Results tagged “robotic”

The transformation is at last complete: After years of delays, L trains will now operate entirely at the whims of an all-powerful computer system—just in time for everyone to ride it to Union Square for the premiere of Terminator Salvation. Motormen working the Brooklyn-Manhattan line will remain on board as a token gesture to humanity's fading relevance, and as way of placating Luddites worried about some sinister runaway HAL train making a break for New Jersey. The "Communications Based Train Control" [CBTC] will kick in tomorrow, (theoretically) enabling NYC Transit to relieve overcrowding by running trains closer together than the current signal system allows. You may recall that fully activating the robo-train has been pushed back for years due to technical glitches; the system will be used overnight at first before expanding into peak service times. NYC Transit's vice president assures the public the computer-operated trains are ready for prime time, telling the Daily News, "This is a safe system with proven technology." At least until it becomes self-aware.

Earlier this year Central Park crowds looked on in horror as a hawk dug his talons into a squirrel. Now the pigeons of New York are being targeted as the city considers bringing in robotic hawks to perch on rooftops.