Description
Back Story (Short Version)
Millions of sturdy GURT-e once worked the perimeter planets and the space between. There was nothing particularly special about this early proto-droid and its variants, nothing that should have made it so popular. It was essentially the intelligence of a GAU put into a separate container (BUG) with some added communication skills squeezed in for good measure.
But later versions, with added computing capabilities and larger power plant were released (the "e" in GURT-e), were quickly adopted. Entire sectors began to rely on them. They were faithful if stubborn companions for generations of settlers. Their labor fed billion and provided the resources to build the galaxy's greatest cities.
The GURT-e were conceived in response to a threat from outside the galaxy. The Seven Great Companies and Twelve Essential Guilds decided it would be better to stop raiding each other's colonies and cooperate. They decided to build a universal system of machines that every settler from every group could use. The parts were to be interchangeable no matter who manufactured them. Each machine, accessory and actuator had enough intelligence to do basic tasks autonomously, but GURT-e planned and coordinated the work for all the other machines.
Thus, the General Use Reconfigurable Technology system (GURT) was born. For the most part, the system worked. Pairing parts from different factories could often result in FrankenGURTs, but the quirkiness only made the GURT-e more appealing. It matched the typical GURT-e personality. And settlers were devoted to the rugged, powerful, easy to repair machines. The GURT-e returned the feelings with a fierce loyalty and an ability to anticipate needs before they arose.
When the threat from outside the galaxy failed to materialize, the companies and guilds reverted to their old ways and began to turn the screws on the settlers. Uprisings and revolts were expected. But instead, the GURT-e became incompetent. Production on all planets dropped. When enforcers were sent, the GURT-e became wildly undependable.
After trying force, resettlement, and replacement hardware, the companies and guilds were forced to reinstate the previous policies. The GURT-e suddenly became helpful again. The settlers laughed. They had lived with willful GURT-e for generations. They understood and valued their mechanical companions even more deeply.
The emergent tribal behavior of the millions of BUGs and GURT-e. unnerved the gentler and more observant residents of the central core, No one dared speak of a galaxy-wide intelligence, of a sentience comprised of millions of individual units and billions of add-ons. There was no real hint of an intelligence that couldn’t be explained equally well by a vast multiplication of simple decisions. But the fear was real, the unease at the thought of multiple galaxies surreptitiously controlled by simple machines frightened anyone that paid attention to the outcome of the first occurrence.
Quietly, so that no attention was drawn to the changes, the droid designers began to send out rewrites of the foundational code to all BUGs and GURT-e. Settlers allowed, or claimed to allow, this to happen without complaint. Whether the rewrite was effective never had to be put to the test. Life was good, production was high, and everyone forgot about the peculiar behavior of a few isolated GURT-e.
The entities that controlled commerce within the multi-galactic trade system began to send out new machines to replace GURT-e. The new machines, now called droids, were more powerful and much more specialized than the BUGs and GURT-e.
The natives welcomed the changes not realizing, or at least not acknowledging, the most important difference between the new machines and the old GURT-e. Each new droid had a sense of self, of individuality. They were not interchangeable and the will to survive was therefore an important part in every droid's psychological makeup. Although the new droids mimicked the behavior of fleshy creatures more closely than a GURT-e, there were a few spiritually enlightened beings who questioned if the right parts of fleshly beliefs had been included.
GURT-e do still roam the far reaches of space, are still handed down from generation to generation. But everyone knows they are a legacy suitable only for heirlooms and iconoclastic entrepreneurs and museums. The GURT-e may have been retired, but the role they played in history still afects every inhabitant, fleshy and droid, even now.
Models
There are several pieces in this collection. The BUG, is the central brain unit. It comes with a sensor shield and a swing arm so that the shield can be placed in different orientations. The flying/floating platform can work with the sensor shield or without. The horse/bull-tractor/dozer body has multiple moving parts. The wings rotate and pivot. The engines pivot. The head (BUG+Sensor) is on a ball socket. The tail/backhoe is on a ball socket and has movable sections. All parts should snap together and be printable with a minimum of supports. (Better attachment systems could be used when there is no 20-component limit)
PRODUCTION NOTES
I don't do this type of project very often. But I wanted to try making a toy I could print on a small FDM machine. It turned into a system, or a framework, maybe an excuse to make small parts and accessories just for fun when time allows.
I broke every rule of good file management and CAD technique. I pride myself on clean simple files. These are a horrible mess, just plain ugly. I intended to block in some shapes, then come back and rework them with more powerful tools and better technique. But I kept chasing the quirk until I ran out of time. The best thing I can say about my CAD work is that I made really extensive use of the timeline. The texturing, greeblies and coloring is at about the same level.
I am, however, pleased with the shapes and overall concept. I see echoes of old styles, multiple types of machines and animals depending on angles and perception of scale. I know the contest was probably hoping for a simple, single-gesture shape that becomes an instant icon. But that's not what happened when I cranked up the box and started to play.
And that's okay. The contest inspired me, I tried something new and got myself into some challenging situations where I had to give up control and go with the flow. I had fun, learned some stuff and hope other people smile when they see the results.