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"Science fiction is what scientists would do if they could - if they had enough grant money, enough time, and enough brains to do the wonderful things they would like to do."
- Greg Bear
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| Mining Worm (Robot) | ||
| An autonomous mining robot shaped like a worm. |
One way to get materials out of an asteriod is to send a mechanical worm to chew through to what you want.
| "D'you realize what R-7 has done now?"
"He's taken the mining worm apart - that's what. I knew that he would! ...The worm was strewn all over the floor! |
| Technovelgy from Love Among The Robots,
by Emmett McDowell. Published by Planet Stories in 1946 Additional resources -
|
Larry Niven made use of the idea in a 1968 story - see the mining worm (organic) from A Gift From Earth.
Compare to the metal worms from Vandals from the Moon (1928) by Marius, the robot snake from Bait for the Tiger (1952) by Lee Chaytor, the robot earthworm from War with the Robots (1962) by Harry Harrison, the mechanical cobra from Lord of Light (1967) by Roger Zelazny, the digger worm from With Friends Like These (1985) by Connie Willis and the robot snake spy from Mariposa (2009) by Greg Bear.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Love Among The Robots
More Ideas
and Technology by Emmett McDowell
Tech news articles related to Love Among The Robots
Tech news articles related to works by Emmett McDowell
Mining Worm (Robot)-related
news articles:
- CardioArm - Snakelike Surgical Robot
- Anna Konda Robot Spraying Water Video
- Surgical Robot Bores Into Brain Like Wasp
- HyDRAS-Ascent Pole-Climbing Snake Robot Construction Inspector
- Modular Snake Robot's Unique Gaits
- Scaly Yet Soft Robotic Snake
- Robot Snakes On A Plane!
- Robot Snake Flies, Fights Fires
| Robots Repair And Modify Themselves |
| Robot Janitors Get To Work |
| Robots Learn To Install Charged Batteries Into Themselves |
| Robot Rabbits Entice Pythons |
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'...war-balloons, or, as it would be more correct to call them, navigable aerostats.'
'This robot is a creature... It is a manlike being. Therefore, like any other talking, thinking man, he is entitled to a court trial!'
'...small electric motors at the principal joints worked the prosthetic framework by means of steel cables...'
