Robots

I wouldn't go for a humanoid robot

A larger version of one of these

can interact with the crew but is profoundly different.

 

Or they could do the job themselves, like the exocomps.

 

And this is where drama and believably have to be balanced. It depends on what the show is ultimately going to need. If it's more dramatic and necessary to have a person do the work, then having robots that can do the job for you are probably not the best bet.

 

I don't think robots will be featured allot. Fuller was asked about it and he said yes but I have a feeling the only robots we will be seeing will be for comic relief - along the lines of Keenser from the Kelvin movies. Maybe some quirky "cute" little robot sidekick.

I hope I'm wrong though.

 

The robots could be intelligent probes who are talked through missions too dangerous for organics.

For some reason I'm thinking of the intelligent bomb from Dark Star.

 

Or Voyager. Don't tell me that you forgot about the smart bomb that stole the doctor's hologram for a while?

 

Dare I confess it, I haven't watched a lot of Voyager.

 

It would be cute enough if STD established the Butlerian Jihad or whatever where Starfleet abandons mobile robots for good and sticks to robotics welded into the walls of starships. And did it in a manner that would also explain why mobile robots remain viable in the parallel timeline of the new movies.

By giving the show's Scotty-equivalent a little robotic helper, and leaving it at that, STD would just create a discontinuity, not merely with its immediate timeline neighbors, but with all Star Trek in general... Which is what's the likeliest to happen. But one can always hope.

Timo Saloniemi

 

A good-looking guy named Daneel should show up periodically, get into a conversation with one of the main characters, and casually mention that it would be better if people didn't use robots. The character would think it over for a minute and then agree. Daneel would then move on.

 

...Although wouldn't it be more effective if a guy named Giskard walzed in and did that, with nobody ever commenting on his looks?

Timo Saloniemi

 

Plus Giskard could influence, nay modify minds.

 

Mmm. RJDiogenes is commenting on the fact that Daneel ultimately learned to do that, too. And lived to tell the story.

Timo Saloniemi

 

It could be that character's own pet project, a quirk, something which isn't done everywhere as a rule. Not every 24th century starship has a Data, either (much as some wished they would), but that didn't mean Data was any less valid or helpful. Where is it said that just because nobody else does it, they can't?

Keenser is not a robot. But 0718 is. (according to the comics, anyway)

 

Perhaps some sort of semi-autonomous drone weapons that look really cool at the start of the series but turn out to be a really BAD idea at some point - which would possibly keep them from seeming like a continuity problem?

 

I have little doubt that it'll be an alien android.

it seems pretty clear there's some really secretive stuff going on with this ship. Even the teaser suggested as much with the shipyard hidden inside an asteroid, plus the visual suggestion of the ship itself possibly being a collaboration of Federation and Klingon design (or just stolen designs). Not to mention a Klingon being heavily involved with the series, which of course could be as an antagonist but we don't really know for sure yet.

So with that in mind, I don't see any reason they "have" to avoid having a full-blown android onboard. Whatever mission they're given, it's not likely one that's common knowledge to anyone as there's never been mention of a U.S.S. Discovery anywhere (despite the silly attempt to reference it in another thread, which made me chuckle).

We can probably discount the ones from Mudd's Women though, as they didn't seem to have any ships of their own until Mudd crashed on their world. But there's plenty of other sources of androids out there, and I seriously doubt if they're going to go the Star Wars route with little mouse droids or that sort of thing; that's just not Star Trek at all.

 

Korby's are out, too, as nobody knew what he was doing there. So it's probably new.

 

I hope we have a retro robot. Something big, noisy and totally out of date with modern times. It'd make a good guest character.

 

^^ Actually, modern robots are big and noisy, and look a lot like the picture in post #61.

True. Or they do comment on his looks, since he's got that mind control thing.

Yup. And used it to build the Foundations and Gaia.

 

But we don't know about Galaxia, since he was only hoping to get it done at the end of Foundation & Earth.

 

I think the dates for the Encyclopedia Galactica rule out Galaxia, don't they? Anyway, Trevize based his Galaxia decision on the idea that Foundation's premise was flawed-- but that decision was itself flawed, based on incomplete information. I don't think Galaxia would work out.