the shape of things to come

these are not yet widespread items. This is why so many warriors
go into battle wearing uniforms more appropriate for the beaches
of planets with minimal nudity taboos than the cockpit of an
armored combat vehicle.
It’s worth noting, by the way, that if the ’Mech’s fusion engine is
shut down for whatever reason, most life support units incorporate
ports for conventional personal battery packs that can keep
the life support system running for hours.
DIAGNOSTIC INTERPRETATION (DI) COMPUTER
The unsung hero of the BattleMech is the diagnostic interpretation
(or DI) computer. This little gem pretty much acts as
the ’Mech’s autonomic and higher nervous system, and is the
last component that I want to talk about before describing how
BattleMechs are brought to life. The short form is, the DI computer
is a network of distributed computers that monitors and coordinates
the basic functions and components of a BattleMech.
By Whatever Means Necessary
When I described several components earlier, such as the armor
and internal structure, I think I mentioned they were webbed
with optical data lines and sensory fi bers. If I didn’t, well, they are.
The DI computer uses these lines and fi bers to keep tabs on the
health of these components, tracking a ’Mech’s integrity and
feeding it to the battle damage assessment computer (BDA) for
the warrior’s information.
But the DI is more than a status indicator. It can also use these
lines and webs as a back-up data feed to other components. For
example, if a BattleMech’s forearm is nearly severed, the DI computer
can determine the status of the hand actuator dangling by
a thread of armor through data lines in the armor. The BattleMech
wouldn’t be able to do much with the hand because the forearm
myomer groups and structure are destroyed, but it would be able
to communicate with the hand…
I probably could’ve picked a better example. At any rate, this
“bypass capability” enables BattleMechs to continue functioning
even when suff ering from massive internal damage.
The DI computer itself is quite damage tolerant as well. While
it does have some key hardware in the cockpit, many of its components
are scattered throughout the BattleMech closer to the
systems they control. These sub-processing units are heavily
redundant and able to take over for damaged counterparts. For
example, DI processors located in the engine may end up coordinating
leg actuators after a “Golden BB” lobotomizes leg DI processors
without harming the actuators.
Manager
The DI computer is the manager for all the systems in a
BattleMech. Each component has its own controlling computer,
brought together by the DI system. For example, the DI distributes
orders to actuator MCUs that create smooth limb motions.
It also compares the health of multiple systems to keep components
from damaging themselves, like changing engine operation
when the ’Mech suff ers from heat sink damage. Or it can
override the “common sense” of the individual components. For
example, when the MechWarrior demands it, the DI computer
will run the engine hot even when the engine control computer
wants nothing more than to cool down.
So, when a MechWarrior jams the throttle forward, it is the DI
computer that adjusts the engine power, applies the gyro and co-
ordinates actuators. When a BattleMech gets shot up, it is the DI
computer that reconfi gures leaking heat sinks, bypasses severed
myomer fi bers and routes power to disconnected weapons.
Security
The DI computer handles other ’Mech functions, too, but the
last one I’m going to point out is security. This typically involves
the MechWarrior thinking his way through several commands
while wearing a neurohelmet, as well as voice recognition or other
codes. The DI computer even determines whether or not to fry
a would-be thief with the neurohelmet, which refl ects an Inner
Sphere MechWarrior subculture paranoid about “Dispossession.”
The Clans tend to skimp on this aspect of ’Mech security, since,
according to them, there are no thieves in Clan society. Even if
someone did steal a Clan ’Mech, the MechWarrior will simply be
assigned another one.
ALIVE! IT’S ALIVE!
Ahem, excuse me. I always wanted to say that. I’m a Frankenstein
fan—that’s a story that just gets better with age…
So, you’ve got all these separate components. The structure, actuators
and myomers for mobility; the protective armor; the balancing
gyroscope; the fusion engine; the commanding cockpit;
and the managerial DI computer. If a neurohelmet isn’t a direct
brain-machine link, what actually brings all those systems to life?
After my last topic, you shouldn’t be surprised: it’s the DI
computer.
BattleMechs are very capable and smart robots, with most of
their intelligence embodied in the DI computer network. But
they are not truly autonomous. Partly because they have so
much fi repower and could cause so much destruction if something
went wrong, virtually all of the higher decisions are left
in the hands of MechWarriors. MechWarriors decide when the
BattleMech moves, where the BattleMech moves to and whom
the BattleMech shoots. Frankly, it is diffi cult to code all that decision-making
for computers, at least in real-world environments.
This, despite claims to the contrary by…are they here? Kaumberg
Komp Quarterly journalists?
Anyway, the Terran Hegemony managed independent operations
for its WarShip-sized Caspar robots, but even those
had shortcomings that precluded their use in ’Mechs. So don’t
worry, folks; the MechWarrior isn’t just a safety system preventing
BattleMechs from taking over us puny organics.
But BattleMech computers do handle an incredible amount of
lower-level decision-making. The T&T system, for instance, sorts,
processes and interprets sensor data for the MechWarrior, who
only has to look at his screens or HUD to get a concise picture
of the battlefi eld. When targeting, a MechWarrior merely uses a
control stick to aim a crosshair on a display that shows the enemy.
It is up to the BattleMech to actually aim the weapons with all the
calculations that entails.
It is also mostly up to the BattleMech to compensate for the
recoil of its autocannons or the blasts of hostile fi re while moving
in the direction a MechWarrior sets. Yes, a MechWarrior can correct
the BattleMech on its balance, such as telling the BattleMech
when to ride with the blasts rather than leaning against them,
or when to throw itself off -balance and into another BattleMech,
but a lot of the decision-making gets done by the DI computer.
Speaking of movement, this is another task that the BattleMech
sweats over. As massive as BattleMechs are, they cannot depend