Robco Industries

One of the most powerful computer and robotics corporations of the pre-War world, RobCo Industries was the brainchild of wunderkind Robert House. Although their key products were robots, the firm got its initial market share and massive capital from the Unified Operating System. These became the industry standard across global militaries and the industrial sector, pouring vast sums into the research and development that would eventually drive the engine of their robotics divisions.
Those robots included numerous military and security models, like the Protectron, Sentry Bot, Assaultron, and a variety of automated weapons turrets. Coupled with advanced iterations of their operating systems, and computers ranging from enormous mainframes to personal datapads, they dominated markets with a bewildering array of daughter companies, disguised divisions, and a labyrinthine corporate structure.
RobCo also routinely cooperated with rival companies including Vault-Tec, Nuka-Cola, and Atomic Mining Services. Their most infamous collaboration was the production of the Liberty Prime project with General Atomics International. This 40-foot-tall death machine got fast-tracked to liberate the Alaskan Front during the Sino-American War, delivering lethal force, and stirring propaganda with equal speed and effectiveness.
These joint ventures did not reflect a “live and let live” attitude from House and other leaders within the company. They were simply the most profitable option in that theater of business. When that wasn’t the case, hostile takeovers or the simple destruction of rival companies (or in one case, a company that personally annoyed Robert House) secured RobCo’s position. At no time did considerations like fair play, honest competition, transparency, or sentiment play a part in their business strategy.

AFTER THE WAR

As one of the most influential and powerful American companies of the pre-War age, RobCo continues to cast a shadow over the Wastelands, especially in the Mojave wasteland where House himself is rumored to still hold personal power.
Even far distant from that seat of power, RobCo products are everywhere. Their personal data pads assist survivors in countless small ways. Their operating systems still drive what computers continue to draw power. Their combat robots stand their watch, repelling outsiders from potentially life-saving caches of supplies stored in warehouses and research facilities.
Because of their vast wealth before the war, RobCo facilities are considered plum targets for scavenging among survivors—if they can survive encounters with robotic security on site. With the company’s mazelike corporate structure, any vault or factory could be a RobCo site, but a handful of locations are confirmed RobCo strongholds.
In Appalachia, the RobCo Auto-Cache #001 in Gauley Mine is rumored to hold valuable treasure and the nearby RobCo Research Center may contain prototypes of Power Armor that would give its wearer near-superhuman abilities. Similar facilities in the Capital Wasteland and Commonwealth offer technological marvels to those willing to risk blood and lives to claim them.

Type

Corporation, Manufacturing

Notable Members

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