If you’ve got been questioning while you’ll have the ability to order the flame-throwing robotic that Ohio-based Throwflame first introduced final summer time, that day has lastly arrived. The Thermonator, what Throwflame payments as “the first-ever flamethrower-wielding robot dog” is now out there for buy. The worth? $9,420.
Thermonator is a quadruped robotic with an ARC flamethrower mounted to its again, fueled by gasoline or napalm. It includes a one-hour battery, a 30-foot flame-throwing vary, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for distant management via a smartphone.
It additionally features a Lidar sensor for mapping and impediment avoidance, laser sighting, and first-person-view navigation via an onboard digital camera. The product seems to combine a model of the Unitree Go2 robotic quadruped that retails alone for $1,600 in its base configuration.
Photograph: Xmatter
The firm lists potential functions of the brand new robotic as “wildfire management and prevention,” “agricultural administration,” “ecological conservation,” “snow and ice removing,” and “leisure and SFX.” But most of all, it units issues on hearth in quite a lot of real-world situations.
Back in 2018, Elon Musk made the information for providing an official Boring Company flamethrower that reportedly bought 10,000 models in 48 hours. It sparked some controversy, as a result of flamethrowers can even double as weapons or potentially start wildfires.
Flamethrowers are usually not particularly regulated in 48 US states, though basic product legal responsibility and felony legal guidelines should still apply to their use and sale. They are usually not thought of firearms by federal businesses. Specific restrictions exist in Maryland, the place flamethrowers require a Federal Firearms License to personal, and California, the place the vary of flamethrowers can not exceed 10 ft.
Photograph: Xmatter
Even so, to state the apparent, flamethrowers can simply burn each issues and other people, beginning fires and wreaking havoc if not used safely. Accordingly, the Thermonator may be one Christmas current you need to skip for little Johnny this yr.
This story initially appeared on Ars Technica.
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