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"Human beings hardly ever learn from the experience of others. They learn; when they do, which isn't often, on their own, the hard way."
- Robert Heinlein
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| Blue Collar Robot | ||
| 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... |
| 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:
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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- Unemployed Robots Should Seek Work Autonomously
- Pi4-Workerbot Adapts Quickly
- Competing With Blue Collar Robots
| X2-VelociRoACH Cooperates To Launch Tiny Drones |
| An 'Ethical Black Box' For Robots? |
| Kino Project Roaming Personal Fashion Robots |
| First Crewless Ship? Umm |
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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?
