How in the world do you control armslaves

[KiLlEr]

Mech Warrior Dag nabbit

[Wild Goose]

With regards to the piloting suits, those aern't really needed: look at how well Sousuke does even when he's not wearing a pilot suit.

I think the suits are more to protect the operators in case of anything... also, maybe it's a form of body armor? Remember, Mao took a hit in the shoulder while wearing her suit, but the bullet didn't seem to penetrate.

Probably the suits are flame-resistant, like the suits worn by F1 drivers.

[KiLlEr]

The suits probably have sensors for monitoring the pilots vital signs as well.

[Novamute]

I found these scans that seem to indicate that the AS is controlled in some type of fully enclosed body pod. Looks like you move about in the suit and it transmits your full body movement into the AS itself.

[SOULS_LEADER]

SOME PLEASE TRANSLATE!!! GAH!

[RegzTigershark]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arm_slave

read about the bilateral angle. that should answer the remainder of your questions.

[Taurec]

I wonder where that info on the wiki is coming from. In some parts it's quite Gasaraki'ish. ..

[Mirrormere]

Wild Goose said, "With regards to the piloting suits, those aern't really needed: look at how well Sousuke does even when he's not wearing a pilot suit.

I think the suits are more to protect the operators in case of anything... also, maybe it's a form of body armor? Remember, Mao took a hit in the shoulder while wearing her suit, but the bullet didn't seem to penetrate."

It appears that Arm Slaves (or giant robots in general, I guess) might be the natural "evolution" of the in personal armament for foot soldiers. We gave the soldiers offensive capability in the form of spears, then bow and arrows, swords, guns, machine guns, RPGs, SAMs. Now we have robots helping the bomb squads. Modern soldiers have body armor as well as weapons, but now how to get them to the front?
The next thing is to combine the need for transportation (from two feet to horse to vehicle), the need for armament, as well as offensive capability. Ergo...the perfect soldier...until he evolves again.

-The Absent-Minded Perfesser

[sj4iy]

About the suits:
In the next book, it talks a little bit about Sousuke's pilot suit- it seems that it is very resistant to fire and heat, as well as bulletproof.

[Mecha]

The suits probably have sensors for monitoring the pilots vital signs as well.

But as they are not required to pilot AS nor is helmer required to pilot AS so its not neuro impulse system were pilots thoughts are translated by computer to commands.

[KiLlEr]

I never said that the suit was required.

All I said was that the suit may monitor the vitals (blood pressure, heart rate, breath rate, etc). Since none of that is directly related to piloting, the wearing of the suit can be optional. After all, Sagara piloted both the the RK92 and Arbalest without the suit on. Nor did Tessa need to wear a suit when piloting the older AS.

Since they can control the AS without the suit, it makes it sense that the suit plays no part in directly piloting the AS (it may however provide non-critical ancillary piloting functions).

However, they do use the suit so it must server some purpose similar to the flight suit of an aircraft. Vitals monitoring and protection are the 2 biggest possibilities.

[sj4iy]

I could be wrong, but I've never read anything about the suits playing a role in vitals monitoring...only just the fact that they are bulletproof and fire and heat resistant [ecs]- when Sousuke is caught in a bomb blast, it says that the reason his arms and legs aren't ripped off is because of the suit he's wearing -[/ecs]. Just my two cents.

[KiLlEr]

I often wondered about the worth of a suit being fire/heat resistant when the pilot's face is bare. (something about the nose melting, the mouth fusing, and the sealing off the air passages, as well as superheated air causing damage to the lungs. in addition to the lack of breathable oxygen.)

But looks like 1 out of 3 in my speculation isn't bad.

Since Gatou isn't dwelling on the techinical, we'll never know everything. At least we can be sure that the suit affords the pilot protection.

Thanks sj4iy! (2 cents? I think your underselling yourself there )

[mewarmo990]

@Novamute:

Could you give me a higher-res scan? If I have time, I'll translate the images but I can't make out some of the characters, thanks.

Unless someone else wants to do it for me.

[sj4iy]

Translation (done on the bus on the way to work, so forgive any errors):

-----

Layout and Explanation of the M9's Sticks

1 & 10: Manipulator Operation Wheel (right/left)
...Instantly and reflexively manipulate the machine's hands. It is possible to freely grab objects by double-clicking.

2: Select Master Mode
...In battle, switch the range of modes chiefly used by set. Rotate through 5~6 kinds.

3: Change Primary Target
...Decide on which weapon to prioritize and prepare for, whether ASes, combat helicopters, tanks or anti-aircraft vehicles.

4: Select Weapon/Firing Mode
...Choose from equipped weapons and their firing systems, such as semi-automatic for rifles, etc.

5: Reserve a/b
...Used in the case when the AS has been equipped with various missile, special equipment or emergency expansion boosters.

6: Weapons Firing Trigger (Main Weapon)
...Fire firearms such as rifles.

7: Safety Lock
...Safety for the trigger.

8: External Speaker
...Speak as you push the button. The volume can be increased by pushing harder.

9: Voice Input
...Used for commands to the AI, data input, etc.

11: Pointing Device
...Move the cursor or through selected items on the screen.

12: Cancel/Undo
...Used to cancel items selected by 13.

13: Select/Confirm
...Confirm items selected by 11.

14: Change Reconnaissance Mode
...Used to combine the use of various sensors.

15: Select Communications Mode
...Choose from the various communications systems and bands.

16: Change Screen Display
...Select optical imaging, infrared imaging, night vision imaging, etc.

17: Radio
...Open the selected line of communication.

-----

Note: I would like to say that in the novels, they do use the word "stick" in referring to the controls...however, I choose to translate it usually as "controller" as "stick" does not sound right at all in English.