You know what annoys me? The hard metallic looking berths and couches we’re so frequently shown.
Sure, Cybertronians are made of metal, so presumably the feel of cold hard metal is not actually uncomfortable against their surfaces, nor will their joints be strained by being braced on them.
But what about when they’re moving? Metal on metal isn’t pleasant for a reason: friction. I’m sure we’ve all heard the unpleasant screech of metal scraping and dragging, and maybe even seen sparks fly when a piece of metal strikes a rock or other object. And it’s not like the metal is unharmed and obvlious to the contact. From Wikipedia:
Galling is a form of wear caused by adhesion between sliding surfaces. When a material galls, some of it is pulled with the contacting surface, especially if there is a large amount of force compressing the surfaces together. Galling is caused by a combination of friction and adhesion between the surfaces, followed by slipping and tearing of crystal structure beneath the surface.
[…]
Galling is most commonly found in metal surfaces that are in sliding contact with each other. It is especially common where there is inadequate lubrication between the surfaces. However, certain metals will generally be more prone to galling, due to the atomic structure of their crystals.
If we’re going to be logical about it, then Transformers probably prefer, for their furniture and resting places:
1. Well-lubricated metallic surfaces that are made up of a metal or alloy that has a low gall rate and is more resistant to wear
AND/OR
2. Surfaces that are covered in some kind of soft materal that does not create damaging friction against metal: cloth padding, a layer of gel, something of that sort.
(I would honestly guess a combo: some furniture surfaces are made up of low-gall material and lubricated well, others are covered in padding. One is probably more of a luxury than the other. Padded cloth/gel surfaces would certainly be cleaner.)
In other words, it makes more sense for Cybertronians’ furniture to be comfortable padded than to be simple metal slabs. Pillows make more sense for them than the kind of furniture the comic is showing. I don’t think Nightbeat’s couch here is well-lubricated either: look at it versus Nightbeat’s metal body: there is no sheen or shine on the couch–oil and grease would reflect back light.
I think there is this thing where people, both fans and official content creators, want the Cybertronians to be alien and robot-ish to some extent, and make gestures like these (hard metal recharge slabs and couches) without thinking through the reasoning for why they would have such a thing. They want to avoid being lazy or not representing fully that these are aliens and do things differently.
But some things they probably do the same as humans, and for good reason. Giant alien pillows are one of those things.
Cybertronian Database 