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"I went [to the top of] Vehicle Assembly Building and looked down, and tears burst from my eyes. The size of this cathedral where the Rockets take off to go to the moon is so amazing."
- Ray Bradbury
 |
| Repair Robots | ||
| Autonomous robots that carry out maintenance functions on a space ship. |
When The Invincible, a heavy cruiser powered by photon drive, came within range of a star system worthy of exploration, the crew was brought out of hibernation and the ship prepared for their use.
| Faint rattling noises came from inside the hull as if swarms of tiny animals were busily scurrying about scratching the metal walls with their sharp little claws. This was the sign that the repair robots had started out on their rounds, checking the solidity of the braces of the ship's framework; making sure that the hull had not been damaged anywhere and that all seams were still welded tight. The entire ship came to life, filled with myriad noises and activities . . . only the crew had not yet awakened... |
| From The Invincible,
by Stanislaw Lem. Published by Poland in 1954 Additional resources -
|
Interesting early use of this concept; we all remember the helpful droids from Star Wars, like R2D2.
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Invincible
More Ideas
and Technology by Stanislaw Lem
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- SPIDER Repair Robots From Lockheed Martin Blimps
| 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?
