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"In 1970 I found little difficulty staying 30 years ahead of the man in the street, and now I find it difficult to stay 18 months ahead of the man on the street."
- Vernor Vinge
 |
| Iridium-Sponge Brain | ||
| A human-like metal brain for robots. |
Ah, to create a robot brain!
| "I knew I had something unprecedented and vital twenty years ago when
I perfected an iridium-sponge sensitive
to the impact of a single electron. It was the sensitivity of thought! Mental
currents in the human brain are of this micro-magnitude. I had the means now of duplicating mind-currents in an
artificial medium. From that day to
this I worked on the problem.
"It was not long ago that I completed your 'brain' — an intricate complex of iridium-sponge cells. Before I brought it to life, I bad your body built by skilled artisans. I wanted you to begin life equipped to live and move in it as nearly in the human way as possible. How eagerly I awaited your debut into the world!" |
| Technovelgy from I, Robot,
by Eando Binder. Published by Amazing Stories in 1939 Additional resources -
|
Binder used this same term in a later story in this series, Adam Link's Vengeance (1941):
...I switched on the electric current. Slowly I rheostated it up, to reach the point at which electrons would drum through the iridium-sponge brain, as thoughts drum in the human mind, under the forces of life. I watched, holding my breath—no, I have no breath. Sometimes I forget I am a metal man. But the idiom stands as descriptive of my feelings...
I heard
the hum of the electron-discharge,
coursing through the metal-brain I
hoped to bring to life. And then —
movement! The eyelids of the head
flicked open. The brain saw.
Compare to the synthetic brain from Mad Robot (1936) by Raymond Z. Gallun, the positronic brain from Reason (1941) by Isaac Asimov, the neuristor from My Name is Legion (1976), by Roger Zelazny and the artificial brain from Edmond Hamilton's 1926 classic The Metal Giants.
Dr. Link, my creator, had taken
twenty years to build my complex metal
brain. I duplicated the feat in a month.
Dr. Link had had to devise every step
from zero. I had only to follow his
beaten path. As an added factor, I
work and think with a rapidity un-
known to you humans. And I work 24
hours a day.
(Robot from 'Adam Link's Vengeance' by Eando Binder)
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from I, Robot
More Ideas
and Technology by Eando Binder
Tech news articles related to I, Robot
Tech news articles related to works by Eando Binder
| Robot Bees 3D Printed By Festo |
| DIY Robot Scorpion Crushes It |
| How To Settle An Argument Between Two Robots |
| Satyress Centaur Robot Horror Reminds Everyone Of Something |
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