CT robot PCs

[parmasson]

The AI and robot thread in the T20 forum has me wondering if robot PCs can work in CT? I have not actually designed a Book 8 legal robot in a long time so I was wondering if anyone had a design or homebrew that they would share.

Many years ago we tried this and the character turned out to be something of a nightmare so we abandoned the idea.

 

[Golan2072]

An intelligent enough robot would be VERY expensive, will suffer from social stigma in the Imperium, and will be difficult to "heal" (that is, repair). If you can circumvent this, as well as the issue of the robot's "ownership" (under Imperial law a robot is a thing, not a person, and a multi-million Cr value thing at that...), it should be doable.

 

[mike wightman]

AB-101 was a PC robot...

or at least was presented that way.

 

[Eto Demerzel]

AB-101 was a pile o' scrap compared to me...

 

[Tobias]

A robot PC is probably most feasible when it belongs to another sophont PC, played either by the same player (as a secondary character, as proposed in Book 8), or by another player with a good rapport with the robot player.
IMHO, every PC robot should be required to have "high autonomous" logic, since this is required to make him functionally equivalent to a thinking being. The low AI and high AI ratings in Book 8 are actually misnomers - by the description, a "high autonomous" robot is an AI in the sense that we nowadays use.
If these conditions - the matter of ownership that Employee has already brought up, as well as the ability of the robot to function as an intelligent being - are cleared, I see no reason why a robot should not be a PC. Would you like example designs of "PC-suitable" robots?

Regards,

Tobias

 

[parmasson]

I am working on a TL-15 pseudo-biological robot for just such a purpose. I forgot how to do it so here it goes.
LBB Book 8
100L chassis 10kg
Suspension -10L @15kg
Transmission -30L@60kg
Fuel Cell B -30L 60KW 52kg
Fuel -5L
Head +5L -1KW 3.5kg
2 legs -15KW

Does that look right so far?

The sensor packages look so heavy and clunky for TL-15. Geesh, gonna have to do some handwaving there. My TL-8 camcorder gets better performance WITH its power source.

I am also going to include some awkward software restriction that will make role playing the character more interesting.


[edit] If you have an example or two I would love to see them!

 

[Gruffty]

OK, I give in - where the hell do I find out more about AB-101?

 

[Maladominus]

AB-101?

 

[Starviking]

Originally posted by Maladominus:
AB-101?

AB-101 - the Tech-15/16 humanoid robot adventurer from Digest Group Publications' magazine "Traveller's Digest"

Adventures ran from TD1-21 I think, and there was a convention adventure set in the Rebellion Era called "To Kill an Archduke" (Which I have never been able to get a copy of... )

AB-101 was the travelling companion/butler of one of the other adventurers - a Professor in robotics who constructed him.

The adventurers were circumnavigating the Imperium, having low to high impact adventures along the way. Some Aslan don't like 'em

Hope that helps...

Starviking

 

[mike wightman]

His stats are also listed in LBB8: Robots on page 40

 

[parmasson]

Wow -
Str of 16 and 300+kg

 

[Gruffty]

Aahh, I knew I'd seen AB-101 in print somewhere before. I was thinking maybe he was one of the robots from the Asimov Robot books/short stories.

 

[Tobias]

I find the Book 8 rules lacking especially in regards to pseudobiological robots. It's impossible to design a proper android. The principal problems are:
- No advanced materials.
- The legged transmission weighs an enormous amount, partly because it is assumed to transmit all the power plant's output. It should rather only be assigned a certain amount of power, based on desired performance.

Regards,

Tobias

 

[mike wightman]

Yep, LBB8 is lacking in rules for androids, but then CT classifies androids as biologically based artificial beings rather than mechanical - at least according to the robots article in JTAS issue 1.

The reduction of legged transmission based on performance is an interesting idea...

 

[Tobias]

I used android in the usual sense of "humanoid robot", but of course, in Traveller, Pseudobio is the proper and more accurate term (especially since android in RL is often used to refer to human-shaped but obviously robotic machines.)

That only the remaining power, after deducting requirements for sensors, devices, brain etc., should be used for the transmission is only logical IMHO. I mean, we aren't talking about combustion engines, which provide rotation (directly transmitted into locomotional power) primarily and eletrical power secondarily. Fuel Cells directly provide electrical power, which is presumably used for electric motors in the limbs.

Contact-based propulsion should have a power requirement based on the estimated mass of the robot and on the desired speed, and the transmission should be calculated according to those requirements.

Regards,

Tobias

 

[mike wightman]

Originally posted by Tobias:
That only the remaining power, after deducting requirements for sensors, devices, brain etc., should be used for the transmission is only logical IMHO. I mean, we aren't talking about combustion engines, which provide rotation (directly transmitted into locomotional power) primarily and eletrical power secondarily. Fuel Cells directly provide electrical power, which is presumably used for electric motors in the limbs.

Contact-based propulsion should have a power requirement based on the estimated mass of the robot and on the desired speed, and the transmission should be calculated according to those requirements.

Regards,

Tobias

Have you tried designing any using this idea?

 

[Tobias]

Lab Assistant Pseudobio
56102-A2-MN324-FDC4(9) Cr11,021,100 163 kg
Fuel=48 Duration= 20 days TL=15
20/50 (jack)
2 light arms
2 visual sensors, 2 audio sensors, 1 olfactory sensor
1 voder, 1 touch sensor
1 brain interface
electronic circuit protection

Science-2, Medical-1, Vacc Suit-1, Language-1, Emotion Simulation

This was designed with the components consuming 20 kw and the transmission rated for the remaining 10 kw. A slightly smaller (female) version with Chassis size 4, Strength E, 10 days of fuel and a Mass of 149kg is also possible.

Regards,

Tobias

 

[Golan2072]

Ofcourse, if you create a "sidekick" robot, that is a robot controlled as a "secondary character" by a non-robot PC (as suggested before), pseudo-biological chassises aren't nescery - or even desirable.

EDIT: I'll design a "ScoutMate" TL-12 shipboard brain for Type-S Scout/Couriers with a remote "avatar" unit tomorrow. It isn't intended to be a fully sentient robot, but rather a "sidekick" for lone Scouts.

 

[Tobias]

Durable Survey/Contact Robot
714E4-54-NP3211-LF97(D) Cr1,014,500 674 kg
Fuel=50 Duration= 8.4 TL=15
40/100 (combat)
2 v. light arms, 2 light arms

2 visual sensors ( +tele +LI +PIR ), 2 audio sensors ( +sen ), 1 olfactory sensor ( +sen ), 1 voder, 1 touch sensor ( +sen ), 1 taste sensor, 1 magnetic sensor, 1 radiation sensor, 1 mass sensor, 1 neutrino sensor

1 spotlight, 1 power interface, 1 brain interface, 1 program interface, 1 zero-g package, 1 aqua package , 1 radio (500km), 1 odor emitter, 1 holo recorder (3D), 1 holo display (3D)

electronic circuit protection
1 snub pistol (20 tranq rounds)

Science-1, Survival-2, Survey-3, Communications-1 Weapon Handling-1, Recon-1, Hunting-2, Linguistics-2, Close Combat-1, Rescue-1, Emotion Simulation, One additional Language.

This robot can be used for exploration in an environment which is considered too dangerous for sophonts. It can perform a wide variety of tasks, including collection of animal and plant specimen, gathering and analysis of environmental data, mapping and classification of sites and even first contact with intelligent beings.
The duration on internal fuel is divided by 9 if no free oxygen is present. Endurance on batteries is one hour, but can be extended considerably by shutting down energy consuming components.
The robot is intelligent and flexible enough to plan and conduct survey operations entirely on its own. Because it carries weapons and is heavily armored, the programming incorporates very strict rules regarding use of force. The robot will never intentionally injure or kill an intelligent being, and will avoid killing non-sophont life wherever possible. Normally, it will attempt to rescue any sophont in danger, but this can be modified by considerations of mission priorities. It will always attempt to rescue an Imperial citizen, except when this involves greater danger to others. The Robot can make complex decisions, weighing off options in such a case. This will appear effectively as a conscious decision by an extremely morally scrupulous sophont.
***************************************
How does this work for a Robot PC? It's fully sentient and independent, with very interesting capabilities and impressive physical characteristics, but strict limits to the use of these advantages.

Regards,

Tobias

 

[parmasson]

Something as simple as a scuba tank could be very useful for this robot.

Would pseudobios still wear a protective suit when working in a vacuum?

It could be cool to have a Three Laws statement for the player detailing some of the more interesting directives.