trader jim
SOC-14 1K
Sir....looks like the ROBOTS, ARMY ANTS, and the VORPAL BUNNIES ahve BANDED togather as ALLIES!!!......what can we do now???!!!!.... 
Liam Devlin
SOC-14 5K
For Spaceman Spiff (whenever he returns):
there are 19 robot designs on this web site
http://www.downport.com/bard/bard/bardvera.html
(Scroll down to Equipment/Robots)
For TJ-this is Random static stuff..lets roll it there.
there are 19 robot designs on this web site
http://www.downport.com/bard/bard/bardvera.html
(Scroll down to Equipment/Robots)
For TJ-this is Random static stuff..lets roll it there.
PapaGolfWhiskey
SOC-13
Did you ever pick up an Albedo Fanzine called refractions? I think my first published story was in issue 2 or 3 of that.
A short story called "The Full Measure"
Traveller greatly influenced my view of The albedo universe. And probably had a bit of a crypto-influence in some of the Non-Albedo stories I wrote.
but.. I digress. this topic is about robots. Care to start one about the differences and likenesses of the two universes? say in Static?
A short story called "The Full Measure"
Traveller greatly influenced my view of The albedo universe. And probably had a bit of a crypto-influence in some of the Non-Albedo stories I wrote.
but.. I digress. this topic is about robots. Care to start one about the differences and likenesses of the two universes? say in Static?
I've just been perusing this thread. I'm positively amazed that no one has muttered the words self aware. There are several minor thoughts that came to mind while browsing through (if I repeat someone else's thoughts, I apologise.) Some people have mentioned that there is a semantical difference between android and robot. Here's an interesting question: What makes something an android? Is it that it be self aware, or that it be humanoid in appearance? What about the concept of bio-robotics? Who says that robotic building-blocks have to be composed of inorganic materials.
(Intersting side question... was Frankenstein a robot?)
While we're at it. If you want to go into the conspiracy theory business, why not posit that there might be a robot of a high enough tech level to mimic biologics, and fool most detection methods. Does it really matter at that point whether or not it's a robot? If you've got a sufficiently believable logic core, it wouldn't even need to be an A.I. system or a self aware system. It would simply have enough right answers.
I shudder to think about certain issues, but what about entertainment, and entertainment? These have almost always driven consumer technology.
What about a virtual robot? If you used a simulation and it interacted with it's environment in a useful manner, automatically maintaining ships systems, does that matter? What if that virtual system were portable and self adapting to smart devices/machines. Does it cease being a robot when it's merely organising data in a memory bank instead of a warehouse/cargo bay?
I know I'm rambling an awful lot, seems my caffeine stream is getting too much blood in it. But that's a few random drive by's for now.
Till next,
Ice Cat
(Intersting side question... was Frankenstein a robot?)
While we're at it. If you want to go into the conspiracy theory business, why not posit that there might be a robot of a high enough tech level to mimic biologics, and fool most detection methods. Does it really matter at that point whether or not it's a robot? If you've got a sufficiently believable logic core, it wouldn't even need to be an A.I. system or a self aware system. It would simply have enough right answers.
I shudder to think about certain issues, but what about entertainment, and
entertainment? These have almost always driven consumer technology.What about a virtual robot? If you used a simulation and it interacted with it's environment in a useful manner, automatically maintaining ships systems, does that matter? What if that virtual system were portable and self adapting to smart devices/machines. Does it cease being a robot when it's merely organising data in a memory bank instead of a warehouse/cargo bay?
I know I'm rambling an awful lot, seems my caffeine stream is getting too much blood in it. But that's a few random drive by's for now.
Till next,
Ice Cat
Android imlies a robot (whether biological robot or mechanical) which is in a humanoid shape.
I imagine, in a universe that contains non-human sentients, this might be expanded to include the shape of any sophont.
Then there is self-aware. Once a being is self-aware then it is a being. It may or may not still be property depending on legal definitions (Property is a legal issue with morality implications) however it is no longer morally equivalent to a rock.
Then there is "convincing" - if something reacts as if it is the "same" as you in a fundamental sense, then it is reasonable to treat it as if it is the same. This has morale freight, but basically, the Turing test - if you can;t tell it's a robot, you should treat it as a sentient. Of course, I have met humans who fail the turing test, but would still be locked up if I "turned one off". Note again that there may be overlap between "convincing" and self-aware. Self-aware is important, but convincing is probably enough. Nota also that "reacts as if it were the same" is a "fundamental" issue. If my mental map of things that are "morally equivalent to me" requires a belief in a particular god, then someone who doesn;t act as if they have that beliefis not "equivalent to me".
All the above is based on a morale relativists viewpoint. I don;t necessarily support any of it - but it is something I might argue on a slow day. Personally, I am a morale absolutist however I can;t find any logic to justify my stance.
I imagine, in a universe that contains non-human sentients, this might be expanded to include the shape of any sophont.
Then there is self-aware. Once a being is self-aware then it is a being. It may or may not still be property depending on legal definitions (Property is a legal issue with morality implications) however it is no longer morally equivalent to a rock.
Then there is "convincing" - if something reacts as if it is the "same" as you in a fundamental sense, then it is reasonable to treat it as if it is the same. This has morale freight, but basically, the Turing test - if you can;t tell it's a robot, you should treat it as a sentient. Of course, I have met humans who fail the turing test, but would still be locked up if I "turned one off". Note again that there may be overlap between "convincing" and self-aware. Self-aware is important, but convincing is probably enough. Nota also that "reacts as if it were the same" is a "fundamental" issue. If my mental map of things that are "morally equivalent to me" requires a belief in a particular god, then someone who doesn;t act as if they have that beliefis not "equivalent to me".
All the above is based on a morale relativists viewpoint. I don;t necessarily support any of it - but it is something I might argue on a slow day. Personally, I am a morale absolutist however I can;t find any logic to justify my stance.
Liam Devlin
SOC-14 5K
_________________________________________________Originally posted by Jewels:
The Encyclopedia Galactica defines a robot as a mechanical apperatus designed to do the work of a man.
The Marketing Divsion of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation defines a robot as "Your Plastic Pal Who's Fun To Be With."
Mink was talkin about Technical progression in T-20 on another Thread...I s'pose that even inflatable "love-dolls" might get out of hand in the 56-57th century. (no pun intended--honest!) to android status...
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy defines The Marketing Divsion of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as "A Bunch of Mindless Jerks Who Would Be The First Against The Wall When The Revolution Comes", with a footnote to the effect posting an opening for anyone interested in the position of Robotics Corrospondant.
Liam Devlin
SOC-14 5K
Back onto thread though:
Here's some MT robot designs fer Spaceman Spiff-when he gets back! Mark Seeman's site...
http://www.seemann.ms/traveller.htm#robots
Enjoy!
Here's some MT robot designs fer Spaceman Spiff-when he gets back! Mark Seeman's site...
http://www.seemann.ms/traveller.htm#robots
Enjoy!
P
Prometheus
Guest
wow somebody remembered me! And the thread I am impressed ... anyway .. I beat a sig guy and got a hold of a terminal for so air time.. where is lisagb?
Liam Devlin
SOC-14 5K
-------------------------------------------------
SSG Daniel W Hammersley, US Army(Res)-ARkansas, at yer service, Spiff!
LGB is off workin as an entertainer aboard a cruise line. Back In January she said...
IMTU robots (as with cybernetics) are regarded with a certain degree of suspicion. Dumbbots are common in jobs like cargo handling, etc, but nobody likes a smart robot.
A typical arrangement at a space port would be: a truck turns up, loaded with cargo, and driven by an organic (human or otherwise). In the back are two cargo handling 'bots, who unload the cargo and put it in the ship's hold under supervision of the driver. He tells them what to move, and where to stack it, and deals with the paperwork.
Customs checks generally require that an organic is responsible for the movement of goods through the checkpoints at the port boundary, and should be present when the load is passing through customs.
Similar situations exist in most functions where robots can do the work, at least in Imperial space.
More intelligent robots, androids, replicants, pseudobiologicals, etc, do exist but they are extremely rare and seldom found outside research facilities.
I always felt that too many robots, with too many "superpowers" detract from the game, drawing attention away from what I feel is an important theme in the game: it doesn't matter what toys and gadgets you have, it's your skills and brains that count.
A typical arrangement at a space port would be: a truck turns up, loaded with cargo, and driven by an organic (human or otherwise). In the back are two cargo handling 'bots, who unload the cargo and put it in the ship's hold under supervision of the driver. He tells them what to move, and where to stack it, and deals with the paperwork.
Customs checks generally require that an organic is responsible for the movement of goods through the checkpoints at the port boundary, and should be present when the load is passing through customs.
Similar situations exist in most functions where robots can do the work, at least in Imperial space.
More intelligent robots, androids, replicants, pseudobiologicals, etc, do exist but they are extremely rare and seldom found outside research facilities.
I always felt that too many robots, with too many "superpowers" detract from the game, drawing attention away from what I feel is an important theme in the game: it doesn't matter what toys and gadgets you have, it's your skills and brains that count.
trader jim
SOC-14 1K
A VISION just popped into my head....started to laugh....here it is.....a 1950's Asavov type robot sitting behind a beat up old desk, in the bowles of a Starport...tiny office...you couldnt find it if you had to....papers and forms, old bent in & out boxes stacked to the ceiling,exposed water and heating pipes close to the walls and ceiling......
robot stamping forms over and over and over and over....muttering....God *** HUMANS...dust flying right and left......
robot stamping forms over and over and over and over....muttering....God *** HUMANS...dust flying right and left......
P
Prometheus
Guest
Anybody got any robots to post here CT/MT/TNE/T20?
Wow, lot of interesting commentary here...
Okay, first off in my opinion one of the problems Traveller has always had was that of computers. Robotics is not much different. In the mid-70's, it was tough to predict where we would be today with computers or robotics.
At the same time, the design sequences in ALL of the material produced (including the latest incarnation) had to struggle with how to maintain the flavor (and existing canon material) while providing enhanced options.
So as I think about this, I wonder if its not time to completely restart robots in the traveller environment...
Okay, first off in my opinion one of the problems Traveller has always had was that of computers. Robotics is not much different. In the mid-70's, it was tough to predict where we would be today with computers or robotics.
At the same time, the design sequences in ALL of the material produced (including the latest incarnation) had to struggle with how to maintain the flavor (and existing canon material) while providing enhanced options.
So as I think about this, I wonder if its not time to completely restart robots in the traveller environment...
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