Kiwi Kill-bot krawls campus

One-and-a-half meters tall, clad in an ominous white shell, and capable of seeing in a full 360 degrees. Nightmare robot of the post-apocalyptic future, or university science project? Well, nothing evil ever came out of New Zealand, so I can safely

One-and-a-half meters tall, clad in an ominous white shell, and capable of seeing in a full 360 degrees. Nightmare robot of the post-apocalyptic future, or university science project? Well, nothing evil ever came out of New Zealand, so I can safely assure you that Marvin the security android is a science project from the Waikato University.

Marvin looks a little like a Dalek, but carries no offensive capabilities whatsoever - honest. What he can do is zip about the campus at up to 35mph, detect things that shouldn't be there, and learn as he goes, thanks to neural network programming.

The University does not actually depend on Marvin for its security, and the 'bot is more of a concept test than anything else. Future models of Marvin will include a GPS system so that it can better navigate complex floorplans. The students are now looking at real world applications for Marvin-like technology - farming 'bots are on the drawing boards, so now the sheep really do have something to be scared of.