Science fiction that portrays rogue machines replicating themselves and taking over has always bothered me. I'm a boring realist ... I always wonder: where did they get the raw materials to replicate? Do the robots go and mine the ore to form the steel that makes the frames of their spider-like bodies?
Side Note: why are the science fiction robots always spider-like, or worm-like? Over here in the U.S. we had a show on TV a few years back called "Battlebots." The show was built around the notion of contestants entering "robot warriors" into a confined space, and they set out to disable and damage one another. It was all good fun, and some extremely creative robotics was displayed. But what came through was that robots that attempted to move through space by way of emulated human movements (step-like legs, spider-like arms) were awful. The winners were always very low-slung devices on hidden wheels, often with a wedge design, with a hammer capable of pounding the daylights out of a competitor. Big was not better. A low profile that made it difficult to get under the robot was the key. A strategy that evolved (there's that word) over time was to flip the opponent over -- sort of like the turtle syndrom: a robot flipped over was essentially disabled. Hence the wedge design (to get under your opponent) and a low profile (to prevent others from getting under you).
Of course, Battlebots was carried out on a smooth floor. Not a post-nuclear landscape with wrecked Max Max vehicles everywhere. A low-slung vehicle on small wheels would have a difficult time navigating through that.
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