The recurring team of Powell and Donovan are testing a new model of robot on an asteroid mining station. This DV-5 (Dave) has six subsidiary robots, described as "fingers", which it controls via positronic fields, a means of transmission not yet fully understood by roboticists. When the humans are not in contact, the robot stops producing ore. It cannot recall the time periods when it stops mining, and states that it finds this just as puzzling as the humans do.
Powell and Donovan secretly observe the robot without its knowledge. It starts performing strange marches and dances with its subsidiaries whenever something unexpected happens—an early example of a Heisenbug (software problem). To learn more, the humans try to create an emergency situation around the robot in order to observe the precise moment of malfunction, but accidentally trap themselves in a cave-in. They eventually figure that the main robot has too many subsidiaries. The "fingers" function independently until there is a serious need of decisiveness, when the main brain has to assume 6-way-control of all "fingers", which requires an excess of initiative and causes overload. When the humans were watching, their presence reduced the initiative placed on the robot's mind, and it would not break down. To get themselves rescued, the humans shoot and destroy one of the subsidiaries. The main robotic brain can cope with five-way control, hence the robots stop dancing and the First Law takes over.
Powell anthropomorphises the error as the robot twiddling its "fingers" whenever it becomes overwhelmed by its job. This is another example of Asimov's writing of robopsychology—personified by Susan Calvin—as running parallel to human psychology. At this point in I, Robot, the reader has already seen hysteria and religious mania.
catch, that, rabbit, topic, this, article, meet, wikipedia, general, notability, guideline, please, help, demonstrate, notability, topic, citing, reliable, secondary, sources, that, independent, topic, provide, significant, coverage, beyond, mere, trivial, men. The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s general notability guideline Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources Catch That Rabbit news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Catch that Rabbit is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov It was first published in the February 1944 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections I Robot 1950 and The Complete Robot 1982 Catch That Rabbit Short story by Isaac AsimovCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishGenre s Science fictionPublicationPublished inAstounding Science FictionPublication typePeriodicalPublisherStreet amp SmithMedia typePrint magazine hardback and paperback Publication dateFebruary 1944ChronologySeriesRobot series Reason Liar Plot summary editThe recurring team of Powell and Donovan are testing a new model of robot on an asteroid mining station This DV 5 Dave has six subsidiary robots described as fingers which it controls via positronic fields a means of transmission not yet fully understood by roboticists When the humans are not in contact the robot stops producing ore It cannot recall the time periods when it stops mining and states that it finds this just as puzzling as the humans do Powell and Donovan secretly observe the robot without its knowledge It starts performing strange marches and dances with its subsidiaries whenever something unexpected happens an early example of a Heisenbug software problem To learn more the humans try to create an emergency situation around the robot in order to observe the precise moment of malfunction but accidentally trap themselves in a cave in They eventually figure that the main robot has too many subsidiaries The fingers function independently until there is a serious need of decisiveness when the main brain has to assume 6 way control of all fingers which requires an excess of initiative and causes overload When the humans were watching their presence reduced the initiative placed on the robot s mind and it would not break down To get themselves rescued the humans shoot and destroy one of the subsidiaries The main robotic brain can cope with five way control hence the robots stop dancing and the First Law takes over Powell anthropomorphises the error as the robot twiddling its fingers whenever it becomes overwhelmed by its job This is another example of Asimov s writing of robopsychology personified by Susan Calvin as running parallel to human psychology At this point in I Robot the reader has already seen hysteria and religious mania External links editCatch That Rabbit title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database Preceded by Reason Included in I RobotThe Complete Robot Series Robot seriesFoundation Series Followed by Liar Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Catch That Rabbit amp oldid 1178905914, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
