Maybe there are better things to waste resources on than pointless clunker that nobody wants or needs.

Do you not comprehend just how many inventions are made because of progress in other technology? These balancing mechanics and pistons to be locomotive in a bidpedal fashion has previously been impossible. Now who knows what the future holds.

But people with attitude like yours will prevent all progress because you just can’t see the need? This is how funding gets slashed and you get what’s happening in places like the US.

That computer chess bot lead to other technology, you’re incredibly ignorant, it was a massive achievement in the field, how can you not see that? Because you can’t think of how it will directly affect t your life? Why would that even matter? That selfish?

I feel the same about sports. So much money and time wasted on meatheads run around a field throwing an animal skin.

Only if you put it on before it came back out

Objects are carried by UGVs, they can carry 200-300 kilograms while being pretty small, small UGVs can carry up to 100 kilos with size of ~1m in every dimension. Unless you can explain to a very expensive and smart robot what you need to rotate and where and how to operate tools given, you'll need a very competent pilot for these robots which with high probability would still be worse than dumbest of humans because they lack agility and require a lot of supportive infra to operate. Rich nations probably would try to make humanoid robots (like they did with robodogs) with questionable success.

There's no reason that violent control needs to take a humanoid shape.

The empire can control people by murdering them with drones much more easily than murdering with "humanoids".

Small ground drone on fiber optics that carry an antitank mine or a bomb can open doors alright. Also various artillery systems work great against static targets.

I'm pretty sure that a robot on wheels can open a door as easily as a robot on legs.