Shouldn't the Gamma Gun Work on Robots?

I don't really think so in the Fallout universe, in the Glow there are still working robots despite the incredibly high amounts of radiation.
 
In the universe of Fallout, most electronics are still based on vacuum tubes, which are inherently hardier when it comes to radiation than transistor-based electronics.
 
It just seems weird to me that EMP weapons do special damage to robots, and previously electric weapons did bonus damage to them, but something that shoots ionizing radiation does squat all. Physics wise I can't see how those two outcomes fit together.

Hassknecht said:
In the universe of Fallout, most electronics are still based on vacuum tubes, which are inherently hardier when it comes to radiation than transistor-based electronics.
Click to expand...

That sounds interesting. Would you care to elaborate on that?
 
That sounds interesting. Would you care to elaborate on that?[/QUOTE said:
Mostly from what I know it comes down to its design, take a microchip as an example, everything is jammed into close proximity that means current doesn't have to travel as far to short something out. However back in the day tech that relied on designs with vacuum tubes were less effected by such issues due to how everything is spaced out.

So imagine a bulky, hardy machine that could probably survive being hit by a truck, vs a flimsy modern version. And who knows, maybe they have faraday cages built into the exoskeleton?

However I have to agree with you, as radiation can do some nasty things to electronics as seen with the chernobyl bots they sent into the plant to observe its encasement.

I think this is a case where suspension of disbelief is required.
Click to expand...
 
NMLevesque said:
It just seems weird to me that EMP weapons do special damage to robots, and previously electric weapons did bonus damage to them, but something that shoots ionizing radiation does squat all. Physics wise I can't see how those two outcomes fit together.



That sounds interesting. Would you care to elaborate on that?
Click to expand...
The voltages and currents in vacuum tube circuits are naturally much higher than what you'd find in a transistor-based circuit. So a vacuum tube circuit is much hardier when it comes to the high voltage spikes of EM-pulses from nuclear attacks on one hand, but there are other issues with transistors on radiation that vacuum tubes don't care too much about.
A transistor is based on a carefully doped semiconductor. Nuclear radiation can take several forms, alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron radiation. Alpha radiation is fast helium nuclei, so two protons and two neutrons. It's blocked by basically a piece of paper, so not much danger here, although absorption in a material can lead to bremsstrahlung/x-rays. Beta radiation is fast electrons/positrons (beta- and beta+ radiation). Again, doesn't penetrate very deep, but creates bremsstrahlung and, in the case of beta+ radiation, the annihilation of the positrons also results in gamma radiation. Gamma radiation is highly energetic EM radiation, basically light with a very short wavelength, shorter than x-rays. They penetrate very deep and can't be fully blocked. Gamma radiation happens at every nuclear decay that results in alpha and beta radiation because after an alpha or beta decay the resulting nucleus is in an excited state, and when this excited state decays the nucleus sends out a gamma quantum. Neutron radiation then is mostly found in nuclear reactors, and it's, well, free neutrons. They're especially annoying because they can turn stable elements into radioactive elements and cause material failures.
And neutron radiation is what's really the killer for semiconductor electronics, because the neutrons will mess with the doping in the transistor and destroy it. Also, gamma radiation can ionize a transistor locally and scramble its operation.
Vacuum tubes don't care much about gamma radiation, but prolonged neutron radiation will also destroy them by making the glass brittle and corroding the wiring, I guess.
EMP weapons shouldn't have too much effect on Fallout-universe computers and robots, either, actually :D
 
Wait, how would you ever achieve a directed gamma radiation ray?
 
0wing said:
Wait, how would you ever achieve a directed gamma radiation ray?
Click to expand...
By a gamma ray laser or an Induced Gamma Emission from a nuclear isomer, an excited nuclear state. Both are very much science fiction, though.
Although I guess with Fallout's mastery over miniaturized nuclear devices and lasers they'd have a way to make it work properly. Pump some Hafnium or whatever with a neutron source and handwave the heat away. Or use the miniaturized nuclear reactor they have everywhere as a neutron source to make a stable, portable nuclear-pumped laser.
 
giphy.gif
 
Hassknecht said:
The voltages and currents in vacuum tube circuits are naturally much higher than what you'd find in a transistor-based circuit. So a vacuum tube circuit is much hardier when it comes to the high voltage spikes of EM-pulses from nuclear attacks on one hand, but there are other issues with transistors on radiation that vacuum tubes don't care too much about.
A transistor is based on a carefully doped semiconductor. Nuclear radiation can take several forms, alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron radiation. Alpha radiation is fast helium nuclei, so two protons and two neutrons. It's blocked by basically a piece of paper, so not much danger here, although absorption in a material can lead to bremsstrahlung/x-rays. Beta radiation is fast electrons/positrons (beta- and beta+ radiation). Again, doesn't penetrate very deep, but creates bremsstrahlung and, in the case of beta+ radiation, the annihilation of the positrons also results in gamma radiation. Gamma radiation is highly energetic EM radiation, basically light with a very short wavelength, shorter than x-rays. They penetrate very deep and can't be fully blocked. Gamma radiation happens at every nuclear decay that results in alpha and beta radiation because after an alpha or beta decay the resulting nucleus is in an excited state, and when this excited state decays the nucleus sends out a gamma quantum. Neutron radiation then is mostly found in nuclear reactors, and it's, well, free neutrons. They're especially annoying because they can turn stable elements into radioactive elements and cause material failures.
And neutron radiation is what's really the killer for semiconductor electronics, because the neutrons will mess with the doping in the transistor and destroy it. Also, gamma radiation can ionize a transistor locally and scramble its operation.
Vacuum tubes don't care much about gamma radiation, but prolonged neutron radiation will also destroy them by making the glass brittle and corroding the wiring, I guess.
EMP weapons shouldn't have too much effect on Fallout-universe computers and robots, either, actually :D
Click to expand...
e0c4b73a97c05f87e5d421c65d41d108.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top