Here's the main utility vehicles that Bip has been possessing. They have arms so that they can perform more tasks autonomously, but those can be useful for sassy gestures too if the operator is so inclined.
Tod also is six foot six/198 cm, by the way. Most humans look much shorter next to Talita.
Reminder number two to get your character questions in for the upcoming AMA.
Transcript
LOG 5.1: The Modular Frontloader
The main workhorse of the junkyard is the modular frontloader, a semi-autonomous electric utility vehicle that can be remotely or manually controlled.
Image: A mid-sized orange, grey, and black utility vehicle with manipulator arms, a front attachment hitch, an oversized cab, and folding radiators is parked in resting position. It is slightly over 3 meters in height and 4 and half meters long. Next to it stands Tod, a human slightly under 2 meters tall, and Talita, who is 3 meters tall.
Modular frontloaders can be programmed to follow autonomous cycles, and have a basic algorithmic AI that can assess environmental conditions and make decisions about how to best complete assigned tasks. This AI isn't nearly as complex (or energy intensive) as sapient AI, and when it encounters problems it can't resolve, like the vehicle getting stuck or damaged, it alerts the junkyard staff of the issue to come help it. The vast majority of the work done by the staff is responding to these distress calls, field repairs, and completing tasks that the basic AI can't handle. Manual operation of the vehicles can also provide training data for the vehicle AI, which helps it handle similar tasks on its own later. A sapient AI operator like Calcery can actively monitor and remote control an entire fleet of vehicles to a
much higher degree of efficiency than the onboard AI, but still needs time off work and field assistant staff.
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The large cockpit is fitted for a human wearing an exosuit.
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Folding radiators keep the vehicle cool even in Dirtball's scant CO² atmosphere.
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Manipulator arms allow the vehicle to perform more delicate tasks on its own.
Talita
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The other workhorse of the junkyard.
Tod
ATTACHMENTS
Front attachments can be mounted to the nose rig for specialized tasks. Counterweights in the rear of the vehicle can be swapped to balance the load capacity of the attachment.
Airless tires require less maintenance and cannot pop from the wear of driving over abrasive regolith grit.
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Cutter: An arm attachment with a disc shaped grinder blade on the end.
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Scoop: A wide, low to the ground frontloader shovel attachment.
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Excavator: An arm attachment with a bucket shovel on the end.
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Crane: An arm attachment with a grasping claw on the end.
24 thoughts on “Runaway to the Stars: Page 163”
Rad Internet Stranger
WAIT TALITA’S CLOTHES RESEMBLE THE FRONTLOADER
WAS THAT INTENTIONAL?!?!?
Sen
Oh Talita. Our favorite workhorse! Love the modular frontloader.
10/10 would drive through the admin wing.
Hemocyanin
Modular Frontloader my beloved
creetur
Wonder how sapient AI views non-sapient AI. Like a machine? How we see animals? Very curious.
Septemberdale
Probably like a machine. A set of algorithms is observably very different from an animal more complex than a jellyfish or perhaps a rotifer.
Redacted
Found Talita’s Transformers-sona lmao.
Yes I can make anything about my current fixation why do you ask.
ÄT”ûDa
I actually think it’d be awesome to try and design a Transformer around her or maybe aim for something that reads as a centaur in shape rather than Talita specifically. Could be fun to noodle with if I have more time haha
Fallingfeather
Huh, now I’m curious- does anyone know how those types of radiators work? I can’t imagine how flappy fins on the back of the vehicle cool off the center bulk. Are there like, coolant lines running through the whole thing and then through the radiator?
Light_In_The_Fog
yeah, its the same way that the radiators on the iss work. You put a bunch of coolant through them in the same way that a refrigerator works, but instead of hot air it gets rid of the heat through blackbody radiation
Anony Mouse
Can’t believe I’ve already reached the present day and will need to wait for more updates. This is an incredibly charming story and I love the depth of biology and society of these people so much!
Arcstone
So the wheels are just big doughnuts of solid rubber?
wingedhorror
Nope, they’re honeycombed!
Rose
i’m glad sapient AI get time off work just like the squishy sophonts do
malmo
Now I want to know what the AI characters do in their time off. AMA question incoming…
Eux
i love to see a construction vehicle.
Teod
Oh, also, I just noticed there’s quite a lot of similarity between those trucks and Talita. The color scheme matches her work clothes (orange in front, gray on the back) and the hands bend in a similar-ish way
Pathfinder42
Airless tires are a great idea for the environment, but I doubt the ride is a comfortable one. Thankfully I doubt AI, sapient or not, mind all that much.
Such a lovely color too.
Paroxysmall
i assumed the front loaders would likely be yellow but seeing them in color makes me think of characters who you think just have white hair in a manga but it’s actually pink
Enai
I also expected them to be yellow. Mostly because the majority of construction vehicles and construction vehicle toys were yellow when I was little.
Light_In_The_Fog
We have info about different species’ sight ranges, but not about what wavelengths are more/less sensitive. Yellow is a color that stands out great to human eyes, but I wonder if avians have a sensitivity peak at a different point in their vision, meaning orange is a more universal color? I might be overthinking this tho lol
Anony Mouse
I saw something saying orange is what plucked avian skin looks like, so it may well be a signal colour – like magenta for their blood.
TotallySomebody
Vehicular
Teod
I was kinda expecting a log on centaurs, now that we know a bit more about them. But I guess this waits until more characters are introduced.
Guest
This is awesome