SPOILER ALERT: Question - Robots can't survive Jump?

[gregcaires]

From a footnote on page 134:

"The robot plot was bound to fail; its conspirators did not know that their robot brains cannot survive jump, even protected by a ship’s jump field."

Uh, what now? I've never read anything in Traveller that suggests robots cannot survive jump. Anyone know anything more about this? It is just these particular robots or any robot?

 

[atpollard]

THAT is sure a game changer. :CoW:

 

[aramis]

THAT is sure a game changer. :CoW:

Some of us have LONG held that something requires the big processors...

IMTU, it's a requirement for vacuum tubes... I'd assume, however, that by TL16, something serviceable has come about.

 

[GypsyComet]

If this is the Dathsuts chapter, those aren't Imperial robots.

 

[Grav_Moped]

Some of us have LONG held that something requires the big processors...

IMTU, it's a requirement for vacuum tubes... I'd assume, however, that by TL16, something serviceable has come about.

Vacuum tubes with fiber-optic backup? The mind reels.
As does the magnetic tape storage...

It could have been something specific to those particular Von Neumann machines' method of being self-aware. But it might also explain why starships need sophont crews rather than being automated. On the other hand, it doesn't explain Virus-controlled ships.

 

[atpollard]

So the Robot that we purchased to help clean rooms doesn't function after the first jump?

The Robotic Miners need to be shipped STL?

"All robots are SYSTEM BOUND and non-FTL transportable" is something that probably should have been mentioned in all of the rules on ROBOTS throughout the various versions (and is NOT very Classic Sci-Fi Trope friendly).

 

[mike wightman]

If this is the Dathsuts chapter, those aren't Imperial robots.

It is indeed the Dathsuts chapter and the robots in question traverse the universe sublight - they may be Essaray constructs.

There is nothing to suggest that Imperial robot brains can not survive jump.

That said - if it is a new setting retcon that robot brains can not survive jump space then it does indeed have great consequence for the setting.

 

[gregcaires]

Yes the STL self building robots. I don’t recall of the text provides enough detail about how these robots are different that imperial robots, but seems a huge curveball casually thrown. Is anyone able to ask Mr. Miller for clarification?

 

[bookwyrm]

personally, I think robots can do just fine in jump space, especially since I don't know of any rule in Traveller that reads otherwise. this does make me wonder if a robots brain is affected by viewing the illogic of jump space, like a persons mind is affected.

although I haven't read the book, and thus don't know the context, I would surmise that that footnote is misinformation, so that the plotters don't know what really happened to 'their' robots.

 

[mike wightman]

AB101 survived jump travel just fine, so unless MWM is going to de-canonise all of that...

 

[Condottiere]

Bad jumps effect positronic brains just as much as human ones.

Roll for insanity.

 

[gregcaires]

I would surmise that that footnote is misinformation, so that the plotters don't know what really happened to 'their' robots.

The context is I’m reading the pdf version with MM’s annotations. They are in his voice from him as the author - they are not Agent Bland’s thoughts in the text or in the footnotes. I’d love to hear Mr Miller’s answer to this question.

 

[whartung]

The context is I’m reading the pdf version with MM’s annotations. They are in his voice from him as the author - they are not Agent Bland’s thoughts in the text or in the footnotes. I’d love to hear Mr Miller’s answer to this question.

So, "robots" can't survive jump but Virus...can?

 

[mike wightman]

I think it is just these specific robots.

The idea that robot brains produced by the Imperium or the Hivers can not survive jump is just a plain silly idea, not to mention contradicted by extant canon.

If, and it is a big if, MWM truly intends to retcon this idea into the OTU that it is all robots it will have massive setting changing effects, the law of unintended consequence doesn't even come into it.

I wonder where Marc got the idea from... no matter, it is a daft one.

I have been scouring the latest version of T5 to see if there is a jump space limitation on robots but if it is there I haven't found it yet.

 

[CaptRet]

I would fully agree that it has long been canon that robots can make jumps, and it would make little sense if they couldn't. What would be the significant difference in the processors between the robot and a ship's computer ?

 

[Cryton]

I don't agree robots cant make jumps.

One reason: VIRUS.

 

[aramis]

Vacuum tubes with fiber-optic backup? The mind reels.
As does the magnetic tape storage...

It could have been something specific to those particular Von Neumann machines' method of being self-aware. But it might also explain why starships need sophont crews rather than being automated. On the other hand, it doesn't explain Virus-controlled ships.

It's not of need tapes. Cassette and Cartridge are, outside of audio, almost perfect pseudonyms.

Data cassettes and data cartridges have both been terms used by manufacturers for rope memory modules, active ram modules, plug in rom modules (tho' the only rom cassettes labeled such that I've seen were for stage lighting.), battery backed up ram, and, of course, multiple tape formats.
Cassette also is used extensively in older military terminology for large capacity removable ammunition magazines for crew served or vehicle mounted weapons.

I've assumed non-magnetic storage for some time; in fact, once I made the swap to MVT cpus, and encountered a backplane computer system, each cassette is essentially a daughtercard using a backplane archetechture, including all the special hardware the device requires.

 

[bookwyrm]

well, in checking out AotI, I ended up reading it, and am still working through it. but in reference to the robot notation made by Mr. Miller, I think it might have been a thought he had concerning something that he writes about later in the story. and that is just my thought about the notation.

I like what I have read so far, especially since I didn't think I was going to like it in the first place. have to admit, some things look more like magic wrapped in science fiction, but as far as the original post, I think robots can survive just fine in jump space, unless there is some technological reason some creator race had making them in the first place.

 

[Grav_Moped]

I suspect that Mark's note may have only been intended to refer to those particular robots -- which would explain why they were building a NAFAL ship rather than one with a Jump Drive, despite their otherwise high tech level.

They may not have been "aware" that they couldn't survive in Jumpspace (though they may have known it at one point and then deleted the information as irrelevant millenia ago since they did have a form of -- sublight -- interstellar propagation).

 

[robject]

It is indeed the Dathsuts chapter and the robots in question traverse the universe sublight - they may be Essaray constructs.

Ther is nothing to suggest that Imperial robot brains can not survive jump.

This.

have to admit, some things look more like magic wrapped in science fiction

Cue long pedantic discussion about science fiction, and where various aspects of Traveller sit on the continuum.