| Gyroless Mechs |
| Field Manual: Homebrew |
| Introduction |
| What happens when you rip out the heavy 80s gyro and use the robotic equivalent of the human inner ear for maintaining a mech's balance. Note these are an addendum to construction rules, and can not be retrofitted into existing mechs. |
| By: Mike Miller |
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| Rules |
| Since becoming moderately aware of how human anatomy manages to keep its unstable self upright* and advances in gyroscopes and robotics**, it has occurred to me that Battlemechs are a product of 1980s robotics thought. In other words, that staying upright is very difficult and necessitates some monster gyroscope. *i.e. a balance-sensing mechanism massing a few grams and strategic utilization of its pre-existing motive system for balance as well as motion **"Laser ring gyroscopes," which are solid-state, semi-conductor motion-sensing gizmos that can be incorporated into a single computer chip, and the Honda bipedal robot. Humans don't use monster gyroscopes to stay upright. In fact, our balance-sensing mechanism (inner ear) provides no active balance maintenance like a BT mech's gyroscope. It just says how you're moving. It's then up to your muscles (primarily leg, especially foot muscles) to keep your body upright. Rather than ask "Why can't BT mechs do this?" and other questions about the realism of BT mechs, I've decided that there's a good reason for gyros in mechs. Yup, really good reasons. So that means introducing a new construction option for mechs (i.e., mechs without gyroscopes) would mean making some breakthrough in balance technology and probably be really expensive. However, the cardinal rule of BT design is that you can't get something for nothing. Removing the gyroscope from a mech takes out that 2-4 ton, 4 crit gizmo in the CT. The gyroless mech, as written thus far, utilizes its existing myomers in its limbs to stay upright (just like a human uses her muscles to stay upright) so there shouldn't be any gain in mass or volume. But don't worry - I'll provide some balance (heh) to a gyroless mech. THE GYROLESS MECH The Gyroless mech installs an extra computer chip in the mech's cockpit and a wad of new motive system software. This chip contains a complete, solid-state, all-axis balance-sensing gizmo, the 31st Century equivalent to a laser-ring gyroscope. The Gyroless mech's myomer control software is overhauled to harness the balance information from the chip. The mech's myomers then provide the forces necessary to keep the mech upright. (What I'm talking about might not be obvious if you're sitting or standing on two feet. Get up and stand on one foot for a minute. Feel all those foot muscles twitching and pulling? That's what I'm expecting a gyroless mech's muscles to do, rather than relying on a monster gyroscope that can actually supply balance-maintaining force.) However, the demands of staying upright are more precise and rapid than the gross motions mech limbs normally provide. Thus the gyroless feature cannot simply be retrofitted onto existing mechs. It has to be included in the beginning in the design of a mech's legs' internal structure. Further, the gyroless design option requires a faster, more precise myomer control system - this is more expensive. A gyroless mech does not have to spend any tonnage or crits on its gyroscope. This frees 4 crits in the CT and (typically) 2-3 tons. Don't spend those all on one AC/20. The engines crits in the CT do not shift (nor do XL engine side torso crits move), but all 6 open CT crits are considered continuous for the placement of equipment (so you can fit 2 IS DHS in the CT, for example, though one would apparently be split up around the lower 3 engine crits). Of course, all gyro critical hits in the CT are now ignored (or will hit whatever equipment went in the gyro's place). However, the gyroless mech has to pay through the nose for the honor and safety of removing the CT gyro: the cost of the gyro is the same as that of a gyro of normal weight for the mech, multiplied by 4. That should be a pretty penny. And BV...uh...BV is treated as if the mech has an armored gyroscope. Yeah, component armor on the gyroscope. Does component armoring affect BV? I don't use BV enough to know. A gyroless mech is quite dependent on its limbs for balance. Loss of a shoulder actuator incurs a +1 piloting penalty, like a minor gyro hit. Note a lost side torso or destroyed arm without an actual crit against a shoulder actuator counts as loss of the shoulder actuator. (L3 armless mechs are exempt from this problem). Loss of a hip actuator also incurs a +1 piloting penalty, as does loss of a foot actuator (+2 for foot loss for armless mechs). For the most part, these penalties can simply stack up - a mech with both arms shot off, a hip frozen, and both feet blown off will be operating at a +5 piloting penalty. However, if both hips are destroyed, the mech is considered to be operating as if it was suffering from two gyro crits - it'll fall if it has to make a piloting check. Like mechs with gyros, gyroless mechs' actuators "lock" when they shut down to avoid falling. (I assume normal mechs' actuators can lock when their engines - and thus gyros - shut down.) When a gyroless mech shuts down in a controlled fashion, there is no problem. (Controlled shutdowns include overheating-related shutdowns, which are a result of safety systems trying to cool off the mech as I understand it.) If a gyroless mech shuts down for unexpected reasons (the engine was shot out) and it was moving, the mech falls. Use of skidding rules is encouraged. |