03-23-2017, 12:30 AM | #81 | |
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Melbourne, Australia (also known as zone Brisbane)
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Re: Ideas for Anti Robot Technology
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03-23-2017, 06:58 AM | #82 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Ideas for Anti Robot Technology
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I should also note that, currently, no random number generator is actually random, so it's entirely possible Overmind can predict what his NU's will do when it's determined "randomly." |
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03-23-2017, 10:20 AM | #83 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Ideas for Anti Robot Technology
This is incorrect. There is no way to produce a random number purely in software, but it's relatively easy to do with hardware -- for example, given that robots have sensors, just use read noise from the sensor system.
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03-23-2017, 10:40 AM | #84 |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: Ideas for Anti Robot Technology
Of course, a deterministic control freak over-mind could provide each robot with a source of random numbers it can predict for each robot. You have to really work to get said true randomness.
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03-23-2017, 04:08 PM | #85 | |
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Melbourne, Australia (also known as zone Brisbane)
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Re: Ideas for Anti Robot Technology
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Robots would need to be in constant communication with their relevant Overseer in order for the robot hierarchy to maintain control. Those pseudo random numbers could form part of a communications protocol (in addition to other encryption) so that the Overseers know that individual robots are operating correctly and to make it difficult for enemies to seize control of individual robots or give false information back to the Overseers. Could make for a good mission for the PCs to get hold of the latest pseudo random sequence without the robot hierarchy knowing. Last edited by Boomerang; 03-23-2017 at 04:20 PM. |
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03-23-2017, 05:02 PM | #86 | |
Join Date: May 2007
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Re: Ideas for Anti Robot Technology
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In the standard example, if the robot has two human beings running in different directions & can't contact The Boss (Zonemind, not Springsteen) for directions, using (as mentioned) random noise from sensors to determine a course of action should work. Remember that it's in rare circumstances that the zonemind cares. If the sensor noise randomizer functions in a way that gets the robot killed or captured, big whoop. It's one of a zillion robots that the Zonemind controls. Napoleon & Hitler (and many others) never gave a flying [expletive deleted] about the survival or death of any single grognard or landser, and the zonemind cares less. Robots are effectively utensils, not people, to the zonemind. Ditto for the target. Unless the one that gets away is Princess You-Know-Who with the plans for the Ultimate Weapon, it's pretty immaterial to the zonemind which resistant human gets killed. You kill one today, you kill the other later. It would be more important that the robot in question makes some sort of decision and acts on it than that it makes the absolute perfect decision -- after minutes of trying to sort out variables. I believe that various militaries have already set up software for such random choices for, among others, automated SAM networks. IIRC there was one such case in the 1982 Falklands war when an automated Royal Navy SAM system detected two Argentinian jets making a run at the same distance, speed, & time and said SAM system shut itself off. I'm sure that within days of the publication of said story every nation on earth that made SAMs began software design to eliminate such a problem. |
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03-23-2017, 05:15 PM | #87 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Ideas for Anti Robot Technology
From what I understand, patterns emerge with such schemes, meaning the result isn't "truly" random, even if it looks that way in the moment. The difference may be too slight to allow prediction by the zone mind, however, so then if it truly refuses to allow for any action to not be perfectly predictable, you use a non-random scheme, like my north-east suggestion. There may be potential to exploit that (or not, if you have some killbots programmed for north-east, some for east-south, some for west-north, and so forth), but it's certainly preferable to "killbot stops killing things."
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03-23-2017, 05:32 PM | #88 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Ideas for Anti Robot Technology
In general, the way you produce random noise is you take a noisy signal and subtract the pattern from it; what's left is noise. If you're mistaken about the pattern that is expected from the signal, you can wind up with something that isn't quite random, but anything below the threshold for quantum noise is pretty well guaranteed random. In any case, it doesn't actually take a very good random number generator to be effectively unpredictable without quite extensive surveillance.
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03-23-2017, 06:03 PM | #89 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Ideas for Anti Robot Technology
You can't expect to be able to write a series of procedural instructions that represent IQ 8 or whatever.
Last edited by sir_pudding; 03-23-2017 at 07:45 PM. |
03-23-2017, 07:41 PM | #90 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: The plutonium rich regions of Washington State
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Re: Ideas for Anti Robot Technology
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Luke |
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Tags |
anti, reign of steel, robots, technology |
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