I think the idea is great - if (when?) this were completed, many things would be simplified. I think many people would distrust the idea, though. Some people wouldn't understand the concept of telepresence, and regard the robots as dangerous and capable of "disobeying their masters." Those who understood might still be uncomfortable around a machine capable of engaging real humans in combat (even non-lethal combat). Machines can malfunction, even if they're under human control. Imagine accidentally firing the pepper spray fogger when you were attempting to shake someone's hand (or pick up garbage, or whatever this machine would be capable of). If perfected and given an image that was trustworthy, I think this could be a huge step.

The first of many obstacles, though is the question of "how." Do you have any ideas in the way of technology that would be capable of this? I assume that a video camera and microphone would be integrated, as well as a speaker for your voice to emit from. And a simple build could easily be modeled after a remote control car - although I don't know how you would handle the problem of range. To be in one city controlling your robot in a different city would be a very impressive feat. With wireless signals and such I'm sure the possibility exists (and probably has been acheived with different modern technology), but I wouldn't know how to go about it.

The Vision and 2 way sound have already been mapped out. I’d go into detail but I can’t claim credit for finalizing their design. That was done by someone else who I am looking to get signed up here and otherwise recruited into our merry little band. He and I have conversed over the phone and on line for sometime. When we get together we seem to spark ideas off of each other. It’s one of the reasons I am partial to live chats. That sort of action just doesn’t seem to happen in posts on a board. When I get him signed up I will point him to this post, as he will be able to explain it better than me having experimented with the equipment needed. The equipment needed will all be maintained and controlled by a computer built into the robot. While in its development stages a WIFI connection will be all we need and we already have that. Once we get it all put together we will be going to a satellite connection to the Internet. So far the fee we have been quoted for this service amounts to about a 100 bucks US a month. But a 100 bucks split between the 10 or more folks that will be needed to keep the bot up and running 24 7 isn’t worth worrying about. So far the plan is to set up an account for that purpose tied to pay pal to take care of the fees. If a person doesn’t want in enough to spend less than a dollar a month we don’t need or want them. If and when money comes rolling in from civilian models of this bot we can pay that Internet bill out of part of the proceeds. As we are in the design phase at present I invision a 2 or more tiered virtual keyboard By keeping the armaments in a different section from the more friendly ones we should cut down considerable on unplanned accidents like the one you mention. We will also be having training sessions with the bot before we go completely public. I doubt that I’ll have any problems getting folks to show up when they get to control a bot by doing so. It will likely be way easier than getting a good turn out at an on line meeting. LOL. As an added measure whoever has physical possession of the bot will also have a master cut off switch just in case. That way if anyone does manage to gain control of the bot or if one of our bot handlers goes nuts we are still covered. Hope this answers some of the questions. Be sure and make the new guy feel welcome when I get him in here.
Superman

How often are people trying to hack into your stuff?