More customisable minibots

[Dabir]

So right now we've got all kinds of various recipes for various little beeping robots, like the securitron, the cleanbot, the medibot, all those wonderful little guys.

What if the recipes were a bit more standardised? And had more room for customisation?

So say you take an empty container/reagent holder. Add a robot arm and a proximity sensor, then add a sensor to tell it what to detect, and give it a tool to use on whatever it detects.

An old firebot? Use an emergency toolbox, give it an atmospheric scanner and a fire extinguisher (make sure to turn the safety off though).
An old cleanbot? Use a bucket, give it a forensic scanner and a mop.
Old securitron? Helmet, prison scanner, stun baton.
Old floorbot? Engineering toolbox, maybe a t-ray scanner? and a pile of floor tiles.
Old medibot? Empty medkit, health analyser, not sure how you'd replicate the medical synthesiser though.
Dirtwhacker-9000? Cardboard box, forensic scanner, wrench.
Crime Cleaner XJ24? Helmet, prison scanner, mop.
A bot that makes people stay where they are while they burn to death? Atmos sensor and a stun baton.

Emagging them would change their behaviour based on the sensor, so an emagged prison sensor would go after anyone and everyone. Not sure how you'd replicate the behaviour of emagged firebots though.

Examine text should show off a bit about them, ie
"This is <a robot>. A hodgepodge of electronic components, crammed into a <box>. [Roboticists only: It seems to be scanning <all around/everyone it sees/the floor>]. It is holding a <tool>."

Whaddya think?

[Dions]

This is exactly the sort of creative thing we need, especially if the system is open and you can experiment with sensor/tool combos to see what you can make! I would really love to see a more comprehensive system for the lil bots, and if experimentation is possible, then all the werd stuff people will make!

[Erik]

I'd love to see a more customizable system like the mechanics component system, allowing you to script, build, and control your own little minibots!~

[Nnystyxx]

I'd be all over this. Not only would it promote creativity, just sheer proximity would lead people to make the originals and other useful things. I'm for it.

[Frank_Stein]

Yeah, Robotics needs something to do other than just cyborg stuff. I'd love for them to build all sorts of multi-purpose bots to do work around the station.

I'd love for bots to have programmable simple behaviors, like moving a certain count of steps in any direction, searching and picking up items, using said items with their environment. Pretty much anything a player could do, simplified to a list of instructions. Then it's just a matter of setting a robot up for automating a process.

For instance, set a robot up in the kitchen, then program it to walk back and forth from the fridge to the oven. At the fridge, it will search for a white list of items, such a meat. It picks up the item, does it's movements, then drops it in the oven and turns it on and waits for it to cook. Then it just loops that process. Or add extra steps to carry it out to the kitchen as well.

[Naximous]

Y E S!

[Dabir]

Yeah, Robotics needs something to do other than just cyborg stuff. I'd love for them to build all sorts of multi-purpose bots to do work around the station.

I'd love for bots to have programmable simple behaviors, like moving a certain count of steps in any direction, searching and picking up items, using said items with their environment. Pretty much anything a player could do, simplified to a list of instructions. Then it's just a matter of setting a robot up for automating a process.

For instance, set a robot up in the kitchen, then program it to walk back and forth from the fridge to the oven. At the fridge, it will search for a white list of items, such a meat. It picks up the item, does it's movements, then drops it in the oven and turns it on and waits for it to cook. Then it just loops that process. Or add extra steps to carry it out to the kitchen as well.

Aphtonites is working on something like that.