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Robots Tagged: good

1982

KITT

Categories: Fiction, Film – Tags: , , , , ,

Essentially an advanced supercomputer on wheels, KITT (known also as Knight Industries Two Thousand/Knight Industries Three Thousand) is the short name of a fictional character on the adventure TV series Knight Rider. KITT is an artificial intelligence electronic computer installed in a highly advanced, very mobile, robot in the form of a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.

KITT has special features such as Turbo Boost, which allows quick bursts of speed or jumping over obstacles, the ability to drive himself, a front mounted scan bar that, among other things, allowed KITT to “see,” “molecular bonded shell” coated body panel armor coating which resisted conventional weapon fire as well as most artillery and explosive blasts although a strong direct hit could cause severe damage. A refit in the 1985 season included the addition of “Super Pursuit Mode” and a convertible top. The car’s voice was supplied by actor William Daniels. [Wikipedia]

1951

Astro Boy

Categories: Fiction, Literature – Tags: , ,

Astro Boy is a Japanese manga character, created by Osamu Tezuka. Asto Boy is a central character in Japanese manga and still hugely popular.

In the futurist science fiction world of Astor Boy humans and robots live in co-existence. In the story Astro Boy was created by Doctor Tenma to replace his own son, who was killed in a car accident. Astro Boy was created in the child’s image and after a detour was raised by a loving legal guardian.

In the fiction Astro Boy is often discriminated for being less than human, but the plot shows him only to be good and kind and proves his discriminators wrong. Astro Boy uses his powers for good and is a sympathetic and charming character.

Not surprisingly Osamu Tezuka drew inspiration to Astro Boy from the classic story of Pinocchio.

The Astro Boy universe has a fundamentally different underlying mythology than most western robot mythologies. Astor Boy is first and foremost the hero of the stories and although he often battles robots gone berserk the stories cast a positive view on robotics.