TL8 examples

> >  I *would* like to see someone design a TL8 70-gram robot, even
> >one with a slave unit, in Travller:)
>
> Bertil, you're making a mistake that is one of my pet hates in Traveller:

> "How can that be when Earth is only TL 8? We can't
> make jump drives yet!" Simple: Earth today is TL 8 wrt. space tech but a
> lot higher wrt. computers and robots.

  Ok, ok, design it at TL15 then. It is equally impossible there:)

>       Hans Rancke

- -bertil-
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Bertil writes:
>  At Lausanne they have a 70-gram independent robot that can navigate
>by ultrasound or laser. It can be equipped with a small camera or arm.
>The whole shebang costs ~$2500.
>  A communicator for remote control should not weight so much. And the
>possibilities allowed for by a 70-gram robot with camera and arm are
>endless:)
>
>  I *would* like to see someone design a TL8 70-gram robot, even
>one with a slave unit, in Travller:)

Bertil, you're making a mistake that is one of my pet hates in Traveller:
You're assuming that everything produced on Earth in a particular period
of time belongs to one specific tech level. IMO that 'TL to period
equivalence' table is a good rule-of-thumb but a terrible rule. It has
been pointed out time and time again that there are computers made today
that is equivalent to TL 10 or 11 or whatever  -  at least according to
the Traveller tables. "How can that be when Earth is only TL 8? We can't
make jump drives yet!" Simple: Earth today is TL 8 wrt. space tech but a
lot higher wrt. computers and robots.


      Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
     [email removed]
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