"Terminator Robots: Movement In Sewers And Tunnels?" Topic

This other thread got me thinking . . .

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What obstacle, if any, would sewers and tunnels present to terminator robots?

Would you say that they would/should be able to move through crawl spaces without any problems?

I seem to remember that, in the original film, the terminator exoskeleton had some difficulties making it through narrow spaces under machinery.

Thanks.

CC

If there is an advantage to humans living in such confined spaces . . .

How small would you have to make the sewers/tunnels to take advantage of that?

And how would you move figures (human and robot alike) in such spaces?

Thanks.

CC

Well, there would be no claustraphobia, no fear of the dark, the bad smells or poison gasses would not be a problem. Since they don't feel pain scraped knees and elbows and smacked heads on obstructions don't slow them down. I assume some type of thermal/night vision so they are ahead of unequipped humans in that area….

I expect as long as their joints allow the motion they are going to be better at it than humans.

Jake

I think he had the issue of having been burnt/damaged in the semi-truck explosion beforehand, though. I wouldn't think that sewers or tunnels would present any more of an obstacle to terminators than it would normal people, and perhaps even less as the terminators are stronger? The biggest caveat to that which I can see would be the fact that since their endoskeleton is completely metal, perhaps they have no way to distort their bodies enough to get into really narrow places?

They seem much less limber without their human disguise.

From the same guys who bring you the Roomba:

irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=109

IIRC, the "original" terminator endoskeleton (the one from the first movie) was still relatively mobile after having its legs blown off.

It crawled after Sarah Connor, keeping pace with her as they both crawled through the press thing that ultimately squashed it.

On that basis, I'd say that sewers and tunnels wouldn't limit them all that much. I think that Kayl has a good point, however: the fact that their frames are rigid might keep them from getting into any *really* tight spaces.

And remember their weight. Somewhere around 800 pounds.

By the way.

auction

Who would have thunk.

That's what the little stuffed teddy bear design was made to do. Oops, wrong sci-fi movie source…

Headbangers…
Terminators seem to be at least 6'2" in height. I'll betcha that in a closed space, Terminators would bang their heads against all kinds of things like rebar.

And remember their weight. Somewhere around 800 pounds

The roleplaying answer is therefore the use of tall alumimum ladders rated for 300 pounds in vertical shafts to get down and then up again from one tunnel to another on the far side of the shaft. Terminators are too heavy so they'll break the ladder and get trapped in the shaft. Humans come along and toss grenades into any shafts with broken ladders.

Part of the point of building robots like the endoskeletons, despite their complexity and cost, is that they can go where humans can.

That's why we keep focussing on building humanoid robots – they can go with us to places that tracked or wheeled robots can't.

"since their endoskeleton is completely metal, perhaps they have no way to distort their bodies enough to get into really narrow places?" -- I don't think you can distort your body that much either. At least not without lots of painkillers and much recovery time afterwards.

There's another thing…
When a Terminator is reduced to bare metal, it has no sense of touch!
How about slapping a limpet bomb on it's tuchis?

the sewers were always sort of iffy in my games. The state of the world meant not all of them were free to pass through due to clutter or collapse, and it didn't take Skynet long to figure out it needed a tool for them either. Mostly small spydrone type things, or assassin bugs like in Runaway but the occasional Terminator would slip down there to sweep and clear.

Red5angel,

You just justified what I was trying to make a few months ago!

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This is what my unpainted ones look like so far:

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CC

However, imagine these little cuties coming after you (or after Tom Cruise) in a tunnel, sewer, etc. . . .

(Basically the same image. I just wanted to increase the odds of providing working links)

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This one looks particularly painful:

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Look at the little suckers in action, about a minute into the movie trailer:

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CC

Here are the ones Jeremey has done:

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CC

Way to go, Jeremey!!!

minigerm.co.uk/spider.html

Sorry, humans!

CC

If someone made those Minority Report spyders small enough (max 5mm diameter), and with the 3 spindly legs, I'd buy bunches of them.

To resurrect this thread:

I'm thinking of some tiny airborne drones for 28mm Terminator. I've got some "bigger" airborne drones, but sewer-sized should be smallish.

What about using Epic Tau Gun Drones from Forgeworld? Maybe mount a couple to a base.

If the Terminator robots themselves cannot make it in and around the tunnels, I see THREE possible options (though I may be overlooking others):

1) Like you said, airborne DRONES:

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2) Also, HEAVY Amee-ish PROWLERS:

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3) And LIGHT Spider-ish PROWLERS:

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Am I missing any other option?

CC

Check out these tunnels:

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CC

I think there are probably several reasons Terminators were built to emulate human beings (pure postulation from a real world perspective understanding that the Terminator is a scifi creation).

First, as an infiltrator it's better then anything else Skynet could probably come up with due to it's handy configuration.

Two, if you build it like a human is built than it should be able to do all the things a human being can do. This is also beneficial in my opinion for hunting human beings since if you're configured the same you can guestimate where human beings may be hiding, or moving.

I would always make the comfortable assumption that a terminator can go anywhere a similar sized human being can go.

Beyond that however Skynet's been able to produce much more effective kiling machines. Small assassin bugs make sense – hell, if it can create a mosquito sized machine that delivers some sort of toxin or disease then problem solved right! But that doesn't make for a very good action movie now does it!

This one reminds me of the drone used in the T3 film:

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This one looks like it could crawl around in some interesting and tight places:

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CC

Then there were of course the "Sentinels" from The Matrix:

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CC

Has anyone done anything like this for miniature gaming???

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I think that the machines will be everywhere soon . . .

Check this out:

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Check out the little fella on the lower left:

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I would love to see that!

CC

I know that in Terminator: Salvation they had snake-like robots in the water ("hydrobots"), but something like it could work in sewers too, don't you think?

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CC

They look a lot like the Matrix Sentinels, particularly the one on the upper left in this concept drawing:

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And this other one here:

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I think that "Terminator: Salvation" depicted a brilliant way to seek out hidden humans was the robotic snake. And it is certainly in line with what has already been attempted by Japanese and Israelis:

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If that doesn't have a "pest control" feel to it, I don't know what else would.

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Dan

This is scary-looking:

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Dan

I wonder if this modular cave/mine system could be used for post-apocalyptic tunnels and corridors too:

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Dan

Look at this Terminator robot:

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Dan

See AMEE in action here:

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And at 5:30 here:

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She was so cute . . . at first (8:30 minutes):

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Dan

Forget the hydrobots and AMEEs. Just imagine these spiders seeking out humans in every little tunnel and cave:

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Dan