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"The whole problem of energy sources is going to be solved by little solutions, not by some big new piece of technology that does everything. We got into this crisis by believing that we had one big piece of technology that would do everything (oil)."
- Gregory Benford
 |
| Ironing Robot | ||
| A robot that smooths the wrinkles out of clothing. |
Future Russians use natural plant fibers to recreate what their "прабабушки" (great-grandmothers) wore.
But, there was a problem. Unlike future clothing, the vintage clothing wrinkled and somehow needed to be smoothed. How could this be accomplished? Better call "Бытовых Автоматов" - Household Automata!
| New clothes had to be protected, periodically clean, wash and dry. Build special base washing and cleaning proved unsustainable, and offered to set up production plants portable washing machines. But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...
Here plant Household Automata and received an urgent task to develop and set up production units of BTR - "бытовые тканевые разглаживатели " (a household fabric smoother). |
| From Iron (утюг),
by Mikhail Mikheev. Published by Not Known in 1972 Additional resources -
|
Senior designer Rodia Semenova submits one design after another; the incredible progress of Russian science causes each to be labeled as insufficiently modern. First, the heating element is replaced by "microgenerators"; then, the microgenerators are discarded in favor of elements of colliding isotopes!
Eventually (*spoiler alert!) it appears that his tough old grandmother had the solution all along - and it was made of cast iron.
This story comes from a collection called "Cute Robots", good luck getting a copy of that, let alone a translation!
(Cute Robots by Mikhail Mikheev)
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