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[Empiricist]

Charles makes small talk, discussing how Leo got here and his life prior to the HMRC.

[syvarris]

Beetlesuit design:

1.First, you said that I'd be able to have two layers.  I'm pretty sure I know what that meant, but just to make sure, you mean two full layers of the Hexbug, Hexsand, Sharkplate arrangement, right?  That was what I had been talking about.  Also, this would mean that each individual new armor type is basically equivalent to one layer of battlesuit plate in price, which seems fair considering how they're both useless half the time, and their invulnerability the other half is only vaguely better than BS plate's constant nigh-invulnerability.

2.You said that mobility beetlesuits would be fine, as long as the hexbug layer is thin.  How thin is thin?  The current design has two layers of hexbug, both an inch thick.  Would halving that (I.E, nearly halving the effective armor, like the old Mobility BS design) allow flight?

3.So, going by the widths given before, the current armor would be about nine inches thick (4+2.5+2.5=9).  Is this thin enough that a beetlesuit could squeeze through a doorway?

4.If so, could a beetlesuit fight semi-effectively indoors at all?  Crouching around, perhaps?  Or does it require more significant modification?


Hephaestus Management:

5:A science crew finished looking at the Blueraditite we got from the anomalous planetoid.  Details on the stuff below, so what do we get out of it?

Spoiler: Blueraditite data (click to show/hide)

Small Blueraditite ("Blue beads","Anomalous Shard Fragments","Small Coerulus"):
   Origin:
      -Found near the place where the large Blueraditite that came from the radiation orb from zone 6 impacted the infirmary corridor. They were spread both inside and outside the corridor.
      -Also found in the track the radiation orb left in the ground.
   Physical characterisitics:
      -Rice shaped
      -Milky blue semi-transparent
      -Mildly Radioactive (not dangerous to humans)
      -Incredibly hard
         --Nothing happens if they break
      -Mildly Electrically charged
      -Radiation and electrical charge increase when in proximity to other small blueraditites.
   Danger: No danger exhibited yet, proceed with moderate caution.
      -It is unknown whether or not the objects will remain inert. Periodic checks recommended.
   Location:
      -The vault
      -The track left in the ground by the radiation orb
   Test results:
      -"First thing, Their structure is oddly crystalline, considering they're so smooth and ovoid, and you can make out myriad rombohedral structures through the microscope. They aren't terribly dense, but are extremely tough, as your attempts to test their hardness yield not a single scratch or chip. They are mildly radioactive and electro-active, qualities that increase when near other beads; so much so that visible arcing between beads is observed when they are a few inches apart. Flame seems to have no effect on them, besides blacking them with it's residue, which can be wiped off to reveal the unchanged surface."
      -Shooting them with a hand laser caused them to break. Nothing happened when they broke.
      -Did not react to acids or bases.
   Addendum:
      -The nature of the anomaly that produced them implies great capabilities for energy production. Object may fetch a good price.

Large Blueraditite ("The Hot Potato","Anomalous Shard","Large Coerulus"):
   Origin:
      -Found near the place where the radiation orb from zone 6 impacted the infirmary corridor. It was inside the corridor.
   Physical characteristics:
      -Some physical properties can be extrapolated by experimenting with the smaller artifacts of the same kind.
      -Looks like the middle section of a cylinder
         --? The blue radiation orb was a cylinder? The object in the center of zone 6 is a cylinder?
      -Glowing with a blue glow
      -Radioactive (A few minutes of contact are enough to cause radiation poisoning to suited individuals. Synthetics will fare better due to lack of body.)
      -Electrically charged (visible electrical arcing)
      -Hot
      -Vibratring
   Danger: Highly radioactive, proceed with extreme caution.
      -It is unknown whether or not the object will remain inert. Periodic checks recommended.
   Location:
      -Near the zone 6-1 boundary
   Test results:
      -"Thermal reveals that it's hot, which really isn't a surprise considering all the radiation leaking out of the thing. Motion reveals it's either vibrating slightly or it's causing minor distortion in the thin amounts of atmosphere around here. X-ray can't see inside it and the rest are equally unhelpful."
      -"The thing is quite different from the beads. Where as the beads were small, smooth and ovoid this thing is quite large and is partially cylindrical, with a jagged edge on both sides, as though it was broken off from the middle of a larger rod. It doesn't seem crystalline in nature either, though it's hard to tell without a microscope."
      -"You're not really sure what it or the beads could be made of, but whatever they are they're certainly unstable, and contain a rather massive amount of energy. And neither are amorphous, they're both quite rigid in their shape."
      -"One clear application would be a power source, if you could figure out a way to harness it."
         --Simus
   Addendum:
      -Possibly a chunk of the radiation orb that broke off as it flied near the base towards the crater.
      -Possibly the source of small blueraditite. Small blueraditite chunks must have broken off when the large Blueraditite impacted the infirmary corridor.
         --? The object seems to be incredibly tough. How could chunks of it break off?
      -The nature of the anomaly that produced them implies great capabilities for energy production. Object may fetch a good price.
      -The object seems to be still active.

6:Assign that science crew to researching improved Man-Machine Interfaces, that someone can use without anything more invasive than wearing an MK.II suit and amp.  Is this even potentially practical?  When will it be done if so?


Sharksuit design:

7.Well, this seems simple.  Go for static plates of sharkplate where it wouldn't be restrictive, like the chestplate, helmet, forearm/shin guards, etc.  Everywhere else, try making it like scale mail- overlapping scales of sharkplate, with a strong cloth backing.  ((Thanks to renegadelobster for the suggestion)).  Try and make sure it's no more encumbering than the MCP suits we're already using.

8.As far as the detachability, the leg, arm, and head sections should all be detachable, so that a suit can be sold piecemeal.  Obviously, buying it piece by piece would cost more than buying the entire thing for only three tokens.

9.Anything else I need to specify about the current design?  Or is this sufficient?

[Parisbre56]

Hey, just a question, since we seem to be approaching mission end.
If I send Gilgamesh over there, will you take the time to research it? Since nyars objects can't be assigned to research teams, one of you is going to have to work on it. I just don't want to give up a really powerful weapon just to have it left sitting on some shelf collecting dust.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Anton Chernozorov

Alright then. As part of the list of things to be sent to the Sword for testing, Anton shall work on the MkIII-A suit. It's basically a merger of one of the long-tormented MACS system's modules with a MkIII suit on a permanent basis, with benefits. The "A" stands for "atmospheric/aquatic".

Points of interest:

• The design pretty much straight-up replaces the rocket components of the MkIII with ducted fans. Two large electric turbines are positioned over the shoulders on swiveling joints, two smaller ones reside on the ankles for extra maneuvering. Minor aerodynamic elements are sprinkled around the suit's extremities to aid maneuvering as well, and to make the suit act a little like a wingsuit in freefall, though it's too heavy to be able to do anything resembling a glide.
  
• Compared to a MkIII, the suit has less speed and maneuverability in the air, but can stay up indefinitely, using a generator to power the electric fans. It also can't fly in an airless environment (obviously), but should do pretty damn well in water. Likewise, since it's not spewing fire and smoke everywhere, it's marginally stealthier and safer to use around civilians. On that note, the fans should be able to swivel all the way back and down over the wearer's back, so the person in the suit can fit into standard doorways and corridors.
• Also compared to a MkIII, the suit lacks an EMM function because as I remember it, EMM burns rocket fuel to empower the movements of the wearer. However, since the suit carries an extra-large generator, perhaps it could use that to straight-up overcharge the synthetic muscles of the exoskeleton? Extra strength and agility, but no flying at the same time, plus maybe some chance of breaking the joints/limbs on a severe enough overshot?
• As far as armor, are the new materials available enough to make a prototype with? The suit should only be armored enough that a single laser rifle pulse won't send it slamming into the ground. Hexsand casings for the fans, plus a thin hexsand/sharkplate chestpiece? Maybe designed to work with a sharksuit like what Saint is developing?
• And finally, is it possible to make the fans themselves out of sharkplate or some other sharkmist-based self-repairing compound? The fan assemblies are by far the most important, vulnerable, and hard to replace parts of the whole thing. It'd be neat if they could be repaired easily if damaged.

((I think I drew a sketch of the MkIII-A back when the thing was part of the MCS system, way back when I was just starting to tinker around in here. Here it is.

Feel free to ask questions. (that goes for everyone, not just PW. I welcome discussion.)

I'm kind of assuming that the basic design is going to be straightforward enough - Anton already designed the Aero module for the MACS, he'll just permanently attach it to a MkIII for this, and give it programming from the same module. The only new work is in the EMM-replacement (that I call MASC), and maybe using the new materials for armor/components. ))

[piecewise]

Charles makes small talk, discussing how Leo got here and his life prior to the HMRC.

You know I'm actually not sure about that. We'll have to ask Devastator to talk to you, since I've got no clue about his character's real past and such.

Beetlesuit design:

1.First, you said that I'd be able to have two layers.  I'm pretty sure I know what that meant, but just to make sure, you mean two full layers of the Hexbug, Hexsand, Sharkplate arrangement, right?  That was what I had been talking about.  Also, this would mean that each individual new armor type is basically equivalent to one layer of battlesuit plate in price, which seems fair considering how they're both useless half the time, and their invulnerability the other half is only vaguely better than BS plate's constant nigh-invulnerability.

2.You said that mobility beetlesuits would be fine, as long as the hexbug layer is thin.  How thin is thin?  The current design has two layers of hexbug, both an inch thick.  Would halving that (I.E, nearly halving the effective armor, like the old Mobility BS design) allow flight?

3.So, going by the widths given before, the current armor would be about nine inches thick (4+2.5+2.5=9).  Is this thin enough that a beetlesuit could squeeze through a doorway?

4.If so, could a beetlesuit fight semi-effectively indoors at all?  Crouching around, perhaps?  Or does it require more significant modification?


Hephaestus Management:

5:A science crew finished looking at the Blueraditite we got from the anomalous planetoid.  Details on the stuff below, so what do we get out of it?

Spoiler: Blueraditite data (click to show/hide)

Small Blueraditite ("Blue beads","Anomalous Shard Fragments","Small Coerulus"):
   Origin:
      -Found near the place where the large Blueraditite that came from the radiation orb from zone 6 impacted the infirmary corridor. They were spread both inside and outside the corridor.
      -Also found in the track the radiation orb left in the ground.
   Physical characterisitics:
      -Rice shaped
      -Milky blue semi-transparent
      -Mildly Radioactive (not dangerous to humans)
      -Incredibly hard
         --Nothing happens if they break
      -Mildly Electrically charged
      -Radiation and electrical charge increase when in proximity to other small blueraditites.
   Danger: No danger exhibited yet, proceed with moderate caution.
      -It is unknown whether or not the objects will remain inert. Periodic checks recommended.
   Location:
      -The vault
      -The track left in the ground by the radiation orb
   Test results:
      -"First thing, Their structure is oddly crystalline, considering they're so smooth and ovoid, and you can make out myriad rombohedral structures through the microscope. They aren't terribly dense, but are extremely tough, as your attempts to test their hardness yield not a single scratch or chip. They are mildly radioactive and electro-active, qualities that increase when near other beads; so much so that visible arcing between beads is observed when they are a few inches apart. Flame seems to have no effect on them, besides blacking them with it's residue, which can be wiped off to reveal the unchanged surface."
      -Shooting them with a hand laser caused them to break. Nothing happened when they broke.
      -Did not react to acids or bases.
   Addendum:
      -The nature of the anomaly that produced them implies great capabilities for energy production. Object may fetch a good price.

Large Blueraditite ("The Hot Potato","Anomalous Shard","Large Coerulus"):
   Origin:
      -Found near the place where the radiation orb from zone 6 impacted the infirmary corridor. It was inside the corridor.
   Physical characteristics:
      -Some physical properties can be extrapolated by experimenting with the smaller artifacts of the same kind.
      -Looks like the middle section of a cylinder
         --? The blue radiation orb was a cylinder? The object in the center of zone 6 is a cylinder?
      -Glowing with a blue glow
      -Radioactive (A few minutes of contact are enough to cause radiation poisoning to suited individuals. Synthetics will fare better due to lack of body.)
      -Electrically charged (visible electrical arcing)
      -Hot
      -Vibratring
   Danger: Highly radioactive, proceed with extreme caution.
      -It is unknown whether or not the object will remain inert. Periodic checks recommended.
   Location:
      -Near the zone 6-1 boundary
   Test results:
      -"Thermal reveals that it's hot, which really isn't a surprise considering all the radiation leaking out of the thing. Motion reveals it's either vibrating slightly or it's causing minor distortion in the thin amounts of atmosphere around here. X-ray can't see inside it and the rest are equally unhelpful."
      -"The thing is quite different from the beads. Where as the beads were small, smooth and ovoid this thing is quite large and is partially cylindrical, with a jagged edge on both sides, as though it was broken off from the middle of a larger rod. It doesn't seem crystalline in nature either, though it's hard to tell without a microscope."
      -"You're not really sure what it or the beads could be made of, but whatever they are they're certainly unstable, and contain a rather massive amount of energy. And neither are amorphous, they're both quite rigid in their shape."
      -"One clear application would be a power source, if you could figure out a way to harness it."
         --Simus
   Addendum:
      -Possibly a chunk of the radiation orb that broke off as it flied near the base towards the crater.
      -Possibly the source of small blueraditite. Small blueraditite chunks must have broken off when the large Blueraditite impacted the infirmary corridor.
         --? The object seems to be incredibly tough. How could chunks of it break off?
      -The nature of the anomaly that produced them implies great capabilities for energy production. Object may fetch a good price.
      -The object seems to be still active.

6:Assign that science crew to researching improved Man-Machine Interfaces, that someone can use without anything more invasive than wearing an MK.II suit and amp.  Is this even potentially practical?  When will it be done if so?


Sharksuit design:

7.Well, this seems simple.  Go for static plates of sharkplate where it wouldn't be restrictive, like the chestplate, helmet, forearm/shin guards, etc.  Everywhere else, try making it like scale mail- overlapping scales of sharkplate, with a strong cloth backing.  ((Thanks to renegadelobster for the suggestion)).  Try and make sure it's no more encumbering than the MCP suits we're already using.

8.As far as the detachability, the leg, arm, and head sections should all be detachable, so that a suit can be sold piecemeal.  Obviously, buying it piece by piece would cost more than buying the entire thing for only three tokens.

9.Anything else I need to specify about the current design?  Or is this sufficient?

1. Yeah, two layers as in two full, three part layers. SO I guess it would be 7 layers total? 3x2 + 1 battle suit.
2. Yeah, having one layer instead of two sounds like a fair compromise to keep mobility.
3.Depends on the doorway honestly but most doorways are between 32-48 inches wide, at least in terms of civilian human crap. They're larger on the ship and in most military installations; but if you ever go to alien locales It's gonna be a crap shoot. 9 inches on either side means 18 total. So depending on how thick the stuff in the armor is, you'll have your answer. I'm not entirely sure what the beetle suit is, so I dunno. You probably said in the OOC thread but I only skim that every now and again.
4.See above.

5.Well, the stuff doesn't completely break physics. It isn't an infinite source of energy, rather it's just an insanely good battery of sorts. It contains stupidly massive amounts of power for it's size. Far more then even our best chemical batteries. We hooked it up to a cutting laser and the thing ran for days before the crystal's power was exhausted. Only problem is that the things throw off a lot of radiation as they're used, along with heat and all sorts of other shit. This means that they need some pretty heavy duty shielding. Bigger ones are so fucking dangerous that we're considering just dropping them as weapons.

Regardless, we can grow them now, but doing so requires huge, HUGE amounts of energy.

6.Hmm. This is a bit vague. When you say "Machine-man" do you mean neuro interfaces to let men control machines?

7.That should work. It might be a bit heavy and encumbering to humans with low strength, but not overly so.
8.Alright. Though remember that we have a minimum of 1 token for the price, so breaking it up too much might actually make it MORE expensive to buy piecemeal.
9. Is the head section just something to slip over a normal helmet? Or is it something different? Also, the way I'm imagining this is that you're selling this thing in pieces; like "Left sleeve, right sleeve, left leg, right leg, chest, head" is that what what you had in mind?

Anton Chernozorov

Alright then. As part of the list of things to be sent to the Sword for testing, Anton shall work on the MkIII-A suit. It's basically a merger of one of the long-tormented MACS system's modules with a MkIII suit on a permanent basis, with benefits. The "A" stands for "atmospheric/aquatic".

Points of interest:

• The design pretty much straight-up replaces the rocket components of the MkIII with ducted fans. Two large electric turbines are positioned over the shoulders on swiveling joints, two smaller ones reside on the ankles for extra maneuvering. Minor aerodynamic elements are sprinkled around the suit's extremities to aid maneuvering as well, and to make the suit act a little like a wingsuit in freefall, though it's too heavy to be able to do anything resembling a glide.
  
• Compared to a MkIII, the suit has less speed and maneuverability in the air, but can stay up indefinitely, using a generator to power the electric fans. It also can't fly in an airless environment (obviously), but should do pretty damn well in water. Likewise, since it's not spewing fire and smoke everywhere, it's marginally stealthier and safer to use around civilians. On that note, the fans should be able to swivel all the way back and down over the wearer's back, so the person in the suit can fit into standard doorways and corridors.
• Also compared to a MkIII, the suit lacks an EMM function because as I remember it, EMM burns rocket fuel to empower the movements of the wearer. However, since the suit carries an extra-large generator, perhaps it could use that to straight-up overcharge the synthetic muscles of the exoskeleton? Extra strength and agility, but no flying at the same time, plus maybe some chance of breaking the joints/limbs on a severe enough overshot?
• As far as armor, are the new materials available enough to make a prototype with? The suit should only be armored enough that a single laser rifle pulse won't send it slamming into the ground. Hexsand casings for the fans, plus a thin hexsand/sharkplate chestpiece? Maybe designed to work with a sharksuit like what Saint is developing?
• And finally, is it possible to make the fans themselves out of sharkplate or some other sharkmist-based self-repairing compound? The fan assemblies are by far the most important, vulnerable, and hard to replace parts of the whole thing. It'd be neat if they could be repaired easily if damaged.

((I think I drew a sketch of the MkIII-A back when the thing was part of the MCS system, way back when I was just starting to tinker around in here. Here it is.

Feel free to ask questions. (that goes for everyone, not just PW. I welcome discussion.)

I'm kind of assuming that the basic design is going to be straightforward enough - Anton already designed the Aero module for the MACS, he'll just permanently attach it to a MkIII for this, and give it programming from the same module. The only new work is in the EMM-replacement (that I call MASC), and maybe using the new materials for armor/components. ))

1. Wing suit stuff is fine (though a way to extend and retract it might be prudent) but the ducted fans...I question their ability to function as you want. I'm no physicist, but from what I've seen with drones and that myth busters attempt to build something similar (as well as The Martin Jetpack) it seems like even extremely high efficiency ducted fans lack the force to keep a man aloft. At least, not without being stupidly huge. Even with the problem of a power source taken care of, it still seems to have definite problems.
2. Well, we can already overcharge robotic muscles. Jim, way back when, was offered a program to do it, but declined. Mostly because doing so is dangerous.

[Devastator]

Charles makes small talk, discussing how Leo got here and his life prior to the HMRC.

"What do you care, man?  You just finished telling me how you're doing all this for the four or five fat cats that run a particular planet, and so that you can rip open every hole in the universe."

[Sean Mirrsen]

1. Wing suit stuff is fine (though a way to extend and retract it might be prudent) but the ducted fans...I question their ability to function as you want. I'm no physicist, but from what I've seen with drones and that myth busters attempt to build something similar (as well as The Martin Jetpack) it seems like even extremely high efficiency ducted fans lack the force to keep a man aloft. At least, not without being stupidly huge. Even with the problem of a power source taken care of, it still seems to have definite problems.
2. Well, we can already overcharge robotic muscles. Jim, way back when, was offered a program to do it, but declined. Mostly because doing so is dangerous.

((The Martin Jetpack's prototype wasn't terribly stupidly huge.

That thing runs on regular fuel (200HP engine) instead of using electric ducted fans and futuristic compact reactors. Sure it won't be quite as slim as in my picture, but even with how poorly the tech would advance in the space-age, applying our usual "this is the future" discount should make something like it more than wearable.))

[syvarris]

Hephaestus SciTea stuff:

1.The Bluraditite shards- you said they can be used as batteries.  Can they be recharged without large industrial stuff?

2.Shards, you said they require immense shielding (hexsand, perhaps?), but can power a cutting laser for days.  Would a sufficiently shielded battery that supplies enough energy for a standard laser to run a single day, be appreciably cheaper than a generator that can do the same forever?  (I.E. could we make Sean's FEL lasers cheaper, or other devices with generators?)

3.Shards, again: Properly applied, are they more efficient as explosives, cost-to-boom, than our currently existing conventional explosives?  (I.E. Could we make cheaper grenades?)

4.The Sci-crew project:  When I said Man-Machine interfaces, I meant a method of connecting the neural network of a human to a machine, with effectiveness rivaling a robobody's braincase.  If possible, I'd like them to design something that is no more invasive than an Mk.II suit, and possibly an amp-equivalent item.

Beetlesuit design:

5.The beetlesuit, as it currently is, is literally just a battlesuit with thinner armor plates.  The armor has been reduced from about fifty inches total, to eighteen(!); does that make the suit thin enough to fit through a 32" doorway?

6.If not, are there improvements/adjustments/modifications we could make to the suit to allow it to function vaugely well indoors?  If so, apply these adjustments to the suit.

7....If the above action would require a science crew working on it first, could we swap them from from MMI research, and have them work on size efficient batlesuit design?

Sharksuit:

8.Umm, yeah, the helmet part should be a slip-on thing tailored for our current suit helmets.

9.I think I messed up explaining the cost model or something- the ENTIRE suit should be purchasable for three tokens, all in one set.  There's just a special option for people to buy a single part of it, for a single token.  It's inefficient, but a cheapskate might decide only his brain needs to be armored, and buy the helmet.  Or, a robot might decide to buy just the torso armor, since he has little need for a helmet or sleeves.  It's not intended for anyone to buy the whole suit piecemeal.

((Heh, piecemeal... After he dies, who dines?))

[piecewise]

1. Wing suit stuff is fine (though a way to extend and retract it might be prudent) but the ducted fans...I question their ability to function as you want. I'm no physicist, but from what I've seen with drones and that myth busters attempt to build something similar (as well as The Martin Jetpack) it seems like even extremely high efficiency ducted fans lack the force to keep a man aloft. At least, not without being stupidly huge. Even with the problem of a power source taken care of, it still seems to have definite problems.
2. Well, we can already overcharge robotic muscles. Jim, way back when, was offered a program to do it, but declined. Mostly because doing so is dangerous.

((The Martin Jetpack's prototype wasn't terribly stupidly huge.

That thing runs on regular fuel (200HP engine) instead of using electric ducted fans and futuristic compact reactors. Sure it won't be quite as slim as in my picture, but even with how poorly the tech would advance in the space-age, applying our usual "this is the future" discount should make something like it more than wearable.))

So...This is a quote from the Council

This is, well, headache-inducingly bad all around, and unfeasable from practically every single point of view.  Basically, what he wants is to design an pickup-truck sized electric quadcopter that people could 'wear'.  And it's going to be solar powered, because that's the single smallest energy source available in ER.  Just say no, please, there's a thousand better methods of flying around, and he should use one of them.

.

I'm not sure where the solar powered part of that comes from. Maybe I've not been paying enough attention. Anyways, ducted fans seem...alright actually here's a question for minds greater than my own. The limits in lift of a ducted fan, I assume they're based on surface area of the fan as well as speed. Increasing either means you're sucking air down faster, producing more lift, correct? Probably missing lots of shit about aerodynamics, but does that basic concept hold water? And if it does, could the weight of a man be held aloft by smaller fans simply by making them spin faster? I assume, of course, there's some upper limit where faster spin won't help anything, but theoretically.

Unless someone around here can do that math...

Hephaestus SciTea stuff:

1.The Bluraditite shards- you said they can be used as batteries.  Can they be recharged without large industrial stuff?

2.Shards, you said they require immense shielding (hexsand, perhaps?), but can power a cutting laser for days.  Would a sufficiently shielded battery that supplies enough energy for a standard laser to run a single day, be appreciably cheaper than a generator that can do the same forever?  (I.E. could we make Sean's FEL lasers cheaper, or other devices with generators?)

3.Shards, again: Properly applied, are they more efficient as explosives, cost-to-boom, than our currently existing conventional explosives?  (I.E. Could we make cheaper grenades?)

4.The Sci-crew project:  When I said Man-Machine interfaces, I meant a method of connecting the neural network of a human to a machine, with effectiveness rivaling a robobody's braincase.  If possible, I'd like them to design something that is no more invasive than an Mk.II suit, and possibly an amp-equivalent item.

Beetlesuit design:

5.The beetlesuit, as it currently is, is literally just a battlesuit with thinner armor plates.  The armor has been reduced from about fifty inches total, to eighteen(!); does that make the suit thin enough to fit through a 32" doorway?

6.If not, are there improvements/adjustments/modifications we could make to the suit to allow it to function vaugely well indoors?  If so, apply these adjustments to the suit.

7....If the above action would require a science crew working on it first, could we swap them from from MMI research, and have them work on size efficient batlesuit design?

Sharksuit:

8.Umm, yeah, the helmet part should be a slip-on thing tailored for our current suit helmets.

9.I think I messed up explaining the cost model or something- the ENTIRE suit should be purchasable for three tokens, all in one set.  There's just a special option for people to buy a single part of it, for a single token.  It's inefficient, but a cheapskate might decide only his brain needs to be armored, and buy the helmet.  Or, a robot might decide to buy just the torso armor, since he has little need for a helmet or sleeves.  It's not intended for anyone to buy the whole suit piecemeal.

((Heh, piecemeal... After he dies, who dines?))

No. In fact they can't be recharged at all

Yes, theoretically these things should produce a lot more power for a lot cheaper then a generator. The real cost is the fact that they have to be replaced occasionally and that they're gonna be potentially heavy because of shielding. But look at it this way: you want to lug a generator the size of a small truck or a shielded shard the size of a propane tank?

Hard to say. They don't explode well, but they have extra properties. Their shrapnel is radioactive enough that even a bit of it in you will probably be fatal without advanced medical intervention. Not super fast, mind you, but kill in days fast. Second, it plays absolute havoc with electronics. Worse then EMP because the micro shards in the environment hang around and fuck shit up for anything that enters the area. This is part of the reason they need to be shielded.

Ok. There's a few ways to do that. We'll work on it.

Thin enough....maybe. You're gonna have to go through sideways, all hunched over...whatever, anything that small is probably gonna be able to be punched through so whatever.



Ok.

Alright. 3 for the total, 1 for any individual piece. Alright. Gonna have to build some vats to grow the stuff, but we can do that.

[Empiricist]

Charles makes small talk, discussing how Leo got here and his life prior to the HMRC.

"What do you care, man?  You just finished telling me how you're doing all this for the four or five fat cats that run a particular planet, and so that you can rip open every hole in the universe."

"Yes, as opposed to all the holes that the UWM seem to be perfectly happy ripping open. And at what point did I mention capitalism or specific planets? I answered your questions, nothing more, nothing less.

I care because I'd rather know why you care for the UWM, have I not addressed your concerns already? It is better for everyone to progress, even if it brings calamity closer as long as it gives us the tools to deal with it. Do you really think the tech bans will prevent that from happening? Our lives and memories are too short, one day, someone will slip up, even with bans in place - after all, there seem to be plenty of government organizations and corporate 'fat cats' that seem to be above those protocols. Do you really think that this disparity will save us? All it will do is delay possible disasters, and it doesn't even buy us any time, they make us less prepared because the few who are apparently above the law don't seem to be too happy to share the fruits of their research with everyone else.

Mark my words, those bans are a death warrant for our entire species."

[Sean Mirrsen]

So...This is a quote from the Council

This is, well, headache-inducingly bad all around, and unfeasable from practically every single point of view.  Basically, what he wants is to design an pickup-truck sized electric quadcopter that people could 'wear'.  And it's going to be solar powered, because that's the single smallest energy source available in ER.  Just say no, please, there's a thousand better methods of flying around, and he should use one of them.

.

I do have to wonder what thousand of better methods to fly without using large aircraft or rapidly exhaustible supplies of onboard resources that quote implies. I mean, I'm open to suggestions. I do have more ideas of my own, by the way, but they are increasingly going into unexplored-in-real-life-due-to-technological-constraints territory.

I'm not sure where the solar powered part of that comes from. Maybe I've not been paying enough attention. Anyways, ducted fans seem...alright actually here's a question for minds greater than my own. The limits in lift of a ducted fan, I assume they're based on surface area of the fan as well as speed. Increasing either means you're sucking air down faster, producing more lift, correct? Probably missing lots of shit about aerodynamics, but does that basic concept hold water? And if it does, could the weight of a man be held aloft by smaller fans simply by making them spin faster? I assume, of course, there's some upper limit where faster spin won't help anything, but theoretically.

Unless someone around here can do that math...

I can't supply the hard math, but in general you'd be right. The problems you'd be running into stem from there being a limit to how quickly the surrounding air can be drawn into the intake, and how much the turbine can accelerate it, so there are definite limits to cold lift (i.e. without using thermal expansion of gas) using a turbine design of a given size. The actual limit is I think determined by how much air the turbine can displace without the tips of its blades breaking the speed of sound (which will be a pain to manage at best), but somebody with actual knowledge would be better suited to answer that.

In a conventional-ish thing like the Martin Jetpack, the limits are mostly practical though - you can only fit so big an engine in a wearable craft, and the materials the fans are made of are only so strong, and you keep running into diminishing returns if you want to make it larger - that's even beside the whole point that the idea is to make it small and personal.

For my part, I want to keep pointing to the design of that jetpack. That thing flies. Already. With a 200HP V4 engine, mechanical transmissions, and regular old fossil fuel. About 60% of its bulk, from the videos of its flights, is the huge engine/fueltank/counterweight assembly the pilot is attached to the outside of. Take that out, replace it with a compact generator of similar power that ER-verse provides, and turn the ducted fans themselves into electric engines, and it will still work just as well I think. There are few things you can't do with enough electrical power available to be thrown at stuff (see: portable building-slicing lasers). There are things better and more practical than an infinite-range personal flight pack I suppose, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's at all impractical.

(And really, even that jetpack thing is far smaller than a pickup truck.)

[Hapah]

Concerning the fansuit: I've been busy with RL stuff and haven't been following this, but what exactly would someone use this for? I can't see the demand. This is my biggest question with other stuff below.

And this bit seems kinda iffy

On that note, the fans should be able to swivel all the way back and down over the wearer's back, so the person in the suit can fit into standard doorways and corridors.

And what happens when people add more gear? I think the average weight of just combat gear today is something like 60 pounds before you even get into the non-fighty stuff, it's gonna be hard to get that thing off the ground if you add too much weight.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Concerning the fansuit: I've been busy with RL stuff and haven't been following this, but what exactly would someone use this for? I can't see the demand. This is my biggest question with other stuff below.

And this bit seems kinda iffy

On that note, the fans should be able to swivel all the way back and down over the wearer's back, so the person in the suit can fit into standard doorways and corridors.

And what happens when people add more gear? I think the average weight of just combat gear today is something like 60 pounds before you even get into the non-fighty stuff, it's gonna be hard to get that thing off the ground if you add too much weight.

It's not only, or even necessarily, for Sword personnel use. I know full well that the uses of this suit will be limited for the inmates who regularly find themselves on airless planetoids and space stations (not to mention spend most of their time in space). That's why it was originally a part of the MACS system - so that people could use it when they needed to, without being committed to using it with the whole suit.

However, consider planetary forces that will spend their time primarily on the surface of habitable worlds with decent atmosphere. Rocket fuel isn't exactly everywhere, and, on the planetary scale, missions further away than the 100km travel range of the rocket MkIII will conceivably be needed. The suit is a lightweight, low-signature, high-endurance scouting tool. It has no advantages over a MkIII when it comes to combat operations, even in atmosphere, but its advantages are in low maintenance and lack of an operational range limit.

Also, I really want to make it work with just fans. It can be made faster, more compact, and still maintain the same longevity in atmosphere, but it will require going beyond what real-life engineering actually tried and made work, which will require another personal research project that I don't have the time for with the ship projects, and the next chance to send a prototype for testing is going to be even more months away.

Technically I already made the ducted fan design work, it's saved as a MACS module that PW approved back when it was made. I was hoping I could reuse that without all this hassle.
(And this is really why I don't want to try out or even voice my ideas before I'm ready to really get to making them. >_>)

[Radio Controlled]

If it's not for player use, then I still wonder why you don't just design a drone, Sean. Those are perfect for scouting, easier to design, can be made remote controlled or given a decent computer for autonomous operation (maybe even braincase controlled?), could be made much smaller, don't have sily things like limbs to weigh it down and get in the way, ...

[Sean Mirrsen]

If it's not for player use, then I still wonder why you don't just design a drone, Sean. Those are perfect for scouting, easier to design, can be made remote controlled or given a decent computer for autonomous operation (maybe even braincase controlled?), could be made much smaller, don't have sily things like limbs to weigh it down and get in the way, ...

A drone as in an AI, or as in a wetware AI? How many of our fellow rebel allies will be willing to tear out their brains to install them in robots? If we're supplying the drones and the brains, won't it cut into our own Sod production - and why have Sods that are purpose-built drones when we can use one design that fits both robosods and regular humans? What if it's not needed as a mere weapons platform? It's a perfect platform for line-of-sight mind control ampage or other space magic shenanigans. It's got many uses as it is.

That all said, I don't mind making a drone as well. Indeed that was one of my other ideas, specifically for sensor drones around Hephaestus, it just got lost in all the other stuff happening at the time. Anything that's good for the US army can be good for the ARM as well. Problem is the same, a drone will require R&D time. The ducted fan jumpsuit Anton already has - or should have, at least.