Questions tagged [robots]
For questions about machines (esp. programmable machines) capable of carrying out complex tasks.
179
questions
3
votes
4answers
127 views
What would be the most reliable type of control systen for a piloted giant robot? [closed]
I was thinking of one similiar to the system from Patlabor or the original Moble Suit Gundam: an onboard AI which takes in inputs from a control panel/voice commands an interprets the best way to ...
24
votes
21answers
6k views
Why would an AI overlord want to give their robot citizens emotion?
In my world, a hyper-intelligent AI has struck out on their own to form a perfect, mechanized empire, populated by loyal robot citizens, devoted to the overlord as a child would be devoted to their ...
3
votes
1answer
79 views
Nanomachines and deception are the essence of magic, how can I explain meteor showers and similar large-scale weather spells?
So, dragons have access to this thing, called word magic. Word-magic spells are typically need way more energy and processing power than regular magic, they also have nasty cool-down times. A dragon ...
8
votes
2answers
2k views
Could a robot that can survive at the center of the Earth also survive a nuclear explosion?
The robot in question is a very large, worm-like mining robot with a huge drill on its front end, built to survive staggering levels of heat and pressure. It's so resiliant, in fact, that it can ...
2
votes
4answers
186 views
Is my robot concept viable?
I've developed a concept for a robot, and I need it reality-checked. The main body of the robot consists of little more than a brain, an eye, a battery, and a number of powerful electromagnets. It ...
-3
votes
1answer
77 views
what are the properties of anti-magic? [closed]
In my fantasy world, magic has four specific properties:
Magic is a product of living things. Wherever there is life, there is magic. The greater the concentration of living things, the more magic ...
3
votes
4answers
192 views
could a robot fly with powerful enough electromagnets?
The robot in question is a large, worm-like mining robot built for digging tunnels. It has electromagnets positioned throughout the segments of its body, for the purpose of pulling metals out of the ...
1
vote
2answers
89 views
Can sentient androids function like regular intelligent lifeforms? [closed]
I want there to be conscious enough androids in my story for it to make sense that they inhabit their own country and run it just like humans would.
How would that work?
How does reproduction work?
...
7
votes
2answers
501 views
How much energy does a bee/micro robot need per second of flight?
In my scifi setting small utility robot swarms are used for many purposes. I'm currently trying to estimate how much energy such a swarm would need to operate. Since biology, robotics and ...
2
votes
4answers
105 views
What makes an unstoppable droid army? [closed]
So my question is what would make an army of droids unstoppable when facing against humanoid species? (specifically how would droids be designed)
For context one person sets foot on a planet with ...
0
votes
2answers
227 views
How plausible does the power source for this fictional giant robot sound?
Here is a big one for you engineering fans to chew on.
First off, a little context:
The giant robot in question is called Mazinger Z, considered to be fiction's first pilotable mecha, launching the ...
9
votes
1answer
147 views
How fast could a humanoid robot run?
Speedsters like Quicksilver and the Flash run far faster than a real human ever could. A human body could not withstand the force of friction, survive the rapid acceleration, or process stimuli fast ...
8
votes
7answers
223 views
Android vs. Biped/Humanoid Robot in the Military
In the story I am writing, a robotics company receives funding from the military to create a prototype for a combat android capable of passing as human but I am having trouble justifying the need for ...
3
votes
3answers
187 views
What could potentially lead to a AI/robot-driven post-apocalyptic world?
Let's say that it's the 23rd century. Climate change has gotten worse and resources are dwindling to dangerously low levels. Coastal cities have flooded, displacing hundreds of millions of people ...
3
votes
2answers
220 views
Batteries for droids [closed]
In Star Wars (again), one of the most recurring characters is R2-D2. Even though he's in most of the movies, I (personally) have never seen him charging. I've seen him do a lot of power consuming ...
3
votes
4answers
279 views
Is it plausible to to cover a desert in self-replicating solar panels, using only the materials found in the desert?
Silicon is the main material used in both computers and solar panels.
Sand is silicon.
Deserts have a lot of sand and sun.
This may be an oversimplified way of looking at things, but could we ...
3
votes
2answers
169 views
Deadly virus going extinct - “grey goo” a solution?
With the evolving global warming and thawing of permafrost, an ancient deadly virus begins to spread from Siberia across Eurasia, affecting domestic animals first and mutating quickly onto the rest of ...
-2
votes
2answers
169 views
WW3 The robot war [closed]
In the near future could robots that exist today be slightly modified to go off road or in water. In the show called "Battlebots" I imagine, what if it was bot vs Solder. The show is a must watch to ...
2
votes
2answers
176 views
What would a “free” robot society do with themselves? [closed]
I'm framing the main example for this question within the context of the Star Wars universe, because it's the inspiration of this question. However, we should be perfectly capable of describing any ...
4
votes
2answers
169 views
How could one realistically incorporate robots into a post-apocalyptic, 1930s setting?
Trying to flesh-out a post-apocalyptic setting where humanity wiped themselves out during the late 1920s, early 1930s; The survivors have reverted to primitive practices while still having access to ...
-8
votes
2answers
182 views
How to encrypt the activation signal for my kill-switches to make them impossible to hijack
Dragons are awesome, but they're still vulnerable thanks to their low-numbers and a certain type of people...
So, to prevent those from killing even a single dragon I came up with the wedding rings ...
4
votes
4answers
148 views
Logical explanation for why Brainbots would not retain their original identities memories
So, my setting is a post apocalyptic one, 197 years after WW3 kicked off and destroyed pretty much everything. The current date is 2259. Before WW3 started, the USA was experimenting heavily with ...
12
votes
8answers
2k views
Which US defense organization would respond to an invasion like this?
I'm at a critical point in a sci-fi novel where a couple of thousand Superintelligent artificial intelligences end up going haywire. Naturally, they're extremely intelligent, and thus, much harder to ...
1
vote
1answer
141 views
In a 1950s pre-war Fallout world-like , How would a Robot Nanny's capable of taking care of kids affect families? [closed]
In a parallel world where super-capable nannies where mass-produced, capable of taking care of kids and even educating them, how would this affect how families work in this world?
5
votes
4answers
112 views
The Elementary Evil vs You /Animatronics 2: Judgement Day/ We need a weakness!
So, Anon has had enough of the DM abusing his poor creations (the chromatic dragons). Wanting a better fate for them, he wraps the DM in unbreakable chains, forged in the heart of a neutron star, and ...
3
votes
3answers
351 views
Is there any advantage to have A.I. being able to experience loneliness?
Let get this straight being lonely is different from solitude, human is arguably one of the most successful animals ever to walk on two. The secret lies in social interaction, the early humans hunt in ...
-10
votes
6answers
496 views
Could Artificial Intelligence ever arise without life? [closed]
I have been musing this on and off since R. Daneel Olivaw. It is tempting to wonder if R. Daneel Olivaw was created by humans, or did it (He?) spontaneously arise without intelligent living ...
37
votes
11answers
10k views
Can a space-faring robot still function over a billion years?
This short story, which I've already written, is set in the FAR, FAR FUTURE, where a robotic space probe is exploring as much of the known universe as it can, despite its AI not knowing if its ...
3
votes
4answers
295 views
How would one optimize conventional modern weapons for fighting robots [closed]
Pretty straight forward
What kind of conventional firearms would be best for fighting armored and unarmored robots. Is any particular round effective at destroying electrical components or motors? ...
3
votes
2answers
211 views
Why would artificial general intelligence fear death? [closed]
Set in the immediate future, artificial general intelligence (AGI) has attained sapient equivalent of a 15 years old teenager, these humanoid robots are hardwired to obey the robot penal code which ...
2
votes
2answers
98 views
Agressive squad-level tactics with robotic squires, what would change?
Sometimes, your death on the battlefield will be the result of a string of minor inconveniences spiraling out-of-control. This is rather embarrassing, especially when happening to my main character, ...
2
votes
3answers
377 views
Can a high power EMP generator keeps killer robots at bay?
Set in the near future, thousands of killer robots resemble those featured in the terminator film, I'm referring to the 800 series model are now marching in as we speaks. I am a sole survivor on a ...
16
votes
17answers
5k views
How can my powered armor quickly replace its ceramic plates?
Though ceramic plates are harder than a math exam, and can practically obliterate projectiles, they are one-hit wonders. Self-repairing has been demonstrated for a composite of silicon carbide and ...
0
votes
1answer
95 views
What methods would a detective use to solve the murder…of a robot? [closed]
In what ways would it be different from solving a human murder case? And what circumstances would make killing robots a serious offense, even if they don't have rights and are still referred to as ...
4
votes
5answers
192 views
How can AI distinguish conscious and subconscious instructions? [closed]
In the near future everything is connected and can think. Robots walk the street but only to control traffic and pick up rubbish, etc. Nowadays, robots don't simply execute an instruction given ...
10
votes
5answers
2k views
How vulnerable are the undersea internet cables to deliberate sabotage by one of the major powers (US, UK, Russia, etc)? [closed]
Over 99% of the transcontinental internet traffic goes through a network of 280 sets of undersea cables.
How vulnerable are these to deliberate sabotage by the major powers?
I'd rather not focus ...
9
votes
8answers
7k views
Why bother programming facial expressions for artificial intelligence if humans are bad at recognising them?
Set in the near future, robots and mankind coexist amicably due to the great technological advancement in robotics and artificial intelligence. They are everywhere and some took a human form. All of ...
0
votes
1answer
65 views
Determining the Temporal Durability of a robot's body? [closed]
I have a story I'm working on where a robot is in a meditative state for thousands of years. However, I realize that with the current technologies we have today I'm not sure if a robot's physical body ...
2
votes
3answers
101 views
Shooting all flying creatures in fear of spying drones [closed]
Spying technology is getting more sophisticated. Drones as we know them are obsolete. Robots appearing as living creatures are becoming science fact. First, robotic birds, then robotic insects. They ...
5
votes
5answers
355 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 ...
5
votes
7answers
248 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'...
11
votes
6answers
603 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
137 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
810 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
257 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 ...
8
votes
8answers
431 views
How to balance my magic robots so they don't monopolize my story?
A setting I've been planning for a while involves a function of magic that can animate objects using the magical equivalent of programmable functions. A wizard/witch/magic-user uses a magic language ...
1
vote
5answers
137 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 ...
19
votes
9answers
3k 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
316 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. ...
87
votes
17answers
16k 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 its surroundings. This can be ...
