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"...a few centuries of coherent humanist thought, set against a million odd years of evolved killer ape tendency. No-one's going to give you very good odds on humanism, are they?"
- Richard Morgan
 |
| Skrode | ||
| A small mobile platform designed for a legless race. |
| Ravna looked across the surf. When the waves backed down the sand, she could see the Skroderiders' fronds peeping out of the spray... They sat in the surf, thinking thoughts that left no imprint on their minds...
Then some unknown race had chanced upon the dreamers and decided to "help them out." Someone had put them on mobile platforms, the skrodes. With wheels they could move along the seashores, could reach and manipulate with their fronds and tendrils. With the skrode's mechanical short-term memory, they could learn fast enough that their new mobility would not kill them... |
| Technovelgy from A Fire Upon The Deep,
by Vernor Vinge. Published by Tor Books in 1992 Additional resources -
|
Skroderiders sometimes performed an action repeatedly; their only short-term memory lay in their skrodes:
Compare to the Martian perambulators from Between Planets (1951) by Robert Heinlein.
When the Riders tried to think on more than one thing at a time, their Skrodes were sometimes unable to maintain short-term memory. Blueshell especially got trapped into cycles of behavior, repeating an action and then immediately forgetting the accomplishment.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from A Fire Upon The Deep
More Ideas
and Technology by Vernor Vinge
Tech news articles related to A Fire Upon The Deep
Tech news articles related to works by Vernor Vinge
Skrode-related
news articles:
- Cockroach-Controlled Mobile Robot
- Terranaut - Fish Explore Land With Robotic Vehicle
- Mothbot: Moth Controls Robotic Vehicle
- PlantBot: Humans Provide Gift Of Greater Mobility With 'Skrodes'
- Solar Nomad Plant A Robotic Urban Parasite
- Hamster Powers, Controls Strandbeest Walking Robot
- Project Shellter 3D Prints Homes For Crabs
- Pepper The Parrot's Bird Buggy
- Male Moths Cruise For Girls In Robotic Vehicle
- Mattel Bug Racer Driven By Live Cricket
- HEXA Robotic Help For Plants
- Giving Snakes Their Legs Back
- Mushroom 'Robot' Is Just A Start
| 'Robovan' Name Already Taken - Elon, Try These |
| Tele-Driving Offers Jobs For Tele-Drivers, Not AIs |
| GM Scraps Cruise Origin Robotaxi With No Steering Wheel |
| GoSun EV Solar Charger Drapes Onto Your Car |
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'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
