Re: Robots as crewmembers

[email removed] writes:
>
> As for utterly automated ships, this gives rise to all sorts of fascinating
> scenaria, most of which I think would work better in a game like Space Opera
> than in MT, but that's a personal bias.....
>  ...
> "Yeah, see, that's the problem. The computer's gotten kind of antisocial;
> it keeps spacing its crews. We can't get to it to disconnect it, either.
> You see the problem?"

So someone else has been reading Adventure 1, Kinunir!

A few comments on TL 15 automated ships.  First, given that TL 8 aircraft have
fairly effective auto-pilots, I'd expect that a ship's auto-pilot of TL 10 or
more could land the ship.  (Come to that, the TL 8 Space Shuttle practically
lands itself.  The pilot is there in case all four computers malfunction.  On
one occasion when the shuttle did land manually, the landing was a bit bumpier
than the previous computer-controlled ones.)  Also, in Ye Olde Book 3, in the
section about equipment, it mentioned that ground cars were computer driven
at TL 10, and in fact in some places driving by humans was illegal.  So at TL
15, I'd be surprised if a ship couldn't take off, fly, and land by itself
without human interference.  Assuming, that is, that nothing unexpected
happened.  Computers can only deal with the expected, i.e. what the programmer
expected.  Human crews would be there in case of the unexpected, and might be
required by law - especially on passenger carrying craft.

There is, of course, one problem with making everything TL 15.  What do you
do for spare parts when (N.B. "when", not "if") something breaks down?  This
is why ships like Type S Scout/Couriers and Type A Free Traders are TL 9 or
TL 10.  There are more TL 10+ planets out there than TL 15+ planets.

- - --
 "Keyboard?  How quaint!" - M. Scott

 Adrian Hurt			     |	JANET:  [email removed]
 UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian     |  ARPA:   [email removed]