Andrones
Androne is shorthand for Androgynous-Drone (humanoid and gender neutral). Andrones are bipedal robots that are ubiquitous in UniSys society, a rugged mechanized workforce that became an essential tool to civilizations expansion into the stars. The most common version of androne is the ‘baremetal’ type, exuding full robotic prowess with their exposed metal chassis and mechanical demeanors. They are generally friendly looking, although they may or may not have augmentable facial expression features depending on their application (a warehouse handling androne, for example, has no business smiling or giving someone a sarcastic look). Skinned andrones, or ‘skins’, have a programmable exopolymer skin that can be reformed to produce human features (or other species). These automata can achieve uncanny human-like resemblance that makes them indistinguishable from everyday people. Because of this, UniSys has strict rules on their use and licenses are required in most circumstances.
Andrones can operate independently with a built-in AI core or via a slipspace link to an AI that exists within a remote server or within the ‘Fabric’. They can also connect to a person with a neural link in telepresence (avatar surrogate) mode, offering a convenient and very inexpensive method for people to visit remote places without leaving the comfort of their sofa (referred in casual speak as Tele-ing in). This is popular with businessman, who often just rent an androne body when they need to quickly pop offworld for a business meeting. In these cases, skinned andrones are conditioned to reproduce the exact features of the telepresence operator (stored in their neural interface device). As per UniSys laws, this cannot be changed under any circumstances for security reasons, except for military use.
Commercial (Industrial, Mining, Assembly, and Repair) Drones
Outside of andrones, commercial drones are of a highly variable physical form depending on the intended application. They can be wheeled, flying, multipedal, or otherwise, and typically fill an industrial or commercial need of some kind. Angelfyre’s Hexapedal Repair Drones, for example, are highly miniaturized insect-like units that are equipped with micro-molecular manipulators and effectively behave as a form of swarming mechanical synthesizer. Mining Astrodrones are more commonplace, especially in the Alern belts where most miners teleoperate fleets remotely from the town of Fuldarnus on Alerean-6, making neural wetware interface business opportunities for those in the biohacking space such as one Anders Leks, Purveyor of Fine Custom Bionics.