4 ms·

Vacuum tubes are pretty radiation-proof. It depends how primitive you want to get with the electronics.

by HPsquared 2y ago

guerrilla 2y ago
Vacuum tubes are generally big, high voltage and require large power supplies; so pretty terrible for robots.
- dylan604 2y ago
  Not if you're building Mechzilla. There's plenty of room for them at that scale!!!
  - _carbyau_ 2y ago
    One of the quirks I love about Battletech. A targeting computer weight is measured in tons... It really is a game of stompy robots as the 1960s thought they could be.
  - euroderf 2y ago
    *MechaGodzilla
- pjc50 2y ago
  Obviously you solve this by using nuclear power for the robot. /s
- HPsquared 2y ago
  Power supply etc would be external. They would have absolutely minimal electronics onboard, I was referring specifically to camera tubes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_camera_tube https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_camera_tube
  - guerrilla 2y ago
    Now I want one of these.
- magicalhippo 2y ago
  The MiG-25 used nuvistors[1] for the avionics, which are quite small compared to your average stereo amplifier tubes. Sure it requires high voltage, though "only" around 100V[2]. But yeah, still not great for making robots. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuvistor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuvistor [2]: https://archive.org/details/manualsbase-id-455546/page/4/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/manualsbase-id-455546/page/4/mod...
acchow 2y ago
You could have the "brains" of the robot sit outside of the actual physical robot connected by very long wires.
- ceejayoz 2y ago
  They do that already. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/one-minute-of-exercise-fukushima-robots-fail-dna-stores-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-1.4019376/robots-are-piling-up-inside-fukushima-s-robot-graveyard-1.4019409 https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/one-minute-of-exercise-fukus... > But so far, at least seven have broken down in there while trying to locate radioactive fuel, including two that just died in the last few weeks. One was pulled back after just two hours of a ten hour mission. Radiation had fried its camera. Another had to have its remote control cable snipped when it encountered something it couldn't get around.
  - exe34 2y ago
    I wonder if they could do something with just lenses and optical cables, and have the ccd or even just a dark room far away next to the electronics.
    - ggm 2y ago
      Begs questions if prolonged irradiation causes cloudiness in fibre optic cables or breakdown of the sheath. Radiation speeds up mechanical stress cracks materials doesn't it? Energy does what energy does.
      - krasin 2y ago
        I found this paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168900224001530 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01689... Essentially, they use optical fiber as radiation sensors on Fukushima. So, while the concern about cloudiness is valid, the reality is that at least some types of optical fibers work okay even there.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]

Vacuum tubes are pretty radiation-proof. It depends how primitive you want to get with the electronics.

guerrilla 2y ago

Vacuum tubes are generally big, high voltage and require large power supplies; so pretty terrible for robots.

dylan604 2y ago
Not if you're building Mechzilla. There's plenty of room for them at that scale!!!
- _carbyau_ 2y ago
  One of the quirks I love about Battletech. A targeting computer weight is measured in tons... It really is a game of stompy robots as the 1960s thought they could be.
- euroderf 2y ago
  *MechaGodzilla
pjc50 2y ago
Obviously you solve this by using nuclear power for the robot. /s
HPsquared 2y ago
Power supply etc would be external. They would have absolutely minimal electronics onboard, I was referring specifically to camera tubes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_camera_tube https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_camera_tube
- guerrilla 2y ago
  Now I want one of these.
magicalhippo 2y ago
The MiG-25 used nuvistors[1] for the avionics, which are quite small compared to your average stereo amplifier tubes. Sure it requires high voltage, though "only" around 100V[2]. But yeah, still not great for making robots. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuvistor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuvistor [2]: https://archive.org/details/manualsbase-id-455546/page/4/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/manualsbase-id-455546/page/4/mod...

acchow 2y ago

You could have the "brains" of the robot sit outside of the actual physical robot connected by very long wires.

ceejayoz 2y ago
They do that already. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/one-minute-of-exercise-fukushima-robots-fail-dna-stores-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-1.4019376/robots-are-piling-up-inside-fukushima-s-robot-graveyard-1.4019409 https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/one-minute-of-exercise-fukus... > But so far, at least seven have broken down in there while trying to locate radioactive fuel, including two that just died in the last few weeks. One was pulled back after just two hours of a ten hour mission. Radiation had fried its camera. Another had to have its remote control cable snipped when it encountered something it couldn't get around.
- exe34 2y ago
  I wonder if they could do something with just lenses and optical cables, and have the ccd or even just a dark room far away next to the electronics.
  - ggm 2y ago
    Begs questions if prolonged irradiation causes cloudiness in fibre optic cables or breakdown of the sheath. Radiation speeds up mechanical stress cracks materials doesn't it? Energy does what energy does.
    - krasin 2y ago
      I found this paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168900224001530 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01689... Essentially, they use optical fiber as radiation sensors on Fukushima. So, while the concern about cloudiness is valid, the reality is that at least some types of optical fibers work okay even there.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]