Giant Robots!

[Bullgrit]

...

Bullgrit

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

That means this t hread is now about giant robots, right?

 

[Bullgrit]

Now define "giant".

And how mechanical does a body need to be to be considered a robot? Does Steve Austin count?

Bullgrit

 

[Hand of Evil]

Austin was a cyborg; part organic and mechanical. A robot is all mechanical, 100% metal/plastic/artificial with no organic in them. Any organic, makes it a cyborg, they are consider enhancements.

 

[Hand of Evil]

As far as giant goes, as I am only 5' 4", anything near 3 feet taller than I am, I am calling a giant, this is the "ah" factor, you feel it. So, a robot 7 or more feet tall, is a giant robot to me.

 

[Umbran]

Austin was a cyborg; part organic and mechanical. A robot is all mechanical, 100% metal/plastic/artificial with no organic in them. Any organic, makes it a cyborg, they are consider enhancements.

Being nitpicky - in the world of chemistry, lubricating oils and plastics are "organic". Anything with carbon in it is organic from a chemist's point of view. Might want to note that it is *living* parts that make it a cyborg, to be clear.

If someone created a machine that had cultured tissue muscles, but no living brain, I'd be hard pressed to call that a cyborg.

 

[Bullgrit]

Is Robocop a robot? Human face and hand, yet has "robo" in his name.

How about a mech/jaeger? Full human pilot.

Must a robot be autonomous, or can it have a crew? Internal crew, or remote crew? A bomb-disposal "robot", or flying drone, or a tank?

I bring this up because isn't that image above a mech with a crew inside?

Bullgrit

 

[jonesy]

Now define "giant".

The robots in Robot Combat League were pretty big, but I don't recall anyone calling them giants. I'd say anything significantly larger would qualify.

 

[Umbran]

Is Robocop a robot? Human face and hand, yet has "robo" in his name.

Nope, he's a cyborg - he still has a living brain behind the face. The name is merely name.

How about a mech/jaeger? Full human pilot.

If a mech/jaeger is a cyborg, then so is anyone driving a car. Since the combination is not really a single unit, I vote No for it being a cyborg.

Must a robot be autonomous, or can it have a crew? Internal crew, or remote crew? A bomb-disposal "robot", or flying drone, or a tank?

By most definitions I know, a robot does not need to be autonomous - and especially in the world of wireless communications, the idea of autonomy gets tricky. We can have one computer controlling seventeen drones hundreds of miles away. Is any one of the drones "autonomous"?

There is, however, a specific term for a human-controlled remote mechanical device: a "waldo" (named after the story, "Waldo" by Robert Heinlein)

 

[Hand of Evil]

Being nitpicky - in the world of chemistry, lubricating oils and plastics are "organic". Anything with carbon in it is organic from a chemist's point of view. Might want to note that it is *living* parts that make it a cyborg, to be clear.

If someone created a machine that had cultured tissue muscles, but no living brain, I'd be hard pressed to call that a cyborg.

You are right I guess I should have used artificial enhancements merged with organics.

I guess we can discuss Cybermen (cyborgs) and Cylons (both) in this topic too.