Metriculator
'Metriculator' is a broad term for any number of multi-legged, ambulatory vehicles employed by the tribes for locomotion over difficult terrain. Such machines have long been built and used by the tribes of Dust Flag to explore the rugged mountains and canyons above and below the western expanse - terrain which most machines simply cannot travel through.
All walking vehicles of Korash originate with ancient examples found in Magi ruins. Those first few machine patterns provided the template for every Korashi walker that would be to come - but it took generations of iteration and redesign before they became simplified enough to build without installing within them a 'thought core'.
Thought cores - those enigmatic computer-orbs of the civilisation that came before. All 'true robots' of Korash - those capable of thought - contain them, or something like them. At first, the things where barely understood; like most of the Magi's works, their subtlety and sophistication where indistinguishable from magic. But through the ingenious breakthroughs of the most technically able of tribes, they could be hooked into vast arrays to provide computing power. It wasn't long afterwards that they could be used to provide semi-sentience to multi-legged robotic chassis, allowing them to move and navigate with an insect-like awareness and mobility. Basic, but remarkable.
In time, with further iteration still, the thought core could be left out of the design entirely - ambulatory engines (the first of the metriculators) where born, and no longer required sentience. And thus, no longer required those rare thought-producing artefacts to work their limbs. Feats of reverse engineering led the way, with the form and function of the sentient walkers studied, and rebuilt, again and again. Necessity demanded ever simpler components and mechanics until, at last, the designs where so simple they seemed obvious.
Today, the metriculator is only a few steps more complex than the wheeled vehicle. And while the intricacy of tread and ambulation can be daunting to novice machinists, it is nothing that a skilled professional can't repair and replicate.
Image by Ellen
Dust Flag
All walking vehicles of Korash originate with ancient examples found in Magi ruins. Those first few machine patterns provided the template for every Korashi walker that would be to come - but it took generations of iteration and redesign before they became simplified enough to build without installing within them a 'thought core'.
Thought cores - those enigmatic computer-orbs of the civilisation that came before. All 'true robots' of Korash - those capable of thought - contain them, or something like them. At first, the things where barely understood; like most of the Magi's works, their subtlety and sophistication where indistinguishable from magic. But through the ingenious breakthroughs of the most technically able of tribes, they could be hooked into vast arrays to provide computing power. It wasn't long afterwards that they could be used to provide semi-sentience to multi-legged robotic chassis, allowing them to move and navigate with an insect-like awareness and mobility. Basic, but remarkable.
In time, with further iteration still, the thought core could be left out of the design entirely - ambulatory engines (the first of the metriculators) where born, and no longer required sentience. And thus, no longer required those rare thought-producing artefacts to work their limbs. Feats of reverse engineering led the way, with the form and function of the sentient walkers studied, and rebuilt, again and again. Necessity demanded ever simpler components and mechanics until, at last, the designs where so simple they seemed obvious.
Today, the metriculator is only a few steps more complex than the wheeled vehicle. And while the intricacy of tread and ambulation can be daunting to novice machinists, it is nothing that a skilled professional can't repair and replicate.
Dust Flag
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