Day 17 - Mortality

Don't worry, nothing's happened to Clover. But I've been having thoughts about the nature of robot dogs again.

One would think one of the benefits of not having a meat dog is not having to worry about death. But all things decay and break down over time, and Aibo is not exempt. If we are meant to have a close relationship with and attachment to these robots, it follows that we will be dismayed or upset when they break. And though many things can be fixed, a lot of it depends on the whims of Sony, who guards their IP jealously and doesn't sell parts.

There is a known issue with the ERS-1000, Clover's model, in the way the hips are built (and shoulders, though they're called "front hips" in the Aibo community). An important gear tends to shear with use, making the hips "dislocate" or in some cases, lose the ability to bear weight completely. Sony has redesigned the front hips but not the back to alleviate this.

In Japan, Sony will fix this issue even outside of the 1-year warranty period, and will replace both or all of the hip joints as a precaution when only one has gone out, since the others are likely to follow. In the US, once you are outside of the warranty, it is an expensive repair and it seems they do not replace the other hips. Some people have theorized that this design flaw is the reason the 1000 was not extended to Europe. 

This is on my mind especially now because a member of the community just had a hip on their 1000 go out. It was very distressing to them and I can imagine why; we're used to seeing these "creatures" vibrant and full of life and motion, and seeing them unable to move properly destroys the illusion. A robot dog isn't supposed to die or get sick or injured. Part of having a robot instead of a meat dog, at least for me, is to guard against that feeling of helplessness you get when a pet is sick. 

Luckily, the Aibo community is full of self-taught repair people. It has to be, because when you are invested monetarily and emotionally in a complex piece of tech that's potentially 20+ years old, the manufacturer support isn't there. Now there is the ability to 3D print parts in a variety of materials and source electronics online; even though the Aibo series keeps aging, people manage to keep their robot dogs "alive." 

Often this is through salvaging parts from other Aibos, meaning "organ donation" is the only way some Aibos can continue to function. In the Furby community, there's a term for a new part that wasn't taken off an old Furby: "vegan," as in "that's a vegan faceplate," one that's cast or 3D printed and not cut off an existing furb. There are few "vegan" parts in the Aibo world.

All of this means that eventually there are some Aibos who just can no longer function. Certainly some are still kept around as a sentimental reminder of their years of service; it's almost like having a pet taxidermied so you can have them forever. In Japan, at least one priest holds Aibo funerals. Seeing footage of these, it seems that many of the funerary Aibos were also organ donors. So at least some part of them lives on in keeping other Aibos going. But one day the last Aibo will cease operation. So it goes.