7 Unusual Uses for Droids

1. The Robot Rickshaw

The rickshaw is an ancient mode of transportation. It has two wheels and a bench seat and is pulled by a human porter. These vehicles tended to be popular in places where population densities were high, and there was no infrastructure for public transportation, or for people owning large numbers of motorized vehicles. This in many ways applies to the urban hives of the Cosmic Era. There are trams and pedestrian walkways, and owning a car or other motorized vehicle is as common in the CE as people owning horses is today. The robot rickshaw is just that, a rickshaw that has an auton as a porter. It can assist in loading, stowing a few bags, and then pulling the rickshaw to its desired destination. Almost no one owns a robot rickshaw, but rather treat them as most would treat Uber or Lyft, calling for one to trek them from one arcology to another inside an arcoplex, or through the wider spread parts of arco-cities, especially those built along the lines of Castles Avalon

2. The Automata Litter

The automata litter is a palanquin that is carried by two autons. The box seat is enclosed and offers differing levels of privacy, something the rickshaw lacks. Litters tend to be owned, with autons rented to move it as needed, and accordingly litters vary in quality and functionality depending on who they belong to. A celebrity VIP litter would have all the smart technology bells and whistles, along with enhanced security options to protect them and their intellectual properties and images. A litter owned by a middle-income family might have more carry space.

3. The Seguewalker

The Seguewalker is a slightly larger-than-normal auton that functionally has a backward-facing jump seat attached to its backside. A passenger sits in the seat, buckles themselves in, and the robot walks to where they want to go. This is less comfortable than a rickshaw, and there is no privacy options, but it is two things: fast and cheap. Seguewalkers almost never get caught up in foot traffic, and most pedestrians make way for a seven-foot-tall metal man when it comes clomping through the walkway. Seguewalkers were originally created for police and security personnel, but instead of a jump seat, they had stirrups hanging from their hips and the auton wore armor and carried a riot suppression weapon while the office spooning it gave directions and used whatever gear or weaponry they were carrying.

4. The Lift-All

The Lift-All is the replacement for the family sedan, work van, and delivery vehicle. It is technically a palanquin, but has an internal capacity of up to a ton and is supported by four or more autons. The most common use of Lift-Alls is for moving furniture, delivering packages and supply drops to residential areas, and the CE equivalent of carpooling. When equipped for passengers, a lift-all can seat eight.

5. The Clanker-Folx

A wagon drawn by robots, but they're tinkers and clocksmiths. Clanker folx tend to be associated with robosports such as Full Metal Boxing, Cybernetic gladiators,and arena fighting machines.

6. The Walking Store

A walking store is a shipping container that is carried by a large number of machines, the container holds a small store and the associated manufactury. Walking stores differ from clanker folk as the Walking Stores are basically the CE equivalent of the Romani people, tinkers and travelers, with a new emphasis on automata and cybernetics, while the Clanker-Folx are much more technobarbarians 

7. Chariot

The Chariot is unusual mostly because it is stupidly inefficient. Anything a chariot could do, a vehicle could do ten times better. Usually. In the limited transportation and logistic space of the Cosmic Era, many arcologies, arcoplices, and arco-cities do not have room for anything other than the smallest of vehicles. There are no armored cars, armored cruisers, or other vehicles small enough to cruise down the hallways of an arcology. Thus, the chariot. It is a two-wheeled vehicle with a platform large enough for a few items and 1-4 riders. It is pulled by four or more autons, wojeks, or auto deteks. When the officer/s arrive on site, the pulling robots can disengage and become part of the ground forces. Thus, a peacekeeper officer can ride solo, pull up to the site of an altercation, and go from being a man to a man with four supporting autonics.

Cargo chariots also exist for the same basic reason, four or more autonics pulling a two wheeled cargo chariot. When they reach their target, one might anchor the vehicle and the rest unhook and go from pullers to porters, and then its off to logistics for the next job.