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"SF looks towards an imaginary future, while fantasy, by and large, looks towards an imaginary past."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Autocab | ||
| An fully automated taxi cab. |
What is the best way to get around in an unfamiliar town without being noticed?
| He was glad to crawl into his autocab and close the cover.
He dialed the address and settled back. The little car lurched forward, climbed a ramp, threaded through a freight tunnel, and mounted an elevator. At first Don tried to keep track of where it was taking him but the tortured convolutions of the ant hill called "New Chicago" would have made a topologist dyspeptic; he gave up. The robot cab seemed to know where it was going and, no doubt, the master machine from which it received its signals knew. |
| From Between Planets,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1951 Additional resources -
|
The company that runs autocabs also knows a few things about human nature:
...when he tried to get out the door would not open. This reminded him that he must first pay the fare shown in the meter.. He was expecting disconsolately to be carted by the machine off to the nearest police station when he was rescued...
For an interesting contrast, take a look at the robot cab driver from Philp K. Dick's A Present for Pat.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Between Planets
More Ideas
and Technology by Robert Heinlein
Tech news articles related to Between Planets
Tech news articles related to works by Robert Heinlein
Autocab-related
news articles:
- 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge Videos
| Hyperloop One Video Shows It Works! |
| Flexup Tire Design Good For Tumblebugs |
| Musk Tunnels Wisely Restrict Drivers |
| Amazing Tesla Autopilot Video |
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'Everyone was aware that the damned platform was wandering around in its own orbit...'
'In the crimson darkness, stewing warm on their cushion of peritoneum and gorged with blood-surrogate and hormones...'
'They plop down on the Red and if the dust is deep enough ... they burrow in...'
Little robots cooperating can do big tasks. Eventually.
Ever wonder how you look when you enter a new part of a spacecraft?
