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"Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done and why. Then do it."
- Robert Heinlein
 |
| Scuttle-bot | ||
| An all-purpose surveillance robot that climbed rather than flew. |
I like to think that the clever name of this robot is back-formed from "scuttlebutt", a nautical term for gossip or rumors. The scuttlebutt was a ship's equivalent to a water cooler, a cask of fresh water for drinking.
| A scuttle-bot could climb a tree and anchor itself, just listening and watching, sniffing and measuring, constantly reporting back. Usually scuttle-bots worked in teams, with one on the ground and several more at various heights all the way up. |
| Technovelgy from Hella,
by David Gerrold. Published by DAW Books in 2020 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the robot tracking device from Vulcan's Hammer (1960) by Philip K. Dick, the robot snake spy from Mariposa (2009) by Greg Bear and the tracer bird from Changeling (1980) by Roger Zelazny.
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'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
'And the lifter was being piloted by a large pizza with extra cheese...'
'Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting.'
'After twenty generations of shillyshallying...'
