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[Parsely]

I guess the problem I had with "transparent" robots is that if you make the outside of the robot transparent, then you can see the guts clearly. How are you going to make the guts transparent too? Is there really not a distinction between making a transparent robot and an invisible one?

[Flying Dice]

I guess the problem I had with "transparent" robots is that if you make the outside of the robot transparent, then you can see the guts clearly. How are you going to make the guts transparent too? Is there really not a distinction between making a transparent robot and an invisible one?

Presumably not literally transparent. We already have (primitive) cloaking tech that operates by projecting high-res live video of whatever would be visible if it weren't there. Get that to the point where we have some sort of applique that can do it, coat the 'bot in it, and Bob's yer uncle. Not perfect, probably, but "Hey, did you just see the air blur a little bit over there?" is far and away better than "Oh look, a robot to shoot!"

[chaotic skies]

That's sort of the idea. You're never going to get perfect invisibilty, unless you use some wierd quantum effect no one's ever heard of. But if you can make it so all you see is a slight blur, most if not all people will dismiss that blur as nothing.

[Rolepgeek]

I guess the problem I had with "transparent" robots is that if you make the outside of the robot transparent, then you can see the guts clearly. How are you going to make the guts transparent too? Is there really not a distinction between making a transparent robot and an invisible one?

He said completely out of transparent materials. He's going with the 'eventually we'll have materials that can fulfill arbitrary requirements and still function in other capacities' approach. Which is fine with me, this is a theoretical weapons thread, not everything needs to be 5 Minutes into the Future. But it doesn't have much use, really, that isn't offset by enough downsides that it would likely be far too expensive as compared to plain old generic 'stealth tech'.

[chaotic skies]

Stealth tech is also easier to convert for human use. Invisible materials are only useful if you use only invisible materials or want really clear windows

[Parsely]

I guess the problem I had with "transparent" robots is that if you make the outside of the robot transparent, then you can see the guts clearly. How are you going to make the guts transparent too? Is there really not a distinction between making a transparent robot and an invisible one?

He said completely out of transparent materials. He's going with the 'eventually we'll have materials that can fulfill arbitrary requirements and still function in other capacities' approach. Which is fine with me, this is a theoretical weapons thread, not everything needs to be 5 Minutes into the Future. But it doesn't have much use, really, that isn't offset by enough downsides that it would likely be far too expensive as compared to plain old generic 'stealth tech'.

If the tech simply works "because it's sci-fi" then what's the point of even discussing it? I mean sure you can come up with different crazy ideas, but the hardest and most fun and worthwhile part, for me, is thinking about how something would actually work and either coming up with a plausible explanation if it's hard sci-fi, or one that is at least internally consistent if I'm doing something in the soft side of the spectrum. It doesn't have to be realistic, it can be the most outlandish crap ever, as long as it's believable and there is a maintenance of consistency within the story. If you ignore the implications that tech has for other things in the same universe then that leads to plot holes. It's like Umbrella Corp illegally producing and selling bioweapons, which leads to their ruin, when they were already a successful leading pharmaceutical company making loads of money.

[flabort]

I guess the problem I had with "transparent" robots is that if you make the outside of the robot transparent, then you can see the guts clearly. How are you going to make the guts transparent too? Is there really not a distinction between making a transparent robot and an invisible one?

Presumably not literally transparent. We already have (primitive) cloaking tech that operates by projecting high-res live video of whatever would be visible if it weren't there. Get that to the point where we have some sort of applique that can do it, coat the 'bot in it, and Bob's yer uncle. Not perfect, probably, but "Hey, did you just see the air blur a little bit over there?" is far and away better than "Oh look, a robot to shoot!"

Which would be easier to attach to a robot than a person; unless the person is carrying a box around them. Because robots are sharp angles which can be mathematically computed, whereas humans are curves that can be moved in unexpected ways, and as such are a lot harder to compute which live feeds are on the opposite side of the camera for cloaking purposes.

And a medic bot could have a compartment big enough to carry a wounded person in, so it opens up, slides the person in like a stretcher, closes up, and since it's a cloaked box, presto, the wounded has vanished into thin air.

[Rolepgeek]

I guess the problem I had with "transparent" robots is that if you make the outside of the robot transparent, then you can see the guts clearly. How are you going to make the guts transparent too? Is there really not a distinction between making a transparent robot and an invisible one?

He said completely out of transparent materials. He's going with the 'eventually we'll have materials that can fulfill arbitrary requirements and still function in other capacities' approach. Which is fine with me, this is a theoretical weapons thread, not everything needs to be 5 Minutes into the Future. But it doesn't have much use, really, that isn't offset by enough downsides that it would likely be far too expensive as compared to plain old generic 'stealth tech'.

If the tech simply works "because it's sci-fi" then what's the point of even discussing it? I mean sure you can come up with different crazy ideas, but the hardest and most fun and worthwhile part, for me, is thinking about how something would actually work and either coming up with a plausible explanation if it's hard sci-fi, or one that is at least internally consistent if I'm doing something in the soft side of the spectrum. It doesn't have to be realistic, it can be the most outlandish crap ever, as long as it's believable and there is a maintenance of consistency within the story. If you ignore the implications that tech has for other things in the same universe then that leads to plot holes. It's like Umbrella Corp illegally producing and selling bioweapons, which leads to their ruin, when they were already a successful leading pharmaceutical company making loads of money.

The point of it was to discuss 'what if you could do this', not 'would this be possible', for this particular situation. The includes other implications.

[GiglameshDespair]

I was wondering if any of them would be effective, not so much practical as scifi weapons usually aren't very practical but if they would be possible.

If they are in the realm of possibility I would also like to hear how difficult (money, manufacturing, international legality of a nation making/using it, resources, etc) it would be to produce.

It would seem how possible things are is part of it.

[Rolepgeek]

I was wondering if any of them would be effective, not so much practical as scifi weapons usually aren't very practical but if they would be possible.

If they are in the realm of possibility I would also like to hear how difficult (money, manufacturing, international legality of a nation making/using it, resources, etc) it would be to produce.

It would seem how possible things are is part of it.

For Egan's question about manufacturing transparent robots?

This thread has moved on to a location where both may or may not be used. In terms of this specific question that we've been talking about, it might have been about possibility, but it's kinda besides the point considering that it's a question about fictional societies, which means it's about applications of the technology and strategic considerations.

[Amperzand]

So, I found a wonderfully horrific concept from 1959. Go to this page, and scroll down until you hit the "Doomsday Orion".

TL;DR, an Orion Drive missile with a single warhead. Said warhead masses something like 1600 tons, with a yield of ~8 gigatons. Basically a world-burner of unpleasantly massive scale and horrifically near-term construction requirements.

[Flying Dice]

So, I found a wonderfully horrific concept from 1959. Go to this page, and scroll down until you hit the "Doomsday Orion".

TL;DR, an Orion Drive missile with a single warhead. Said warhead masses something like 1600 tons, with a yield of ~8 gigatons. Basically a world-burner of unpleasantly massive scale and horrifically near-term construction requirements.

Okay, hey, extrasolar colonization missions when please?

[Amperzand]

Just as soon as President Kennedy gets back from his trip to sign off on the funding.

[Flying Dice]

I'll prepare the Hellmarine, find us a volcano.

[chaotic skies]

Oh, can I bring the fusion-powered deathmobile?