Common 'bot types in TL 11+ societies

[HG_B]

From a tech viewpoint I think that fixed location 'bots will be the majority of the early 'bots in common usage.

Automated home laundry (throw clothes in, get them back folded, etc.
Manufacturing packaging 'bots (like we have now).
Surgery bots.

Free roaming bots have two other hurdles to overcome. 1) power 2) movement and judgmental perception of environment. #2 being the most difficult. Great strides have been made recently in that area. #1 is limited by battery tech. For bots that only work in defined, indoor areas wireless power would be good solution. Both for duration and compact design.

In domestic situations I can see cleaning bots being most marketable. This would apply to ships also. Fixed bots that would be popular would be meal maker types & laundry. On Trav ships this would translate into no dedicated steward needed for Middle passengers. In a home, a large % of domestic chores being eliminated.

Next would be repair/maintenance bots. At first slaved to central control. Later autonomous being the paradigm. These will first be found in hazardous situations/environments, whether naturally occurring or man-made.

Societies that embrace this tech will have econ advantages over those that do not. Much like how countries that industrialized dominated countries that did not enter that phase.

What this means for a Trav universe is that routine and mundane tasks will be handled by bots in Average Stellar + societies. The EXTREME need for tonnage on starships will drive automation (thus eliminating as much L.S. & staterooms as possible).

The tech situation of having no artificial sentience (self awareness) will mean that bots will be viewed as just "machines" as that is all that they are. No one believes that a computer game (no matter how good its combat expert system is) should be given "rights".

Those jobs that require the position to judge human, action, motives, etc. (police officer as one example) will not be suitable for bot replacement. Augmentation but not replacement.

Anyway, barring a radical shift in basic human nature (which history teaches isn't in the cards) over the next few thousand years, this looks to be a logical model.

 

[mike wightman]

I agree with your assessment here.

What do you think of tele-operated robots for police use etc. ? A bit like the autonomous UAVs on the drawing board but with a human in overwatch ready to countermand the robot brain.

 

[HG_B]

I agree with your assessment here.

What do you think of tele-operated robots for police use etc. ? A bit like the autonomous UAVs on the drawing board but with a human in overwatch ready to countermand the robot brain.

I think that is Inevitable as human resource costs continue to climb in advanced societies. Safety reasons also. ( a remote won't feel the need to kill a perp/suspect who MIGHT have a gun, etc.

Also, the ability to record EVERYTHING, continuously, that occurs between civilians & "law enforcement" will help ensure civil rights & lower civil court costs for local gov due to law suits.

 

[Carlobrand]

TL11 requires a bit of fudging. Book-8 doesn't offer a TL11 battery, so you have to go to Striker (which is where they lifted their batteries from, so no great problem). Fuel cells are a more practical alternative, though they do depend on a source of hydrogen.

Price is an issue. Even a smallish basic bot can hit in the Cr10,000 to Cr15,000 range, and at TL11 their usable life is such that only 12-year loans are available, which means a simple dumbot can cost a person Cr150-200 a month for 12 years. It's affordable but it's unlikely the average person will want more than one or two, if that. Labor-saving bots for the home are likely to be limited to at most one or two key needs, and that for the people who consider it worth spending Cr10,000-Cr15,000 for the privilege. I'm afraid the kids will still be responsible for cleaning their own rooms. At TL11, it might be better to hire a maid to come in for an hour a day than to buy a machine that does one task for Cr200 a month.

 

[HG_B]

TL11 requires a bit of fudging. Book-8 doesn't offer a TL11 battery, so you have to go to Striker (which is where they lifted their batteries from, so no great problem). Fuel cells are a more practical alternative, though they do depend on a source of hydrogen.

Price is an issue. .

I'm using MgT ref's. CT is WAY too out of date, even for TL 7 items to be useful for my game. (or any game trying to simulate the Far Future) In CT I'd pay a fortune for the smart phone I currently have. And it would be the size of a suitcase.

The German MgT Robots is probably the best, extant Trav Robot supp. http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/112590/Traveller-ROBOTS?

 

[Spinward Scout]

Built-in stationary 'Bots would start to be more common.

AutoPilot
AutoDoc
AutoLaundry
AutoChef

 

[rancke]

I'm using MgT ref's. CT is WAY too out of date, even for TL 7 items to be useful for my game. (or any game trying to simulate the Far Future) In CT I'd pay a fortune for the smart phone I currently have. And it would be the size of a suitcase.

Traveller isn't trying to simulate the Far Future; it's trying to emulate the Far Future of Classic Science Fiction.

(If it had been trying to simulate the Far Future, it would be doomed to abject failure. Attempts to simulate next year often fails miserably).


Hans

 

[Carlobrand]

I'm using MgT ref's. CT is WAY too out of date, even for TL 7 items to be useful for my game. (or any game trying to simulate the Far Future) In CT I'd pay a fortune for the smart phone I currently have. And it would be the size of a suitcase.

The German MgT Robots is probably the best, extant Trav Robot supp. http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/112590/Traveller-ROBOTS?

They want 18 bucks for that puppy! Alas, my wish list continues to grow.

Is that a book of bots based on some MgT robot rule set, or is it intended to stand as the robot rule supplement for MgT? And is it considered MgT canon?

 

[HG_B]

Traveller isn't trying to simulate the Far Future; it's trying to emulate the Far Future of Classic Science Fiction.


Hans

Really?! Someone should have told that to the person who created the tag line for the game line. "Welcome to the universe of the Far Future! " If your opinion is that the game should be marketed as "Role playing in the Far Future of Classic Science Fiction". You should contact Marc and tell him that he should change it.



:file_21:

Anyway, back to the subject at hand, Robots in the Far Future.

They will be so ubiquitous by TL 11 period as to be almost below notice by the population at large. Only when a PC is in "trouble" will the interaction become significantly important as to play it out.

 

[rancke]

Really?! Someone should have told that to the person who created the tag line for the game line. "Welcome to the universe of the Far Future! " If your opinion is that the game should be marketed as "Role playing in the Far Future of Classic Science Fiction". You should contact Marc and tell him that he should change it.

I don't feel the need. Perhaps you should do it.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand, Robots in the Far Future.

I never left that subject. It's a question of which Far Future. This forum is primarily one for the Far Future described in the Official Traveller Universe. If you want to discuss robots in different Far Futures, go ahead, but do make it clear that you're not talking about the OTU Far Future.

(Problem is that you appear to be under the impression that you are, which is what tends to produce counterclaims from me).

They will be so ubiquitous by TL 11 period as to be almost below notice by the population at large. Only when a PC is in "trouble" will the interaction become significantly important as to play it out.

Robotic devices to aid sophont activity will be ubiquitous. Autonomous, self-propelled robots to replace sophonts might be ubiquitous in some settings. The adventures you could run in such settings would be quite different from any Traveller adventure I know of.


Hans

 

[HG_B]

From Policeone.com

http://www.policeone.com/police-products/police-technology/robots/articles/7354042-Looking-to-the-future-of-police-robotics/

"Robotics are headed toward greater autonomy. For example, it is conceivable that a robot can be navigated toward a click on a map, negotiating its own obstacles using its own sensors. The military has reached out further by looking at how insects sense and negotiate their environment and applying this to robotics, he said.

Here are four robots that can help officers in the field."

This is a fast moving field!

 

[rancke]

This is a fast moving field!

Indubitably.


Hans

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

You just keep doing it.

/Ka-snip/

I never left that subject. It's a question of which Far Future. This forum is primarily one for the Far Future described in the Official Traveller Universe. If you want to discuss robots in different Far Futures, go ahead, but do make it clear that you're not talking about the OTU Far Future.

/more snips/.

Hans

Actually Hans, he did. He did not use OTU Only title prefix.

Here's a thought, try assuming that if a thread does not have an OTU Only title prefix that quite probably the OP doesn't mind if people discuss and use TUs other than the Official one. Crazy, but it might save you some typing. :devil:

EDIT: And back on topic, I figure by TL-B+ most "robots" are just part of the machine. Like someone posted earlier lots "auto" this and that which means the "robot" parts are already built in. This why TL-B+ auto-chefs are around the same price as a TL-7 stove.

 

[HG_B]

Actually Hans, he did. He did not use OTU Only title prefix.

To be honest, I'm referring to the game's promotional wording. The way Marc worded it, in the English language, the connotation means, in OUR Far Future. NOT, a Cyber-punk Far Future. Nor a noir style Far Future, not a Buck Rogers Far Future, etc,. etc. Maybe non-native English speakers wouldn't catch this...

Although, he could reword it to make it in line with what it became by not updating the game. But mostly this just applies to those versions that are outdated. CT and the like (no idea about T5), MgT Trav is right on the edge of that.