What obvious example am I overlooking?

[james_davis_nicoll]

I'm trying to think of a good example of an SF story with a crewed exploration vehicle armed with a large flotilla of robotic probes (The idea being the meat stays where it's safe, but close enough to the remotes not to have significant time lag).

Comments

[eyemage.livejournal.com]

how about the Rocheworld trilogy ( aka flight of the dragonfly ) by RL Forward?

its been awhile since ive read them, but i recall lots of robotic "trees" that explored ahead of the humans.