【Dead Again】

Robots,Dead Again if the hype at CES this year is to be believed, are moving progressively further into our daily lives. From cleaning up around the house, to folding your laundry, to even replacing your damn dog — there is simply no escaping the whir of machinery as you and your loved ones are relegated to the lesser category of "not Bluetooth enabled."

But it doesn't have to be that way, and, oddly, thanks to yet another robot demoed this week at the Las Vegas Convention Center, it might not be. That's because, deep in the bowels of the South Plaza at Booth 64716, you will find a highly engineered machine designed with one purpose in mind: smashing other robots.

Like, punching them until they break.

Say hello to the Moorebot ZEUS, a remote-controlled battle robot manufactured by Pilot Labs. Based in Shenzhen, the company claims its goal is to "improve daily life with high quality smart products."

Clearly the ZEUS does exactly this, though possibly not in the manner its creators intended.

The idea behind the 14-inch tall fighting machine is pretty straightforward: put two of them in a room, hand out corresponding remote controls, and let two gamers direct the melee from a safe distance.

According to Pilot Labs CEO Jun Ye, the bots are programmed in kung fu and taekwondo, and a graphical user interface on the back end means users can customize their robot's moves.

Oh, and as the bots can (or so says the company's website) generate over 55 pounds of force with each punch, it's quite possible that pieces may go flying.

This is no surprise to Ye, who told Mashable that "something is going to break." Which is exactly the point.

But what if, and bear with me here while I check to make sure the CES press room printer sitting just to my left isn't reading this over my shoulder as I type, what if ZEUS's sights weren't set on one of its brethren?

What if, instead, you trained them on that aforementioned pesky animatronic dog.

And while you're at it, you might as well take a moment to direct ZEUS on a stroll around your connected home (it can totally walk) to efficiently deliver a swift metal punch to each and every piece of superfluous tech that at some point or another promised you happiness only to eventually and inevitably leave you even sadder and lonelier than you were in the first place.

If you're doing it right, you'll need to use an old-school broom to sweep up the pieces as your Roomba will experience some trouble.

But don't toss out ZEUS. Keep it. Maybe in a closet somewhere, or under the bed. Because while yeah, sure, a baseball bat would do the job just as well, there's something wonderfully poetic about having ZEUS do it for you. After all, that Amazon Echo Look your aunt just gave you as a late birthday present isn't going to smash itself.