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"I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled 'Science Fiction' and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
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| Self-Assembling Robots | ||
| Robots with the capacity to assemble themselves from components, and then switch themselves on. |
This is a relatively early, explicit reference to this idea in sf.
| The Sheem Robots were modeled after living animals of various worlds, and the Spider is considered to have been the most perfect of them all. This is the last specimen still in existence. You asked whether I had assembled it recently... Yes, I have. It's a most simple process...
The captain swung the gun up, pointed it at Yango's chest. "What are you hiding?" he asked. "Why, the activating mechanism," Yango frowned puzzledly. "I understood you wished to see it assembled. You see, the Sheen Robots assemble themselves when the signal to to it is registered by them." |
| Technovelgy from The Witches of Karres,
by James Schmitz. Published by Chilton in 1966 Additional resources -
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Witches of Karres
More Ideas
and Technology by James Schmitz
Tech news articles related to The Witches of Karres
Tech news articles related to works by James Schmitz
Self-Assembling Robots-related
news articles:
- CkBot Modular Robot Self-Assembles, Picks Gait
- Self-Assembling Robot Swarm
- Robot Lamp Assembles Itself (Via 3D Printer)
| Humanoid Robots Tickle The Ivories |
| Golf Ball Test Robot Wears Them Out |
| PaXini Supersensitive Robot Fingers |
| Artificial Skin For Robots Is Coming Right Along |
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Science Fiction
Timeline
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'The massive feet working the pedals, arms and hands flashing and glinting...'
'There were cubic miles of it, and it glistened like a silvery Christmas tree...'
'Jason had been guiding the caravan of cars as usual...'
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
'...support the interior human structure against Jupiter’s pull.'
'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray...'
