SERVICE MECHANOID

Manufacturer: Conglomerate Cybernetics
Series: Surveyor
Model: SV2015v
Height: 2.56 m
Weight: 579.7 kg (Mech unit alone)

HISTORY
Conglomerate Cybernetics is a longstanding provider of service mechanoids throughout colonized space. Their build quality is legendary, if not the most visually aesthetic or desirable to the mass consumer. Their founder once quipped, “If all work was pretty, we’d make pretty droids.” Conglomerate Cybernetics’ specialization in “the dirty, the violent and the pragmatic” has made them the premiere manufacturer of explorer service and work units. Among their most successful lines are mining droids, self-replicating pioneer sentries and multi-purpose companion/protection units. They have also been known to dabble in one-off war mechs where containment (rather than full eradiation) is the goal.

Bulky alloy and polymer housings, exposed hydraulic and a “substantial presence” are telltale style cues of Conglomerate Cybernetics wares.

THE SURVEYOR

The latest generation Surveyor line went into production in 2682 and has undergone a number of incremental upgrades to the present.

The Surveyor is Conglomerate Cybernetics’ Swiss Army knife, excelling in the transport and establishment of base camps in addition to defending and catering to the comfort of the personnel who inhabit these camps. They are manual labor, guard and butler…all rolled into a single unit. Their wide array of functions make them the preferred work mechanoid on many pioneer and first contact missions where space is at a premium and mission length can be extended for unknown stretches on a whim.

The calm, deliberate mannerisms of the Surveyor are rumored to have been based on a past Conglomerate executive’s trusted human butler.

Model SV2015v is the first to utilize a new polymer matrix nuclear battery. The battery technology was jointly developed by Conglomerate Cybernetics and Conglomerate Energy (who sought a more persistent power source for high fuel consumption battlefield vehicles). The battery can easily outlast the estimated power draw for the typical Surveyor lifespan of 75 years. The battery matrix was therefore designed to be removable, thus saving on its cost in the next robot. The use of nuclear power sources in field units designed to serve among biological lifeforms is typically avoided as any leak or unforeseen destruction of the cell would not only have a great physical sphere of damage, but also irradiate everything around it.

The polymer “battery cage” (sometimes called the “Bat Cage”) is the most unique feature of the modern Surveyor. Not only are the material layers surrounding the core able to contain the energy and radiation without using cumbersome metal casing, but the subsequent layers of the cage have been designed to capture much of the radioactive energy emanating from the fuel source and using it to power integrated scrubbers. The Surveyor’s interior housing is honeycombed with additional layers of this containment material. What little radiation that may remain is easily neutralized by scrubbers built into all modern day ships, flight suits and anti-radiation devices built into the mechanoid itself.

It should be noted that while catastrophic failure of the battery cage is not a radiation threat, it will still result in a concussive blast that is many times greater than a comparable, non-nuclear power source of similar mass.