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    • Robin

      Welcome!   03/05/2016

      Welcome, everyone, to the new 910CMX Community Forums. I'm still working on getting them running, so things may change.  If you're a 910 Comic creator and need your forum recreated, let me know and I'll get on it right away.  I'll do my best to make this new place as fun as the last one!
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NP Friday June 17, 2016

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2 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

I've tried battlemech. I didn't much care for it. I am not visiting that restaurant again.

That's the problem with these techno-Armageddon restaurants.  You're supposed to "survive on your own terms" and they never tell you that the Battlemechs are the parsley.  They're just there for looks...

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4 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

I've tried battlemech. I didn't much care for it. I am not visiting that restaurant again.

I know that restaurant.

IF you are ever inclined to go back, just remember that what is on the buffet today was the "special" yesterday.  Service is never good unless you generously tip the maître d' on the way in.  And always tip sommelier before asking for the wine recommendation.

Finally, if you have mallets for cracking open crab or lobster, bring them.  The best meat is deep inside the mech.  The image of a seared mech unfolding into wafer thin petals is a marketing myth.

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2 hours ago, Vorlonagent said:

There's also computers, software, reactors and reactor fuel (whatever it is).  There's a lot of planning and detail that goes into building a battlemech

I think we can agree that a battlemech and a nutritious, tasty dinner are both complex, but in different ways.

Well... I can't speak for the reactor, given appropriately miniaturized power sources are one of the bigger stumbling blocks that make mech suits not a thing IRL, (closest anybody's built, to my knowledge, is more of a powered lifting frame) but if the hardware is exactly the same every time, all you would need for the software is one master copy preconfigured for a specific proprietary setup. also, mass production of printed circuit boards and microprocessors is pretty common even today; look at the console industry.

...but yeah, that reactor might be an issue.

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19 hours ago, InfiniteRemnant said:

Moving parts are easy. Print the parts separately and have an automated assembler put it together. Like how they build cars, only with printed parts rather than die-cast and pressed sheet metal parts.

with food, that plan doesn't work because each individual ingredient is a complicated mix, not just the end result.

Big moving parts are easy. Food is chemically unstable: the molecules inside food are moving and reacting. In fact ... lot of food is still ALIVE. Like, sure, not the cow, but fruit and vegetables are still alive when being eaten. So is the mold on cheese - like Camembert - or yeast in beer.

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On ‎6‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 3:59 PM, InfiniteRemnant said:
On ‎6‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 0:58 PM, Vorlonagent said:

There's also computers, software, reactors and reactor fuel (whatever it is).  There's a lot of planning and detail that goes into building a battlemech

I think we can agree that a battlemech and a nutritious, tasty dinner are both complex, but in different ways.

Well... I can't speak for the reactor, given appropriately miniaturized power sources are one of the bigger stumbling blocks that make mech suits not a thing IRL, (closest anybody's built, to my knowledge, is more of a powered lifting frame) but if the hardware is exactly the same every time, all you would need for the software is one master copy preconfigured for a specific proprietary setup. also, mass production of printed circuit boards and microprocessors is pretty common even today; look at the console industry.

...but yeah, that reactor might be an issue.

If anything is trouble some with mass producing a mech, it would be the reactor fuel, especially if it's a volatile and/or radioactive substance. The reactor itself should be able to be produced like the rest of the systems of the mech: mass produce the subcomponents and then assemble them.

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4 hours ago, Drasvin said:

If anything is trouble some with mass producing a mech, it would be the reactor fuel, especially if it's a volatile and/or radioactive substance. The reactor itself should be able to be produced like the rest of the systems of the mech: mass produce the subcomponents and then assemble them.

If it would be actually reactor, then yes. If it would be more like battery, then you can't really produce it without fuel and add fuel later.

Note that by definition, anything usable as energy source MUST be volatile: stable substances don't produce energy because they remain in state they are in, volatile substances produce energy by changing into more stable substances. Or, alternatively, for example water can produce energy by flowing down, which is more stable position for it: water in height is volatile.

Most stable power sources in use are actually radioactive, as weakly radioactive materials can produce constant small amount of energy for years, which is useful for space probes. Normal (chemical) batteries are not stable enough to produce energy for years.

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4 hours ago, hkmaly said:

If it would be actually reactor, then yes. If it would be more like battery, then you can't really produce it without fuel and add fuel later.

There are batteries that you add fluid acid to after buying them. Batteries for stuff like boats and motorcycles.Such a battery is typically a wet cell though. Dry cell batteries would be more difficult and less safe to attempt filling by the end user, though theoretically it would be possible.

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20 hours ago, Drasvin said:

Batteries for stuff like boats and motorcycles.

Technically, you can do that with batteries for (at least older) cars as well. I never see anyone doing it or hear talking about doing it. Normally, you buy it whole.

But yes, I was thinking about dry cell batteries. Wet cell battery resembles more the reactor, although you generally can't "recharge" wet cell battery just by changing the fluid. (Hmmm ... actually, you CAN get partial charge by that, but only once.)

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They are now working on batteries that you DO recharge by changing the fluid. Obviously a rather different technology from the common automotive battery.

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