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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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| Multiple Robot Team | ||
| A set of robots, with the leader able to coordinate the activities of less intelligent subsidiary robots. |
DV-5 was an unusual robot; besides being an asteroid mining robot, it was also able to direct six other less intelligent robots in mining activities.
| "Look, that robot, DV-5, has six robots under it. And not just under it - they're part of it..."
He watched the posturings of the robots on the visiplate. They were bronzy gleams of smooth motion against the shadowy crags of the airless asteroid. There was a marching formation now, and in their own dim body light, the rough-hewn walls of the mine tunnel swam past noiselessly, checkered with misty erratic blobs of shadow. They marched in unison, seven of them, with Dave at the head. They wheeled and turned in macabre simultaneity; and melted through changes of formation with the weird ease of chorus dancers in Lunar Bowl. |
| From Catch That Rabbit,
by Isaac Asimov. Published by Astounding Science-Fiction in 1944 Additional resources -
|
The subsidiary robots were called "fingers."
There is also a lot of interest in the idea of robots that work cooperatively; see Bees Key to Cooperative Robotics for more information.
Neither Powell nor Donovan had ever had previous occasion to talk to a "finger." It could talk; it wasn't quite the perfect analogy to a human finger. In fact, it had a fairly developed brain, but that brain was tuned primarily to the reception of orders via positronic field, and its reaction to independent stimuli was rather fumbling.
The idea of "multiple robots" is an idea that has received a lot of current interest. Take a look at Robotic Safety Barrels; these small robots are a close match to Asimov's idea of a team of robots.
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and Technology from Catch That Rabbit
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and Technology by Isaac Asimov
Tech news articles related to Catch That Rabbit
Tech news articles related to works by Isaac Asimov
Multiple Robot Team-related
news articles:
- Robotic Safety Barrels: Smart Traffic Cones
- Multi-Robot Pursuit System: We'll Be Back!
- NASA's Multi-Robot Planetary Exploration
- Synchronizing Humanoid Robot Swarms
- VelociRoACH Insect Robots Cooperate
- Robots Learn To Swarm Safely
- X2-VelociRoACH Cooperates To Launch Tiny Drones
| Prototype Robotic Masseur Has The Touch |
| Medical Assistant Robot May Roam The Halls Of Hospitals |
| Amplified Nerves Lead To Mind-Controlled Prosthetic Hands |
| FlyCroTug Micro Drones Do Heavy Lifting |
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