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"I was perfectly satisfied to write science fiction knowing that it would pay very little, that it would be seen by only a very few people."
- Isaac Asimov
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| Blue Collar Robot (Self-Repairing) | ||
| An autonomous robot required to find its own work. |
In this future, autonomous robots need to find work; how else can you afford spare parts, not to mention upgrades?
| Jon Venex fitted the key into the hotel room door. He had asked for a large room, the largest in the hotel and had paid the desk clerk extra for it... The room was bigger than he expected - fully three feet wide by five feet long...
There was the usual adjustable hook on the back wall. He slipped it through the recessed ring in the back of his neck and kicked himself up until his feet hung free of the floor. His legs relaxed with a rattle as he cut off all power below his waist. The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it, plenty of time to skim through the newspaper. With the chronic worry of the unemployed, he snapped it open to the want ads and ran his eye down the Help Wanted - Robot column... |
| Technovelgy from The Velvet Glove,
by Harry Harrison. Published by Fantastic Universe in 1956 Additional resources -
|
This newspaper knew its readers; there were even comics for robots:
Compare to the repair robots from The Well-Oiled Machine (1950) by H.B. Fyfe,
Self-Maintaining Circuit Monitoring and Repair from Gramp and his Dog (1952) by Frank Quattrocchi, the
self-repairing robot from Accidental Flight (1952) by W.F. Wallace, the
service drones from The Two Faces of Tomorrow (1979) by James P. Hogan and the repair drone from Neuromancer (1984) by William Gibson.
He even had a favorite strip, a fact that he scarcely dared mention to himself - "Rattly Robot," a dull-witted mechanical clod who was continually falling all over himself and getting into trouble. It was a repellant caricature, but could still be very funny.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Velvet Glove
More Ideas
and Technology by Harry Harrison
Tech news articles related to The Velvet Glove
Tech news articles related to works by Harry Harrison
Blue Collar Robot (Self-Repairing)-related
news articles:
- Out-Of-Work Blue Collar Robots Need Your Help
- Blue Collar Bot Pumps Gas Update
- Unemployed Robots Should Seek Work Autonomously
- Pi4-Workerbot Adapts Quickly
- Competing With Blue Collar Robots
| Robot Hand Separate From Robot |
| Is Optimus Autonomous Or Teleoperated? |
| Robot Masseuse Rubs People The Right Way |
| Optimus Robot Can Charge Itself |
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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.'
