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"I'm strictly an ivory-tower person. I can explain things but I can't do things."
- Isaac Asimov
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| Spider | ||
| A robotic device that both extruded cable and climbed along it; a space construction robot. |
The Spider is a robot designed for speed in bridge-building; it extrudes the cables and works faster than any other component. They were well adapted for a free space environment.
| The two great ovoid bodies were hanging near the surface of the asteroid, about a hundred meters apart. The eight thin metallic legs were pointed downwards, balanced delicately a few centimeters clear of the surface. Between them, probing deep into the interior of the asteroid, was set the long proboscis. As Rob watched, the great, faceted eyes turned towards him. The Spiders were aware of his presence. Somewhere deep in their organic components lurked a hint of consciousness.
Corrie had been fascinated by them from the first moment she saw one. "Why eight legs?" she had asked. Rob had shrugged. "It extrudes material like a spider. How many legs wouldi you have given it? |
| From The Web Between the Worlds,
by Charles Sheffield. Published by Not Known in 1979 Additional resources -
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news articles:
- Spidernaut, Orbital Construction Robot
- Robotic Space Spiders To Crawl Sub-Orbital Web
- Robot Fabricates Endless Tools For Itself (Updated)
- Robonaut To Get Eight-Legged Spidernaut Configuration?
| Britain To Build Spaceport, First In Europe |
| Testing New Spacesuits In 1929 And 2015 |
| Space Station Kitchens 1929 and 2015 |
| Bigelow Gets FAA Backing For Moon |
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'Each leg in turn acted as a pivot around which the creature whirled its body...'
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'Solved the problem to some extent by devising rigid metallic clothing...'
'The robot drew his cab up before Eric's modest six-room bungalow.'
