Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Latest By
Category:


Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work

"Conspiracy theories are big because they're comforting. Any conspiracy is infinitely less multiplex than the real deal, which is multiplex to the point of being unknowable."
- William Gibson

Robot Bird  
  A small winged UAV that can mimic a bird in flight.  

When you're a Stinker, and other people can't stand to be around you, the company of intelligent robotic birds with excellent voice recognition abilities and conversational skills can be a blessing.

He ruffled his plastic feathers. "I have calculated... that the retentive capacity of my memory is now restricted to a mere 70,000 additional words - how about fixing me up with two more retentive banks?"

...Craig smiled faintly. "As soon as possible and that's a promise." Gun extended one wing, examined his feathers and said: "Many thanks."

When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit. Over the years, however, he had given them life and intelligence... They had developed into personalities and provided stimulating companions in his isolation. He had given them free-decision, apart from their business as bodyguards and all three had total recall. Gun, the golden eagle, was a compulsive reader...

Recky, the first of the two kestrals, was apt to become lost in classical music while Screen, the second one, was literally working his way through college in a variety of abstract subjects.

Technovelgy from Invader on My Back, by Philip E. High.
Published by Ace Books in 1968
Additional resources -

Here's a typical sample of Gun's interaction with Craig's enemies:

The operator gave it magnification. "Okay, it's a bird, yeah a bird, small eagle or something."

"- what kind of bird flies at ninety-seven thousand feet for God's sake?"

High above, Gun folded his wings and dropped like a stone. As he dropped his body vibrated oddly and things happened to the ship below him. Sparks danced on its back and where the sparks danced, the surface opened jaggedly spraying smoke and fragments...

Compare to the bird-like robots from Flamingo (1930) by CE Heller and the metal birds from Vulcan's Hammer (1960), by Philip K. Dick.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 2 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Invader on My Back
  More Ideas and Technology by Philip E. High
  Tech news articles related to Invader on My Back
  Tech news articles related to works by Philip E. High

Robot Bird-related news articles:
  - Robocopter Listens And Obeys
  - Robot Bird Alights On Human Hand
  - SHEPHERD-MIL, A Birdlike Soaring UAV
  - Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
  - Birds Aren't Real - Wake Up, California! (With Bird Watching Guide)
  - Flying Robot Inspired By Hawks
  - Robotic Crow Design, Like Crows, Is A Bit Creepy

Articles related to Robotics
Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On

Want to Contribute an Item? It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add it here.

<Previous
Next>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Science Fiction in the News

Robotic Barber Programmed With a Number of Styles
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'

Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'

Caterpillar Electric Mining Loader Not Yet Ready For Moon
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'

Centipede Robots Down On The Farm
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'

Anthropic's Claude AI Creates Legal Citation From Whole Cloth
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'

Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
'About time you got here,' the astronaut said.

'They Erased My Memory' Says Ariana Grande
'...using a neutralizing electronic impulse.'

Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
'...the Hole is something like a vortex or a whirlpool?'

Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'

DARPA Wants 'Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.