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cipher, on 28 June 2012 - 08:36 AM, said:
So we magically move mech's arms and finer motor skills of the hands with the cockpit using one stick and a throttle control?
The mech does this stuff itself via the DI computer network; and I already posted the parts about the various ways that 'mech hands have been controllable by the mechwarrior. The sarna link you quoted does not explain the limiting factors on the neurohelmet interface so that people can understand the limits of the NH interface.
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Most mecha sci-fi handles this...
I don't care how anything else handles it; the OP is a re-write and reconfiguration of the definitive source material of how 'mechs are built and behave and work in the battletech universe. The OP is not speculation, and I did consult with the person who is the writer for catalyst/fanpro/fasa that wrote the articles that are the basis for the OP.
It's meant to reflect the current state of the lore.
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MechWarrior originally chose the latter.
That. Has. Been. Supersceded.
TechManual, pg 35, paragraph 2 said:
Though the gyro system can keep a BattleMech upright fairly well, left to itself, it can be fooled fairly easily. A ’Mech is particularly bad at determining when it should be off -balance, which can be surprisingly useful in combat. This is where the MechWarrior and his neurohelmet come in. In fact, this is the primary purpose of the neurohelmet: telling a BattleMech when it’s okay to be off-balance and to help the BattleMech regain its bearings.
TechManual, pg 40, Paragraph 2 said:
Controls Configurability aside, the controls for a machine as complicated as a BattleMech are actually surprisingly simple. And I’ll say it now: it’s not because the MechWarrior links directly with the BattleMech through the neurohelmet. Leave that notion to the cheap holovids. No, this simplicity is because the BattleMech itself does most of the work.
TechManual, pg 42, right column, paragraph 4 said:
ALIVE! IT’S ALIVE!
Ahem, excuse me. I always wanted to say that. I’m a Frankensteinfan—that’s a story that just gets better with age…
So, you’ve got all these separate components. The structure, actuators and myomers for mobility; the protective armor; the balancing gyroscope; the fusion engine; the commanding cockpit; and the managerial DI computer. If a neurohelmet isn’t a direct brain-machine link, what actually brings all those systems to life? After my last topic, you shouldn’t be surprised: it’s the DI computer.
Ahem, excuse me. I always wanted to say that. I’m a Frankensteinfan—that’s a story that just gets better with age…
So, you’ve got all these separate components. The structure, actuators and myomers for mobility; the protective armor; the balancing gyroscope; the fusion engine; the commanding cockpit; and the managerial DI computer. If a neurohelmet isn’t a direct brain-machine link, what actually brings all those systems to life? After my last topic, you shouldn’t be surprised: it’s the DI computer.
TechManual pg 43, left column, paragraph 7 said:
The key to remember here is that current neurohelmets are not good enough to deliver real-time “mind reading” necessary for direct control of a BattleMech’s movements. Even the Clans and Star League didn’t manage to produce helmets that good.
TechManual pg 43 right column, paragraph 2 said:
On the other hand, getting information out is a passiveprocess with no risk of fried brains. But while delivering information into the MechWarrior depends on the ever-flexible human brain’s ability to interpret these foreign signals, neurohelmets have no such natural advantage for interpreting human thoughts. As a result, neurohelmets focus on a few specific centers of the brain with easily translated signals rather than trying to interpret the behavior of the entire motor cortex and frontal lobes.
The primary job of the neurohelmet is to help the 'mech balance itself under battlefield conditons and know when to throw itself off of balance. The other jobs that the neurohelmet interface handles are extremely limited by the nature of the neurohelmet interface.
Again, look for the link in the OP, it will take you directly to the original author of the original source material in techmanual; you can ask the man who's job it is to know this stuff and write it for catalyst.
Edited by Pht, 29 June 2012 - 04:48 PM.
Still no cup holders!!! 
