Essay: BattleMech Technology

This essay was written by MekTek forum poster Pht and posted here by him.

Overview

An in depth look at the various technologies of a BattleMech and the consequences thereof.

Internal Structure

BattleMechs have a large amount of articulation (joints). The basic design approach is to mimic the skeletal structure of humans by using an endoskeleton.

This means that most of a BattleMechs systems are mounted on the exterior of the bones instead of being caged inside of a frame. This is somewhat similar to how a human skeleton supports muscles and organs, and the rest of our body.

The internal structure ("bones") really do support the whole structure... while the armor looks as if it could hold the Mech together, it's actually quite thin and unable to support much weight.

The Frame

'Mechs normally have between sixteen to twenty five bones. The number of bones is low compared to human skeletons for a couple of reasons. Some structures that encompass a dozen or more bones in a human - for example, the ribcage - are a one piece structure in 'Mechs. In other areas, simplified components serve the function of several bones. For example the foot, which in a human is a very complex structure of bones, is replaced effectively with simple shock pads.

This structural streamlining results in 'Mechs generally being less articulated and flexible than a purely human bone structure would allow.

Standard Internals

Standard internals are formed of multi-part structures with a core of ultra-light foamed aluminum, shrouded in directionally oriented sheets of silicon carbide fibers. This core is then clad with titanium-alloyed steel. The exterior is set up to mount the assorted equipment 'Mechs carry. Struts extend outward from the bones to hold the armor shell, and attachment points for myomer are built onto the bone. Weapons frame attachments are custom-designed into the internals for each 'Mech (this is one of the reasons that weapons swaps aren't cut and dried affairs).

Endo-steel Internals

Endo-steel internal structures are basically of the same configuration as standard internals in layout. Where they differ is in materials. Endo-steel structures are made of endomorphic steel.

Endo-steel is much stronger than standard internal structure, which allows endo-steel internals to be built with structurally thinner walls that are lighter for the same strength. This added strength also removes the need for the fiber wrap reinforcement around the core. The downside to this is that thinner walls make endo-steel internals less stiff than same diameter of standard internals... this means that endo-steel bones must be made with larger cores.

Necessary engineering note: Stiffness and strength are not the same qualities.

For example, a thick cardboard panel is stiffer... less likely to buckle, than a thin sheet of metal - even though the metal is far stronger. Endo-steel is stronger, but its thinner structures are far more likely to buckle, requiring a larger core.

Due to its composition, endo-steel must be made in zero-g to avoid chemical segregation (think of oil and water) which would severely weaken the alloy and make it brittle. Endo-steel’s foam core is also formed in zero-G, which promotes a more regular pore size - leading to superior strength. Zero g production makes endo-steel necessarily more expensive, but allows the elimination of the fiber layer, meaning faster production than standard internal structure.

Actuators

'Mech joints are generally referred to as actuators. Actuator are more than just the hinges between bones... actuators include the joint, the associated myomers, and the Motor Control Units. The actual joints are usually ball type, like hips, or hinge type, like elbows. These are sealed joints which are normally filled with dry lubricants like graphite or hexagonal boron nitride. The joints are moved by the myomers in a similar fashion to how muscles move our appendages about.

Motor Control Unit

Each joint has a Motor Control Unit (MCU) that controls the joint by sending power (electrical) to the appropriate myomer bundles. The MCUs manage the thousands of myomer fibers in each myomer bundle, contracting them.

MCUs also monitor feedback from sensors wired into the actuator structures, providing the positional information of the joint relative to the rest of the BattleMech (an artificial kinesthetic sense) to higher-level systems. These higher-level systems (which will be discussed later) take these inputs, along with all known programmed movements and cross-reference them with inputs from the gyro to maintain balance. 'Mech actuators actually self-adjust at undetectably low levels without input from the mechwarrior.

Clan actuators are advanced enough that they can adjust to even a slight breeze, compensating by subtle shifts of the mech to lean it into the wind.

On top of all of this, the MCUs themselves are controlled by higher order control systems that utilize the mechwarriors control inputs, in order to direct the battlemechs gross level movements (also known as "getting around").

The entire group of MCUs is known as the "Mech Movement Sub-System" or MMSS... the overarching MMSS system is programmed with the mechs movement routines.

Lastly, when a battlemech is shut down, the actuators lock into place, keeping the mech upright (or however it was when it experienced shutdown).

Myomers

Myomers are made up of microscopically thin polyacetylene tubes filled with a contracting substance. Each individual tube is extruded in microscopic forms and spun into the overall myomer bundle. The contractile filling - "acti-strandular fiber" - is crapped out (yes, that is actually the proper term) by genetically engineered bacteria in vats. This acti-strandular precursor material is than removed from the vats, combined with specific polymers, and squirted into the tubes. The tubes are then electrified so that the acti-strandular precursor material self arranges into complex nanoscale structures somewhat like the contractile protein filaments in natural muscle (myosin and actin filaments).

When enough electrical energy is applied to the myomer strand the fibers contract in a process virtually identical to the contraction of protein filaments in natural muscles, excepting that the power is applied in a direct electrical form instead of a chemical one. This contraction is an all or nothing process - the level of force generated by myomer bundles is controlled by the number of myomer tubes recruited, rather than the amount of electrical current applied to the myomers. For redundancy, the power controls for myomer strands are mounted at both ends.

Because myomers are far more powerful by weight than human muscle, and can be built on larger scales, they make BattleMech movement possible... meaning, they make 'Mechs a possibility.

"Triple strength myomers" are very much like normal myomers, but they operate more efficiently under heat because of a simple endothermic chemical reaction within the myomers.

Now... don't simply think of myomers as 'Mech scale muscles. They are actually powerful electrical motors. For reference, the myomer bundles in a 'Mechs fingers are multi-kilowatt motors. The leg myomers are far more powerful.

The downside of myomers is that they aren’t efficient electrical motors due to high internal electrical resistance. Much of the energy required to activate them is simply wasted into heat. This results in myomers requiring a fairly high capacity cooling system so that they do not fry themselves. As a reference, myomers are roughly as wasteful as natural muscle or internal combustion engines. To avoid ruining themselves with self-generated heat, the bundles are laced with a network of flexible tubing that carry coolant fluids to and from the battlemechs heat sink system.

As an important side note, it is a misconception that lightning or PPC fire (which actually is nothing like lightning) can spasm a mech and cause it rip its myomers apart. Mech structure and armor provides a very low resistance conduit to earth ground that will protect the myomers from the electrical energy. The WOB mech tasers work because they provide a much closer ground (lower resistance path) to the positive channel of the taser - whatever is in between the contacts of the mech-taser is subjected to *massive* amperage (it's amps that does the damage, not volts)... normally it is electrical components that suffer from this attack.

Armor

Standard Armor

Standard BattleMech armor is formed in multiple layers. Just two of these layers can actually be called armor... the other layers support the armor layers.

The outer layer is an extremely strong, extremely hard layer of steel. It fragments projectiles and can ablate to provide protection from energy attacks. The crystalline structure of this steel is carefully aligned and radiation treated for maximum hardness and strength. Because of its phenomenal strength and hardness, the outer layer suffers the trade off of being quite brittle. It is so brittle that the second layer of armor - a ceramic - cubic boron nitride - has to act as a backstop for fragments of the outer layer, molten outer armor, and even outer armor converted into plasma by heavy attack. Yes, the outer layer is harder than ceramic. It is some serious stuff!

The boron nitride - a very hard layer in its own right - is processed to avoid porosity and includes a web of man made diamond fibers to impart a little bit of flexibility for this second layer that acts as a backstop to the outer layer.

The next layer is a titanium alloy honeycomb. This layer provides no armor protection - it is instead used to support the armor layers. The first and second armor layers are millimeter and centimeter level thin in order to cover the massive surface area with a proportionately small quantity of armor. This makes armor very thin for its length and width. As such, the titanium honeycomb holds the armor in place and keeps it from flexing so much that it shatters like a pane of glass. The side comment about strength and stiffness of endo-steel applies here.

The last layer is a polymer sealant. Because the armor is configured into many separately replaceable panels, this sealant is necessary to keep the 'Mech air and watertight. The polymers used usually have some self-sealing capability... just enough to handle small punctures and gaps. It is this layer that allows BattleMechs to operate underwater or in a vacuum.

There are other types of armor on 'Mechs. Actuator armoring can be from a wide range of protective materials - ballistic/ablative fabrics to articulated plates of standard armor. Cockpit view screens use a large selection of transparent armors in combination... anything from ferroglass to alternating diamond and polymer sheets.

Ferro-fibrous Armor

Ferro-fibrous armor adds a weave of diamond fibers to the steel layer itself. This is quite the trick, as iron reacts with carbon, which would dissolve the diamond layer. The techniques used to keep the diamond from melting into the iron result in bulkier but lighter armor. Originally researched and made in the first Star League era, the technology became "lostech" in the inner sphere for a long time. Clan ferro-fibrous is denser and can be shaped better allowing maximization of internal volume. Inner Sphere ferro-fibrous doesn't shape well into anything other than flat plates due to its bulk.

There are various types of ferro-fibrous armor in the inner sphere providing varying levels of protection by mass and weight by changing the amount of diamond fibers in the armor.

“Light” ferro-fibrous armor has fewer fibers. It is less bulky but also less protective by weight. “Heavy” ferro-fibrous armor has more fiber. It has better protective capability by weight than even Clan armor, but the downside is massive bulk.

Stealth Armor

Stealth armor is a Capellan development that is actually a variation on standard ferro-fibrous armor. It is an attempt to replicate the functions of the long lost Star League Null Signature System... but has to use a separate ECM suite in order to attain its capabilities. Stealth armor incorporates a number of emission suppressing materials that are fairly heavy, which makes stealth armor roughly as effective as standard armor by weight and bulk. The suppressing effect is not attained through materials alone - the BattleMechs structure has to be set up to use stealth armor... heat sinks rerouted so they can be suppressed, corners and surfaces molded to control radar reflections, and even internal baffles to mask the massive magnetic field of the fusion engine itself.

Important Note

The internal structures, myomer, and armor are laced with sensors and data lines. Keep this in mind as you continue reading!

Gyroscope

As should be obvious, the gyroscope is the device that does the vast majority of the work that keeps a BattleMech upright. Even the best 'Mech actuators are too slow and imprecise to apply the force needed to keep a 'Mech upright.

A 'Mech's gyro consists of a balance-sensing mechanism and a force-generating mechanism.

Balance

Balance sensors usually encompass a small computer in the cockpit incorporating balance-sensing "widgets." The widgets operate in differing manners. Some use laser ring gyroscopes, or harmonic vibration gyroscopes or even mercury bead setups. These sensors can also act as a 'Mechs inertial navigation system.

Force

Located in the torso is a multi-ton assembly of reaction wheels. Reaction wheels are spinning rings.

The gyro is made of two major assemblies. The first is the housing, made of a carbon nanotube reinforced polymer inner shell and a light ceramic outer layer. The internally mounted reaction rings are made of carbon nanotube reinforced graphite.

When a 'Mech starts to fall, the gyro mechanism will stop one of the (very) fast-spinning wheels and impart a reaction in the direction the wheel was spinning... or it will speed up a ring and as a reaction will impart a push in the opposite direction of the push on the wheel.

Gyroscope setups actually vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Most gyros have at least three reaction wheels set at 90 degrees to each other. Some gyroscopes mount the reaction rings in a free-spinning sphere in order to avoid the reaction wheels inhibiting a BattleMechs movement with unwanted gyroscopic effects. This design requires locking the outside sphere in order to use the reaction wheels.

Some gyroscopes use six reaction wheels mounted to the internal structure set up in three counter-rotating pairs, also to cancel gyroscopic problems.

None of these designs is necessarily better than the others.

While an effective system for keeping the mech upright, the gyroscopic system can be fooled fairly easily. Mechs are not good at determining when they should be off-balance.

What?!? Off balance!?

Being off balance is surprisingly useful in combat... leaning away from an attack, or leaning into a physical attack, and a myriad of other useful tactics. The MechWarrior and his neurohelmet come in here, in a big way. Actually, this is the primary purpose of the neurohelmet: telling a 'Mech when it should be off balance - also to help the mech regain its bearings. More on this when we get to neurohelmets.

Fusion Engines

Fusion reactors generate huge quantities of power by fusing light elements like hydrogen into heavier elements like helium. Nuclear fission, on the other hand, splits heavy elements like uranium into lighter materials.

The usual fuel used in modern fusion engines is normal hydrogen… the protium isotope to be specific. Historically other fuels were used in early fusion reactors. Anything from heavier hydrogen isotopes like deuterium and tritium, to the helium-3 isotope and even lithium - easier to use, but these types of fusion engines generated more nuclear waste than the modern fusion engines.

In modern fusion reactors, the normal hydrogen used for fuel is extracted from any number of sources - particularly water. Because of this is most military fusion engines include an electrolysis unit to extract hydrogen from water.

Those tales you may have heard, of mechwarriors “refueling” their mechs with urine? They aren’t myths.

Containment and Power Generation

The fusion engine has a super hot (tens of millions of degrees Celsius) ball of hydrogen plasma converting into helium. In order to keep the plasma ball from melting the engine, it is contained within a magnetic field. This is possible because plasma is electrically charged and can be pushed around by magnetic fields. There are magnetic fields inside the plasma ball and fields generated outside the plasma.

In fact, the plasma never (normally) touches the walls of the engine. The reactor chamber is kept as a vacuum for heat insulation.

The power is extracted in two ways. The first is called "magnetohydrodynamics" or MHD. The shorter and mostly correct description of the process is that the plasma is like a dynamo, generating electrical currents in conductor loops that wrap around the reactor. MHD directly converts heat from the fuel into electricity. By operating at extreme temperatures MHD can exceed 90 percent efficiency in turning heat into electricity.

The second way of generating power is purely secondary, and is called regenerative cooling. Regenerative cooling uses waste heat to generate power. Usually this is done with a closed-cycle gas or steam turbine. In some effect, this is a part of the cooling system, even though this is not a part of the cooling system proper. Regenerative cooling machinery is very different from real heat sinks. The regenerative cooling system adds negligible volume to the engine, due to its using the existing plumbing of the engines cooling system. On larger engines when designers try to scavenge all of the waste heat.

It would be quite useful if all waste heat from an engine could be soaked up by these so-called "integral heat sinks," but practical limitations mean only so much energy can be extracted from this lower-quality source. Bigger engines make more waste heat and can have larger regenerative cooling systems, but most 'Mechs will use some real heat sinks placed elsewhere to handle the excess.

Shielding and Fusion Engine Types

All fusion reactions generate radiation. Fusion reactors irradiate their interiors, which causes problems when the reactor must be serviced or decommissioned. Because of this radiation shielding is the largest portion of a 'Mech-scale fusion engine’s mass.

Standard fusion engines use a very dense ceramic for shielding - usually tungsten carbide reinforced with short ceramic fibers mixed into the carbide. The shielding is actually thick enough to survive battle damage and act as a heat sink (thermal mass) that can eat the heat from the plasma should the magnetic containment fields fail.

Extra-light (XL) engines reduce the tungsten carbide reactor walls but reinforce them with a crystalline plastic that creates a bulkier but lighter engine.

Making large blocks of this shielding is very hard for engine manufacturers, as the scrap rate is massive. This accounts for some of the high price of XL engines.

So-called "light engines" use layered shielding materials and secondary magnetic screens, and are not quite as light as XL engines, but not as bulky.

Engine Cooling Systems

Fusion engines also have their own integral cooling system that is separate from the rest of the heat sink network. Liquid nitrogen jackets are used over key components, which allows minimal engine operations without using the outside cooling systems. Any more of the engine requires the larger cooling capacity of the main heat sink system.

Fusion engine explosions

An urban legend that will not die...fusion engines going critical and exploding as mini-nukes.

Ok, so, this is counter intuitive, so try to stay with me here. Remember those magnetic fields? They also protect the plasma from the frigid (relative to the temperature of the plasma) reactor chamber walls... see, the fusion reactions in a BattleMech fusion reactor only occur in a very narrow band of temperature and pressure conditions. Namely, the hotter and the higher the pressure, the faster the reactions occur. Now, if you remember your chemistry classes, you will know that as you add heat to a gas, it expands. If it can't expand, its pressure goes up.

Now, when the reactions spike a bit, the plasma gets hotter, and in turn tries to expand. Well, the thing is, the magnetic fields aren't rigid... so they give a bit, and the plasma ball expands, which, in turn, lowers the pressure - which cools the plasma and allows it to collapse to it's normal size. There is a little bit of extra room in the reactor chamber for just this reason.

There is, however, another way the reaction can cool down... if the magnetic fields don't do their job, the plasma ball can actually touch the frigid walls of the core... resulting in... Poof! The plasma ball goes out with a whimper, barely even scuffing the walls of the reactor. What!?

Well, see, the plasma ball cools so quickly upon contact with the frigid walls that the fusion reactions stop, for all purposes, instantly. But what about the thermal mass? Remember, all the heat comes from active reactions - there is no stored latent heat in the plasma to speak of. The multi-ton reactor walls have so much thermal mass to soak up the heat of the reaction that you ... might... scorch your hands touching the reactor wall after the plasma hit it.

The more informed among you might want to say "but what about that guy that buried all the clanners in that canyon by blowing up his engine?" or "but I saw a mech on the news blow up in a blinding flash of light!"

Fusion reactors *do* on very rare occasions, die in a spectacular manner... and the majority of those times isn't due to an exploding reactor.

What normally happens is that the reactor core is breached, allowing a large quantity of cold air into the vacuum of the reactor chamber. Now, the cold air still puts out the fusion reaction instantly... but in so doing, the air in the reactor chamber soaks up all the heat and comes blasting back out in a white-hot blinding gout of flame. Now, considering that it takes some seriously heavy damage to breach a reactor core so quickly that the safety fields can't drop down before something intrudes into the chamber... the end effect is that the mech has very nearly been blasted in half-followed very quickly by a blinding fireball. This is one hell of a way to kill a fusion reactor... rampaging super-hot oxygen flash fire... but not a nuclear blast by any means.

Now, some smart (or stupid?) mechwarriors have figured out that if they overcharge the engine causing the plasma ball to heat up to an amazingly high temperature, than kill the magnetic field quickly, the super-super-hot plasma hits the reactor walls causing the reactor lining to explosively evaporate. The result of this is that the reactor is over pressurized, which causes a respectable explosion. Yes, this really is nothing more than a glorified balloon popping.

Not what you were expecting, eh?

Cooling Systems

Heat Sinks

BattleMechs are sealed insulated vehicles, allowing them to fight under nearly any conditions. This prevents heat from venting off, and 'Mechs have a lot of heat to shunt from the continuous megawatts of power consumed by a BattleMech, not to mention heat from weapons fire and the environment.

The first thing is that there is quite a bit of confusion about what BattleMech heat sinks really are. "Heat sinks" is actually the wrong name. 'Mech "heat sinks" are actually heat pumps. For sanity's sake, though, we will continue to call them "heat sinks."

Heat sources

The fusion engine generates heat waste heat, in spite of converting most of the heat into energy. See, the balancing act of keeping a fusion reaction going often results in more fusion reactions being produced than needed for the energy demands. These extra reactions create waste heat, since they aren't converted into electricity.

Energy weapons - these types of weapons are inefficient at converting electricity into laser or particle beams.

Ballistic weapons create heat in their bores and barrels.

Jump jets create a lot of waste heat.

Lastly, myomers generate a large volume of waste heat, though not quite as much as weapons. Incidentally, myomers impose one of the primary limitations on the temperature a battlemech can operate at. See, as the myomers heat up, they become more resistive, and less efficient at the same time... right up to the point where they cook themselves.

Collecting Heat

The engine and weapons have cooling jackets hooked to tubes networked into their frames. Myomer bundles have coolant lines laced through them in a manner not unlike a vascular system. All of these coolant lines run into collection systems that connect to the heat pumps and radiators that dump the heat.

Coolant fluids differ between depending on the manufacturer of the heatsink. Oils, chlorofluorocarbons, water-based solutions, liquid nitrogen, gaseous nitrogen, gaseous helium and other formulations are used. No, there are no mechs using molten metals like the Tharkad City fusion engine... that would simply be too hazardous in combat. This coolant solution is then circulated through the mech by a wide variety of pumps. Most modern heat sinks no longer use mechanical pumps. Rather they use myomer wrapped flexible tubing that pulses (peristaltic) in order to circulate coolants. This setup is more tolerant of damage than centrally located mechanical pumps. In addition, the whole system of coolant lines uses a lot of computer-controlled cut off valves to stop catastrophic loss of coolant, and computer controls can also reroute coolant around damaged systems.

Dumping Heat

At one end of the heat sink assembly is the radiator. Battlemech radiators aren't very different from car or refrigerator radiators. Radiators consist of finned tubing carrying hot coolant that is either air or water cooled, and is usually made of graphite. Graphite is five times more thermally conductive than copper. These radiators are always hidden under armored grills. Now, some Periphery nations have used copper for heat sink radiators... which actually works better than you would expect, because copper allows thinner construction, meaning more surface area. The net performance drop is not all that bad, though noticeable.

The wonder plastics of the Star League had a big hand in enhancing radiators. These semi-crystalline polymers don’t quite have graphite’s thermal conductivity. They are dramatically lighter, allowing larger radiators for the same mass as standard heat sinks. Thus is the "double strength" heatsink born. Unlike most recovered lostech, these double strength heatsinks did not originate from the helm memory core... The New Avalon Institute of Science actually was experimenting with this tech before the helm core was found. The Clans never lost this technology... they even improved it by making the material more crystalline, which makes for a more thermally conductive and more brittle radiator. The required reinforcements keep the Clan double strength heat sinks at about the same mass as our inner sphere versions, but more compact.

Radiators are why "heat sinks" actually have to use heat pumps. The laws of thermodynamic state that heat flows from hot to cold... well, if your mech is operating in a very hot environment, the radiators would actually send heat *into* your mechs coolant system... were it not for...

Heat Pumps

Heat pumps collect and condense heat until it can be easily shunted out through the radiators, even into environments hotter than the ’Mech. There are plenty of descriptions of how heat pumps work on air-conditioning sites, so I’ll skip physics behind different types of pumps. Many different heat pumps are used by different manufacturers. There are vapor-compression systems, sonic cooling systems, magneto-caloric systems, and others.

Jump Jets

Jump jets work by ingesting atmosphere via a system of turbo compressors to be used as reaction mass in reaction chambers. The system hits the reaction mass with electron beams powered by the magnetohydrodynamic tap from the fusion engine converting it into an explosion of plasma. Battlemech jump jets don't add plasma vented from the fusion engine... only aerofighters do this. This superheated plasma is than channeled through a magnetically sealed venturi baffle, resulting in a controlled and concentrated flow out of the jump jet exhaust port.

Jump jets can only be run so long on atmosphere, for the same reason atmosphere in a fusion reactor is bad - the super heated oxygen can eat the assembly alive!

Speaking of atmosphere, battlemechs usually carry a small supply of reaction mass - usually hydrogen, water, or mercury - in order to operate where there is no atmosphere.

In opposite conditions... namely, underwater... jump jets do not work. Firing a jump jet filled with incompressible water generates high enough pressures to rupture even the toughened jump jet casings. Even jump jets operating on stored reaction mass won't work right with water plugging their nozzles.

Sensors and Targeting Systems

Battlemech targeting and tracking (T&T) systems consist of sophisticated sensors and computers. Thermal imaging, light amplification, radar, laser tracking, uv tracking, and magnetic anomaly sensors are generally used as primary sensors, supplemented by seismic sensors, motion detectors, chemical analyzers, microwave tracking, and many others. However, mechwarriors are not overwhelmed with raw data... Sophisticated computers compress, interpret, and prioritize information. When the mechwarrior gets the info, it is displayed as simple visual cues on the cockpit displays or on the neurohelmet heads-up display (HUD).

Sensors will transfer their information across any part of the mechs internal data network that is not damaged. This sensor information is usually sent via multiple routes, in case one route is damaged. Mech sensors are very redundant in this right.

Sensor readouts can either overlap a target or reveal an area. For example, thermal sensors display a green (cold) to white (hot) image of the battlefield. The mechwarrior can opt to display other mechs with thermal imaging and leave the battlefield in true colors. Extra sensor readings can be added or subtracted from the displays as the mechwarrior wishes. Normally the battle computer will synthesize all various sensor inputs onto the display, although in a simplified form.

Battlemech sensory processors stand out for their ability to recognize other units and classify them by type and as friend or foe. All T&T suites today can tell what type of unit it is detecting, and can even make educated guesses at what variant that unit is. The system is surprisingly intuitive and at times it will present an interesting "guess," for example, the famous Inner Sphere naming of the Clan Timber Wolf OmniMech... the first Inner Sphere battlemech to encounter one saw it as a cross between two designs it already knew - the Marauder and Catapult designs, thus the name “Mad Cat” was born.

Identify Friend/Foe (IFF) is a key ability of the T&T system. It eases the burden of identifying targets for mechwarriors in battle conditions... especially in poor visibility. Friendly and enemy mechs are tagged with differing graphic tokens. IFF broadcast beacons are used by the battlemechs targeting and tracking system to avoid accidental missile fire at a friendly mech, though the system can be manually overridden.

Battlemechs have an extensive network of status sensors that send information about various systems up to higher-level systems. There are jump jet ready indicators, ammo low/critical indicators, heat build-up, proximity warning, incoming transmission warnings, IFF engaged/disabled, limb overstress indicators, and engine shielding sensors that track the status of the fusion reactor core and magnetic shielding.

Battlemechs can also share some sensor data. Specialized C3 and C3i hardware takes this to new heights, but all battlemechs can at the least handle basic sensory data from friendly mechs, in order to pinpoint enemy positions, or share more detailed information. This is usually done with a separate communications channel, and can be difficult to maintain during battle.

All of the sensor, mechwarrior condition, and communications data are recorded into capable “black box” computers that can survive virtually any kind of damage... from an ammo explosion to a failed orbital drop. This is the so-called "battleROM" box.

Cockpit

Battlemechs are ground vehicles, yet their cockpits are more similar to those of aerospace fighters than other types of units. These cockpits will play host to mechwarriors for long stretches of time on campaigns behind enemy lines, with sleeping and sanitary amenities. Clan cockpits, on the other hand, do not incorporate these features, and are smaller than Inner Sphere cockpits, reflecting the clan ethos of efficiency and short, brutal campaigns.

Most BattleMech cockpits have storage lockers for rations, field gear, and other miscellaneous gear. Larger cockpits are sometimes well equipped with amenities, such as small microwave ovens, refrigerated food storage, and other such features.

Most 'Mechs also have a foldout passenger seat. Some mechs even include a full ejection seat for passengers and give them access to some controls, such as communications systems.

Speaking of seats, most Inner Sphere battlemechs have one more seat in the cockpit - a foldout toilet. Most mechs dispose of the waste via a high-powered electrical arc or microwaves, and will capture water produced by incineration for flushing the waste out. Yes, the amount of endurance a mech has in the field can be limited by how much toilet paper a mechwarrior chooses to carry. Oh... spartan clan cockpits rarely have toilets, meaning clanners must depend on bottles, baggies or self-discipline. No wonder clan mechwarriors are so irate...

In terms of ergonomics and layout, there is no such thing as a truly "standard" cockpit. Layouts vary between manufacturers. That said, there is enough similarity between cockpits that a mechwarrior can usually acclimate to the controls of a new battlemech in a short amount of time.

Configurability or the lack thereof, is a source of much debate. Inner Sphere mech designs tend to go through cycles of either being setup with multi-function displays and programmable switches or with fixed displays with single function switches. Fixed function setups are somewhat more damage tolerant in that one destroyed control won’t take out an entire suite of functions. Proponents of fixed control setups also say they allow for quicker operation, because controls never change. Ironically, adjustable control setup proponents also claim reflex advantages. They say this because a mechwarrior can customize his controls and displays to suit his preferences, which supposedly allows for quicker operation. In reality, the difference in speed is not much... if it even exists. This is mostly because mechwarriors have so much to learn just to qualify to pilot a mech that most pilots don't alter their control setups. In fact, standard training mech layouts are very similar between the Clans and the Inner Sphere. Thus, virtually all mech cockpits and default configurations are similar. OmniMechs, though, practically require configurable and customizable controls.

Controls

The actual controls for a battlemech are fairly simple, regardless of the complexity of the average battlemech. Right from the top, I'm going to let people know: this is not because the mechwarrior links directly with the BattleMech through the neurohelmet. That notion is uniformed and ignorant. Battlemech controls are simple because the mech does most of the work. Mechs usually have two or three main control sticks. Typically on the left side of the cockpit is the throttle. The other is for targeting the weapons systems. Yes, even though mechs mount all sorts of independently aimable weapons, aiming is still point and click to fire. Sometimes there will be a second left hand control stick used to simultaneously aim different weapons groups, but this is hard to do well in actual battlefield use. Foot pedals are used to steer the mech and accomplish jumpjet usage. Depress the right pedal, the ’Mech turns right, depress the left pedal, the mech turns left. Press down on both pedals at once, and the jump jets fire. Mid jump steering is normally done with the foot pedals, though more complex aerial maneuvering is done with the regular hand controls - crosshairs can be used to pick a landing spot.

Mechs hand actuators do not require much input from the mechwarrior to be used. Mechs normally are programmed well enough that they will recognize a simple “grab command” aimed with the control stick and crosshairs. This level of mech dexterity is good enough to pick up improvised clubs and most cargo. Punching is quite simple: bring up the punch mode, aim the crosshairs, and squeeze the trigger - Ditto for using physical attack weapons. For situations that require fine control, there are a few different options. There are sensors in the gloves of mechwarriors that can be activated, or separate waldo gloves, used to have a mech mimic the gestures of its pilot.

Now, battlemechs are capable of doing a lot more than just turn left or right, or move backwards and forwards. Talented mechwarriors have made assault mechs skip sideways to avoid missiles, pulled off handstands (under carefully controlled conditions), or otherwise used some of the more obscure potential of a battlemechs appendages for complex manuvers. The more complex movements need more complex control combinations. The foot pedals aren't limited to only back and forth movements... they can also tilt and twist. The throttle stick and fire control sticks are also capable of steering and movement controls. The neurohelmets main job is to help keep correct balance, but it can also help translate the mechwarriors intentions to the battlemech.

The multitudes of other controls present in a battlmech cockpit handle the nitty gritty details, like ecm, comm systems, missile alerts, ammo displays, navigation controls, diagnostics, environmental controls... and so on.

Displays

While mechs have dashboard displays, neurohelmets have often used an internal hud. In fact, the crude old behemoth neurohelmets of the succession wars that sat on the shoulders and inhibited the ability to turn your head compressed a 360-degree view into a 160-degree hud display. More capable neurohelmets, for instance Clan versions, are smaller and lighter with large visors and don’t require the old style hud display. Advanced neurohelmets are capable of providing sensory along with balance information. This “direct neural virtual reality” is very weak. Even the best neurohelmets cannot put large amounts of information wirelessly into the brain without cooking brain cells. That said, an experienced and well-trained mechwarrior can use the weaker inputs to do things such as access the battlemechs tactile and kinesthetic senses or as a poor substitute for normal displays.

The average mechwarrior will customize the way the data is presented to him in his cockpit. These preferences can be saved on the battleROM chips that mechwarriors usually carry, in order to transfer settings between mechs. Audible cues and verbal commands are also used to control a battlemech. Battlemechs have majoritarily had excellent speech recognition systems. Most inner sphere mechwarriors use the speech recognition only for mech security. Audio cues these days are usually handled via speakers mounted in the neurohelmet that generate 3-D positional alarms to help a mechwarrior quickly locate threats.

Ejection Seat/Command couch

Another shared feature between battlemechs and aerospace fighters, ejection seats have been present in mechs since the mackie first strode into battle. Battlmechs can quickly turn into walking coffins due to exploding ammo, heavy enemy weapons fire, or other malfunctions, making the ejection seat a necessity. Ejection seats are still propelled by rockets through blow-away cockpit panels, and they still deploy parachutes or use rockets to land safely. Most of these seats have a stash of survival gear in them.

The newest revision of the system, first seen on the Hatchetman, is an ejecting cockpit. This configuration is capable of protecting mechwarriors from nuclear, chemical, biological, and environmental conditions.

Life Support

Battlemech cockpits are sealed, pressurized and equipped with life support systems. There is a lot of gear that must be built into a cockpit, and this limits life support systems. Battlemech life support systems are not capable of unlimited air and water recycling - there simply isn't enough weight and space available to build systems that can do so. Mechs can operate for a few hours to several days in vacuum depending on the design. In environments with oxygen or water, the life support system can make oxygen as long as the fusion engine is running. In order to achieve this life support system pulls in oxygen through filters or uses an electrolysis system to separate the oxygen out of water. If the mech is shut down, most life support units have ports for conventional personal battery packs that can keep them running for hours.

The filtration systems in common use around the time of the late succession wars, however, are not capable of filtering out the chemical weapons in use by the WOB... and many mechs still use such filtration systems.

Climate control systems are of utmost importance in battlemechs. Though it is very rare, mech cockpits can get too cold for the pilot. There are fusion-powered heaters that kick in to bring the temperature up to levels that are more comfortable. The vast majority of time a mech cockpit bears more resemblance to a sauna... overheating is a serious issue. Battlemech cockpits have stout cooling systems. Unfortunately, mechs can and do run hot enough to heat the cockpit up to unsafe levels. The cockpit can get so hot that if the life support systems aren't functioning the pilot can be killed by the heat. Modern life support systems are normally capable of preventing heat stroke. Technological advances have provided old Star League style pilot suits that will keep a mechwarrior cooler. The downside is that these advanced suits are not common. This is why mechwarriors pilot their mechs wearing uniforms more appropriate for beach than the cockpit of an armored combat vehicle.

Diagnostic Interpretation Computer

The DI computer is a network of distributed computers that monitor and coordinate the most of the functions and components of a battlemech. As noted earlier, internal structure, armor, actuators and other components are wired with sensors and sensor lines. The DI computer uses this network to monitor the health of all of the connected components. In so doing, the DI tracks the mechs state of readiness and feeds this to the Battle Damage Assessment computer (BDA) which in turn translates and displays this information on readouts for the mechwarrior.

However, the DI handles more than simple status assessment. The DI also uses its network of lines as a back-up data feed to other components. As an example, if a battlemechs hand is dangling by a piece of armor, the DI can determine the status of the finger actuators through data lines in the armor. While the battlemech would not be able to do much with the hand, it would be able to communicate with it. This capability allows battlemechs to function even as they suffer from massive internal damage. The DI computer itself is quite redundant and damage resistant. The DI locates some key hardware in the cockpit. The rest of its hardware is scattered throughout the battlemech nearer to systems the DI hardware controls. These sub-processing units are setup very redundantly and are capable of managing systems for other damaged DI sub-systems. For example, DI computers located in the engine might wind up handling leg actuators after a penetrating shot lobotomizes the DI processors in the legs.

In fact, the DI can actually take over for a damaged T&T suite, though the mech takes somewhere in the ballpark of a 30% hit in overall effectiveness. Conversely, the T&T suite can take over for the DI, but this reduces the amount of information that gathered and operates the mech at less than normal function. This equates to very sluggish movement, most sensors not functioning accurately or with current data, and inability to track accurately with weapons.

Manager

The DI computer manages all the systems in a battlemech. All components have their own controlling computers that are brought together by the DI system. The DI, for example, sends commands to actuator MCUs in order to promote smooth limb motions. The DI also keeps the mech from damaging itself. For instance, it will cut back on systems that generate heat when the mech suffers from heat sink damage. It also capable of overriding the “common sense” of the components level systems. When the mechwarrior demands it, the DI will run the engine hot even if the engine control computer trying to keep the engine cool. When a mechwarrior pushes throttle forward, it is the DI controls the engine power, the gyro, and coordinates actuators. When a BattleMech takes damage, the DI is what reconfigures leaking heat sinks, bypasses severed myomers and tries to re-route power to disconnected weapons.

Security

The DI also handles mech security. Normal security routines involve the mechwarrior thinking his way through several commands while wearing a neurohelmet, along with voice recognition, or even mech gesture "code keys." The DI computer also decides whether or not to scramble a would-be thief's brain with the neurohelmet. Clanners normally do not pay attention to this aspect of security, since, according to them, "there are no thieves in Clan society." ... Someone go cue up Baghdad bob, please...

The grand scheme of all things DI and BattleMech

Structure, actuators and myomers for mobility; armor; gyroscope; the fusion engine; the commanding cockpit; and the DI computer. The neurohelmet doesn't function as a direct brain-machine link. Well, than, what does bring all these systems to life? Of course... it's the DI computer.

BattleMechs are actually quote capable well-programmed robots, with most of that capability stemming from the DI computer network. That said, mechs are not built or programmed to be autonomous, mostly because they carry a huge amount firepower and are so large. Mechwarriors handle all of the higher-level decisions. What the battlemech computers do handle is a massive amount of lower-level decision-making.

The T&T systems sorts, processes and translates sensor data and displays it for the mechwarrior, so that the mechwarrior need only look at his readouts to ascertain his situation on the battlefield. Targeting for a mechwarrior is a simple act of using a control stick to aim a crosshair on his targeting display... it is the battlemech that actually does the calculations and tries to aim the weapons at the target the mechwarrior is indicating. It is the BattleMech that does the majority of recoil compensation and compensates for blasts of hostile fire. While a mechwarrior can help the battlemech balance, such as telling the mech when to ride with recoil rather than leaning into it, or when to throw itself off-balance at another mech, it is still the DI that handles most of this sort of decision making.

Moving is yet another task that the battlemech does a lot of work at. Though a battlemech may have proportianetly large feet, it still must choose every footstep with care in order to compensate for outside forces or in anticipation of environmental features. Again, it is the DI that handles this, via a mechs many sensors. Battlemechs will actually move their limbs and torso to avoid collisions. The agile movements of a light battlemech threading its way through a forest is not only the result of a talented mechwarrior, but the mechs own DI computer avoiding the trees. Now, most of us have seen battlmechs simply crashing their way through forests, clipping a building, or tripping down into a ravine. Why? This is because battlemechs are programmed to obey their pilots, regardless of the "common sense" of the mech. For instance, a mech will swing its arms through the side of a building if that is what’s required to bring weapons to bear on a target. Battlemechs will give collision warnings, but they don't override their pilots. Ironically, this is one of the reasons why it takes a long time to train good mechwarriors. Mechwarriors actually have to learn how to think for their mech and exploit the machine's "intelligence" in order to get the results they want.

Hand actuators are also tool that battlemechs will handle, especially more modern mechs. The battlemech actually handles the more complex things like battlefield engineering.

Earlier I commented about advanced neurohelmets capable of providing some virtual reality feedback to mechwarriors. I feel that this subject needs some more attention. One needs to know that current neurohelmets aren't capable of real-time “mind reading” that would be necessary in order to directly control a battlmechs movements. Not even the Clans or the first Star League made helmets capable of that. Now, putting information into brains is another thing, and the first Star League did develop some pretty good neurohelmets, the best of which were big clunkers used in aerospace fighters. The input limitation is due to the wireless manner that neurohelmets use to send information into brain cells. Enough signal power to overwhelm natural internal sensory signals will literally cook brain cells.

Getting information out is far easier, being a passive process. The achilles heel of getting complex information out of a brain via a neurohelmet is that the complexity of the human brain makes it a hard thing to read. Because of this, neurohelmets "watch" a few specific centers of the brain which are easily translated into commands. The end result of this is an interface that makes it possible for mechwarriors to communicate their intentions to their mech more quickly and clearly than speech controls would allow for. This overall process is not quick or smooth, but it does work. For instance, when charging at another mech, the pilot would use the neurohelmet to, at a very visceral, low level, use the neurohelmet to communicate, “Throw yourself off balance towards that mech.”

References

• TechManual, pp. 3-43

Bibliography

• TechManual