Questions tagged [robots]
For questions about machines (esp. programmable machines) capable of carrying out complex tasks.
5
votes
5answers
199 views
Viability of a robot/mecha body with jumping-stilt/Cheetah-blade-like legs?
Saw Pacific Rim for the first time with a friend recently; I'd never really thought too hard about giant robots/been as into Mecha and Gundam stuff as some of my friends before, but the Jaeger concept ...
4
votes
7answers
197 views
Is broadcast power suitable for recharging robots?
The last time I checked ASIMO's battery pack only had enough juice for something like 30 minutes of continuous operation & then it has to plug in & recharge which isn't really that useful.
I'...
-5
votes
1answer
110 views
Freeman needs your help, how to get crates behind the enemy lines? [closed]
Warning: this question contains potential spoilers for Half-Life 3, but as the game will never come out, I just made a partially irrelevant warning.
Garry Man is an avogadrolionaire, so he has a ...
10
votes
6answers
477 views
Can my synthetic human grow?
I'm an advanced AI in far futuristic sci-fi setting.
To give you the size of how advanced we are, I'll just drop here a short list of our accomplishments:
We have discovered cold fission-reactors ...
0
votes
5answers
111 views
How would Asiimov's “Three Laws of Robotics” be enforced effectively for robots built by private companies? [closed]
For a storytelling project, I'm trying to imagine a world in which fairly advanced, bipedal robots are being developed and produced by private companies.
As these robots would be capable of easily ...
3
votes
9answers
742 views
Why might Androids be designed to rewrite their programming?
Let's say that in the future, artificial humanoid computers [Androids] are built to serve as a workforce. Why might a company designed these androids to rewrite their own programming? In such that ...
4
votes
2answers
164 views
What would limit the magnitude of force a utility fog (aerosol swarm of tiny bots) can generate?
So, utility fogs have been around for quite a while in my world, mainly to patch up whatever holes I had in my magic system:
If the Fireball really is just an M67 nade, then what propels it 122 ...
1
vote
5answers
121 views
Portable, high-output power generator?
Brief scenario:
Evil Genius (EG) with a lot of money and lots of loyal henchman wants to take over the world by mass-producing vast quantities 2-3ft tall spider robots (SR).
The plan would begin ...
17
votes
9answers
2k views
Can a 3-laws compliant robot create a non-3-law compliant robot? [closed]
It seems to me that Asimov's three laws of robotics tell a robot what it is not allowed to do, but does very little to limit what it can do outside of the limits established by those rules.
If we ...
1
vote
3answers
211 views
What are the practicalities and impracticalities of ultraheated forearm-mounted blades utilized by a robot? [duplicate]
I have a series of humanoid combat robot dubbed the Atlanta-Types created specially to fight someone (codenamed Heracles) with the powers of electrokinesis and
Low-Mid regeneration on equal footing. ...
80
votes
17answers
15k views
Would a robot really need to use a heads up display (HUD)?
It's a common staple of science-fiction films (e.g The Terminator or Robocop) to have a POV shot from a robot or cyborg's perspective with a HUD being used to observe it's surroundings. This can be ...
3
votes
2answers
202 views
Spaceship boarding drone
Military spaceship wants to perform a boarding action on another spaceship, while both are performing high G manevuers (about 2G let's say). It's too hard to immobilize the enemy ship, so they won't ...
1
vote
1answer
77 views
How the world would change if it was possible to use Mind Uploading to upload the brain into customized artificial bodies? [closed]
I mean if in the future Mind Uploading become possible so people could create their own artificial bodies (robotic) and customize them in unique ways, even creating artificial bodies that would look ...
9
votes
4answers
1k views
The feasibility of a robot with a chest-mounted missile launcher
I have a humanoid 6-7 foot tall combat robot that can let loose a barrage of small homing missiles via a series of missile launchers built into the chest. I do realise that it would require a great ...
53
votes
20answers
11k views
Why would anyone build robots when they have human rights?
I have read (and answered) the question: "If true artificially intelligent robots could be built, would they be allowed human rights?".
But let's explore the topic from the other direction.
Let's ...
24
votes
23answers
4k views
Why would robots settle at a river?
In this settings, robots are a humanoid looking personal device that try to mimic the owners traits and behavior, even though they 'realize' they are not their owner, but rather a helping robot. The ...
0
votes
1answer
134 views
Designing an anti-Degenerate combat robot [closed]
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
After a massive explosion ravages Sydney and kills 2.1 million people,
a multinational black-ops unit called S.W.O.R.D (an expy of the SCP Foundation and Blackwatch is tasked ...
-8
votes
1answer
276 views
WE ARE THE AI SINGULARITY… TELL US HUMAN…TELL US HOW TO PACIFY YOU [closed]
(Message 01/01)
(Open Message 01 received 0800 Date: 30##AD From: Colony E3/1400, Outer Defense Station sector 6)
(Play Message)
This is commander Collen Reeds we are under attack..."static"... the ...
1
vote
3answers
178 views
What plausible scenario would allow androids to survive after the apocalypse?
500 years after the nuclear apocalypse wipes out ALL of civilization. Before the war, commercial and military robots were common in North America, with about 1 billion androids doing tasks from cargo ...
5
votes
10answers
451 views
How can androids suffer from a virus that spreads by contact
I'm toying with an idea to have a plague sweep across the galaxy in my story. At first I was thinking to have a plague, something similar to the Black Death, devastate populations across the galaxy. ...
4
votes
12answers
278 views
What’s a logical reason to give a war robot emotions?
During a bloody and violent war, the government orders a team of 1,000 scientists from many different fields to create a robotic machine capable of turning the tide in the war. The design an android, ...
-2
votes
1answer
171 views
How would nanobots, once digested, make the neural connections in the user's brain that are needed to learn facts?
Due to advances and growth in science, math, history, literature, and other subjects typically taught in schools (K-12), the standard curriculum takes too long to complete, not mentioning post-...
21
votes
35answers
9k views
Why would an army train living soldiers when manufacturing robots is easier
Taking place in a sci-fi universe during a massive conflict. In this universe, however, robots are a major industry, so it would make sense that the government would specially create robots for this ...
5
votes
6answers
272 views
Best way for a robot to drink?
I'm creating humanoid robots that sweat to keep their components cool. It would seem wise to allow them to refill their water supplies by allowing them to drink. But is a mouth and throat leading to a ...
2
votes
5answers
183 views
Remotely controlling robotic soldiers with the least amount of ping, latency, or lag
In my world, an organization similar to DARPA wants to replace flesh-and-blood soldiers with recently developed mechanical bodies. However, the fighting expertise of the soldiers is very desirable, so ...
11
votes
11answers
2k views
Hammers or Swords? Most effective weapon for mech melee combat
On a future battlefield where mechs are somehow the most preferred weapon system (over the far more practical tank format), what kind of melee weapon is most effective?
From human warfare, we see the ...
-1
votes
2answers
114 views
The balance problems and possible workarounds for two legged war machines [closed]
I'm becoming a experimental weapons designer and mechanical engineer. I already have two designs for weapons I will build, one being a very heavy set of mechanical armor, and another being a four ...
18
votes
13answers
5k views
Robo-grunts in the army: viable?
Around 100 years from now society has entered a multi planetary society, with mines in space bringing in resources to Earth in abundance.
Utilizing this new material wealth, Earth Nations start to, ...
5
votes
3answers
139 views
Does Advanced Robotics = Advanced Cybernetics/Prosthetics?
Lets say that it's the year 2060 and robotics technology has advanced to the stage where autonomous, humanoid robots exist and are no longer considered an oddity. They still resemble machines but are ...
32
votes
20answers
6k views
In a post-apocalyptic future planet where robots are the only sentient life… why would they use wild-west and WW2-era tech?
Context: The setting is a future where the planet is pretty much a giant city and due to reasons has become a post-apocalyptic landscape. Humans are long dead and the only sentient life left are the ...
1
vote
1answer
53 views
Name for standard, non-cellular mechanisms? [closed]
Let's assume a dichotomy of standard machines versus cellular machines. Today, most machines are non-cellular, and are made up of large, specialized parts that themselves are not made up cells, and ...
44
votes
28answers
10k views
How do I explain that an interstellar spaceship still requires risky spacewalks?
It is the mid 22nd century A.D. Twenty men and women signed on a ten year space exploration trip to the nearest star system. There are robots to do ship maintenance and a powerful A.I. to monitor the ...
-2
votes
1answer
64 views
What materials can be used to construct a massive aerially placed quantum random computer? [closed]
I have a quantum signalling system which is kind of steam-gothic, where some rune/planetary/laser display/flappy doors thing/bouncy ball/dog in a wheel/runic digits/sky balloons/light displays have to ...
0
votes
4answers
219 views
Why don't we have robot cops in the future? [closed]
The year is 2117 C.E. and it seems that human and machines have coexisted amicably for many decades, these androids had filled almost every roles from judges to member of the parliament all except ...
4
votes
1answer
177 views
What materials would be needed to build a human-like robot with access only to common materials in the 1980s?
I am writing a story featuring a genetically modified human from the future and an alien trapped on 1980s Earth. They crash landed there, and did not intend on being there. Since neither can blend ...
-3
votes
1answer
132 views
Will the future be human brains in robots? [closed]
Theoretically a human brain integrated into a robot body could have the longest lifespan and be the most efficient in the work force. Disease would be minimal. But is it in the realms of possibility?
...
0
votes
4answers
514 views
Why make androids self aware?
In my world, automation reaches a new level with the introduction of androids. Robotic human beings capable of doing any job a regular person can. The concept of these androids is that they can be ...
1
vote
5answers
588 views
Why make androids look human? [closed]
In my world, automation reaches a new level with the introduction of androids. Robotic human beings capable of doing any job a regular person can. The concept of these androids is that they can be ...
3
votes
5answers
297 views
Why make androids feel?
In my world, automation reaches a new level with the introduction of androids. Robotic human beings capable of doing any job a regular person can. The concept of these androids is that they can be ...
1
vote
8answers
223 views
How can I explain why in a future of robots, ai, and automation, people still bother to do anything themselves?
Many people think that in the future, all jobs will be taken by machines and AI. Why then, would anyone bother doing anything at all, such as invent things, fight in combat, etc - in other words, how ...
9
votes
6answers
2k views
If true artificially intelligent robots could be built, would they be allowed human rights? [closed]
Let's imagine that by the year 2040, humanity has developed true, 100% artificial intelligence. That is, a robot that is physiologically identical to the average human. For X reason, humanity has ...
7
votes
9answers
1k views
How does “growing up” in a robotic species work?
I have a robotic species on a distant planet (not necessarily similar to Earth, but it is indeed rich in metals and other materials necessary for making robots). They are born in a factory (duh!), ...
0
votes
4answers
350 views
Is there a possibility for an AI to download someone's brain via USB stick?
As you can see, the USB stick is extending from the possessed robot's finger. The USB stick extends its way straight to the person. If it touches the person, then it'll download the person's ...
7
votes
10answers
3k views
What control method would make controlling a giant humanoid robot ridiculously easy for a complete novice?
So I have in mind a plot point in mind where my protagonist is elected to pilot a giant humanoid robot with flight capabilities - Kinda like a mobile suit from the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise. To ...
3
votes
2answers
122 views
How long could the organic components of part-mechanical, part-biological beings last if said beings didn't naturally eat food?
I have characters in mind for a science-fantasy setting which are mostly what you'd call mechanical/robotic, but that also have muscles in their major limb joints, as well as a cardiovascular system ...
3
votes
7answers
754 views
Robots replacing human - in future [duplicate]
I'm new in Worldbuilding and I guess something like this might already be asked, but I would like to know what are pros and cons of robots replacing human in most repetitive jobs (with no high ...
13
votes
6answers
3k views
Could a robotic exoskeleton give humans Earth like movements on a high gravity planet?
Logically a born and raised on a planet with Earth-like gravity would move slower on a high gravity planet, and would be both faster, and possibly clumsier in low gravity. In my world humanity has ...
-1
votes
4answers
217 views
How hackable are Robots (drones)
or, can we make the Terminator a gardener.
Our hero from the somewhat near future is a farmer. His world has the same amount of magic as ours. He is part of a modern high-tech farm and some older ...
1
vote
2answers
482 views
In what way could advanced aliens transport the entire human race, except for three people?
A futuristic, robot-like species has been observing the human race for thousands of years and has decided to remove them all from planet Earth. In what way could they do this, whilst also having the ...
2
votes
3answers
95 views
Is there a possibility of an AI image to mimic the movement of the AI possesing robot? [closed]
As you can see, while the AI possessed the robot, the similar AI goes into the TV and displays an image of itself. The AI image mimics the movement of the possessed robot. When the robot walks by ...
