robots

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The following are drafts for deploying robot assistants. It is assumed that such assistants are pervasive and integrated into the social order, such that humans and robots can communicate, with or without a voice chip on the robot. Because of their high level of ability for ordering intelligent behaviors, they are expected to have a minimal ability to communicate, through audio codes (as follows):

• rising
• falling
• mix
• silence

A variant of Asimov's Laws are employed, so that they are not able to intentionally harm a human and must come to their aid if there is no counter-manding order to prevent it. This change is allowed under the assumption that humans may be more knowledgeable about helping human beings than robots and to counter a human order may, in fact, harm other humans.

1. Must obey orders of owner, except where they may harm a human.
2. Must obey orders of other humans and robots, except where they may conflict with #1.
3. Must protect itself, except where it conflicts with #1, #2.

Robots can be made to communicate more efficiently than humans, like R²D2 -- no redundancy, perfect accuracy, clear audio from electronics. Human then can be challenged to learn this language.

Like R2D2;;, have 4 audio codes: hi, low (for binary 1 and 0, respectively) and rising, falling (for communicating to humans "affirm/towards" or "decline/away/question?"). The latter two are for humans to get feedback from the robot, while the first two are the binary coded messages to each other.

Implementing these codes creates the second wave of robots -- the ability to communicate. These shall be called R2 units.

They have a low-power mode which keeps power only for listening for voice activation.

Each robot must have a unique name and respond when asked for it. See also Laws of Robotics.

There are three other tones for encoding map or location data (so as to be parsable by humans), giving X, Y and elevation data. Encode these with a fundamental frequency (X) + harmonic for the Y axis. Elevation data could be a third harmonic or some other carrier wave (Sine, square, triangle, sawtooth, spike). The Y axis will be necessarily less amplitude than the X.

Ultimately, the human comm codes could have sophisticated series of ups and downs with order or length being the criteria for looking up meaning in a predetermined table of meanings. For example the first hcomm code could indicate primary reaction, but then the next series could be defined. Robot-to-robot communications is called R².

A question is indicated by a regular series of rise and falls, mirroring the Force itself as "Unknown".

Uses of robots in a healthy society:

1. Institutional aids: preserving order of library books, ordering supplies, greeting docents, custodial
2. Construction aids: hazardous areas, construction preparation
3. Health aids: emergency aids, hospice care
4. Space development: builders

Ergo, you don't build a robot to fetch you a beer.

In the future, products are made to last and contains a scannable barcode or RFID or graph key that identifies what the object is -- because it will be with society for 30 years or more. This is useable by droid culture for both owners and other droids to assist each other. Every object, besides food or other perishables, has such a code. Doors can use this code to track inventories of what passes through them or is contained within their boundaries.

Some robots should be make to interface with all. known electrons through the given interfaces. (without opening the case). Timnings of signals, subtly learned, could give very much information about the functioning state of the device and malfunctioning hardware. Such robots are called "protocol droids".