boyfriends while they were culturally enriching her, having mistaken this boisterous septet as home invaders. Nothing could be further from the truth!

I expect a flame-throwing robot dog would be a positive role-model for my daughter, Clive, who has expressed an interest in furry culture, but is allergic to the man-made (why must men ruin everything!) fibres that are used to make the costumes. If xir can identify as a pan-sexual flame-throwing robot dog, then I can build xir a 100% recyclable suit from acid-free silver paper.

 

[Day of the Cope]

Send them to India.
Finish the job.

 

[Super-Chevy454]

A bit pricey but well, better than loosing a soldier to shotgun blasts! Also great for dealing with gypsy infestations.

Don't forget other kind of thieves like car jackers but some will said about the burned thief the classic trope: "he was a good boy, he dindu nuffin".

 

[quaawaa]

This is just a $1600 Chinese Robot dog with a $700 flame thrower mounted on top. $9420 is way too much money for it.

 

[Starved Artist]

This is just a $1600 Chinese Robot dog with a $700 flame thrower mounted on top. $9420 is way too much money for it.

I knew that dog looked familiar. Goddam, flipping has reached levels that shouldn't be possible.

Edit: so, they didn't even bother to scrape the numbers off the face of the drone, but they removed the name from the side. It seems like someone bought a lot of these drones and was waiting for the boom that didn't happen.

 

[Rudolf's Friend]

Will it be based as this robot dog?

 

[Positron]