From: | Patrick Goodman <remo@***.NET> |
---|---|
Subject: | [Stuff] Robotic Walker [Long] |
Date: | Tue, 5 Jan 1999 02:00:06 -0600 |
XS-3 Series Exoskeleton Walker Frame
Patrick E. Goodman <remo@***.net>
--------
(>) Okay, so some of us have weird ways of relieving personal stress. I
was scanning through some medical supplies catalogs and similar
literature the other night, something that happens whenever one of my
friends winds up in the hospital (please don't ask what happens when
they wind up in the morgue; it's not pretty), and I saw this little
doomaflage. While I was initially drawn in by the rather whimsical name
of the company, after reading the flyer, it struck me as something that
might be useful for a couple of friends of mine who were, shall we say,
incapacitated on the job. The file's marked for read-write, as usual,
so let us know what you think.
(>) Sysop Corona
Posted at 03:38:54 on 17 October 2059
(>) How's Manny, sweetheart? Pissed some of us off mightily when we
heard what happened. If it's any comfort, I've made sure that the skag
who did that to him has retired from the field. Permanently.
(>) Texas 2-Step
El Paso: Never surrender. Never forget. Never forgive.
(>) They've lost the arm, and they're probably going to have to replace
his left lung and the ribs on that side. They have to tread carefully,
because he's so wired up. He's been taken out of ICU for the moment,
however, so they think he's going to make it. Thanks for asking.
And Dancer? About the retirement...thanks for that, too. I owe you a
big one.
(>) Sysop Corona
Posted at 07:23:12 on 19 October 2059
(>) You're more than welcome, sweetheart, and you owe me nothing; this
one was on the house. I owed Manny that much, at least, so just chalk
it up as balancing the books.
(>) Texas 2-Step
El Paso: Never surrender. Never forget. Never forgive.
Shoebomb's Nifty Gizmos, Inc. -- XS-3 Series Exoskeleton Walker Frame
(>) All right, I hate to interrupt so soon, but I've gotta know:
Shoebomb's Nifty Gizmos? Where'd the name come from, and are we really
supposed to take any guy who'd name his company like that seriously?
(>) Johnny Reb
(>) Actually, Reb, the guy who named the company's a girl. SNG was
founded by a young lady named Siobhán Kane. She was the third of three
kids; her youngest brother is about six years older than she is, and he
had trouble pronouncing her name...it kept coming out "Shoebomb." She
liked it, and it stuck around. As for the "Nifty Gizmos" part...well,
that's what she builds. She invents things that may or may not have a
practical use, builds them, then passes them along to SNG's parent
company and let's them worry about finding a market for whatever it is.
(>) Aries
For decades, one of the hardest things to deal with after a serious
injury or major surgery has been the physical therapy required for an
effective recovery. It's an expensive proposition, for one; the vast
majority of those undergoing physical therapy are paralyzed, either due
to injury or while awaiting the activation of cybernetic implants such
as wired reflexes. It also has mixed effects on a patient's morale.
While it's true that their body is being kept as strong as possible
during their recovery, if indeed they are going to recover, most of the
patients are unable to do much on their own outside of therapy. The
rest of the time, most sit around in hospital beds, watching soap operas
on the trid and feeling despair creep up on them. Not being able to get
around on their own helps to rob them of motivation to get better.
Additionally, many of those paralyzed due to injury are either too poor
to afford the reconstructive cybersurgery to bypass spinal damage, or
are magically active and unable to accept cybernetic or bionetic
replacements or repairs. Some paralysis is caused not by spinal trauma,
but by neurological disorders that cannot be cured with the present
state of medical technology or magic.
(>) Someone wanna tell me what this says in English?
(>) Dixie Hick
(>) You missed out on a lot of intellectual stimulation growing up,
didn't you, child? It means that all the chrome in the world isn't
worth its weight in spit for a lot of people. Like the article said,
most magicians won't go that route, and an awful lot of people just
can't afford it.
(>) Cloud Dancer
Give me land, lots of land, and the starry sky above
(>) You expect me to buy that, chickie? How many street punks out there
have spurs or a smartlink? Those aren't exactly cheap.
(>) Dixie Hick
(>) You're comparing a 2,500¥ smartgun link, or even a retractable spur
system at 11K¥, and their respective surgical costs, to a 60K¥-plus
spinal bypass processor and its surgical costs? And you can't take _me_
seriously? Tell me something: How easy is it for that gutterpunk to go
into the shadows and find a job that'll pay off the financing on his new
chrome in a week or two? Now how easy is it going to be for a
wage-slave to even find financing on something in the neighborhood of
sixty times that cost (after you factor in hospitalization, surgery, and
other associated costs)? It's not as easy or as cheap for most people
as you want to believe it is.
(>) Shoebomb
The XS-3 series of exoskeleton walkers is designed to assist in both
physical therapy and in providing the patient with the means of getting
around on their own. The primary purpose of the machine, of course, is
physical therapy; it is pre-programmed with dozens of different
movements to maintain muscle tone and work through complete range of
motion. A secondary market also exists, however, in those individuals
who are permanently disabled, cannot accept cybernetic enhancement, and
who seek an alternative to wheelchairs as a means of moving about on
their own.
The XS-3 utilizes a lightweight plasteel frame, driven by high-strength
electric servomotors, which in turn are powered by a series of
high-density flat-pack batteries, which line the inside surface of the
machine. The batteries also provide power to a dedicated computer
system built into an integrated belt pack. An electrode net headband
reads neural impulses from the patient's brain and then provides
instructions to the computer, which in turn drives the servomotor system
and moves the walker.
(>) Bulldrek!! You can't rig with a 'trode net, no how, no way! This
thing has got to be phony!
(>) Doozer
(>) For the record, Doozer, it's not phony. A burst from an Ares HVAR
tried to cut me in back in March of 2055, and it did a number on my
spinal cord at the L3 vertebra. I'm paralyzed from the waist down, and
I wear one of these things every day of my life. I can assure you that
it does work. So can fourteen hospital rehab programs in Texas and
Oklahoma that have helped me with the field trials for the thing over
the past eight months or so.
As for rigging with an electrode net: I never said you could. This
isn't rigging, exactly; it's more like simsense translation, especially
when you consider that I scavenged the 'trode net from a Fuchi Cabaret-3
induction simrig to use on the XS-1p prototype. The net picks up the
signals from your brain that say you want to stand up from a chair, for
instance; it sends those signals to the onboard computer system, which
then sends a preprogrammed sequence of commands to the servomotors that
tell the machine to stand you up. A rigger becomes his vehicle; the
motors and gears are a part of him, and he can make each one do what he
wants them to do. A rigger-driven exoskeleton like this one would
probably be built of smart materials, with lots of extra options and
speed. It would also be a lot more graceful, and much less
conspicuous...hmmmm, maybe I ought to think about that sort of thing for
paraplegic riggers....
The XS-3 doesn't give you much control over how it does it; all the
actual movements are programmed into the computer's EPROMs. I've made
the movements as fluid as I can, as real as I can, but it's not perfect.
Yet. I'm hoping that I can get better handling out of the XS-4.
(>) Shoebomb
(>) Oops. Sorry; didn't realize this was such a personal project for
you. I didn't mean no offense. Mind if I ask you why you didn't get
the cyber bypass surgery?
(>) Doozer
(>) Apology accepted, and none taken. I get that reaction from a lot of
riggers, so I'm kind of used to it by now. I didn't get the spinal
bypass because I'm an adept, and I like my Talent just the way it is.
(>) Shoebomb
There are three basic models of the XS-3 exoskeleton. The XS-3p is for
the lower body only, from the waist down. The XS-3q is for quadriplegic
injuries where the patient still has control of his head and neck; it
features individually articulated fingers, though their dexterity is not
very high. The XS-3n is the same unit as the XS-3q, with the addition
of a neck brace and articulation; this unit is for high-neck injury
patients who cannot move their heads without aid.
The following table outlines the costs and pricing for the various
models of the XS-3 exoskeleton. The prices shown are for human-sized
units; prices for troll-sized or dwarf-sized units are slightly higher.
Weight Availability Cost Street Index Legality
XS-3p 10.0 4/14 days 11,500¥ 1 Legal
XS-3q 14.5 4/14 days 14,000¥ 1 Legal
XS-3n 15.5 4/14 days 15,400¥ 1 Legal
(>) These things ain't priced any better than that set of spurs I was
talking about. What's that you were saying about them being affordable?
(>) Dixie Hick
(>) Y'know, Hick, it's trogs like you that give the South a bad name,
boy.
(>) Tara
(>) Something to point out is that the primary purpose of the XS-3 is
therapy, not as a day-to-day means of getting about (secondary markets
and Ms. Kane's use of the device notwithstanding). The primary markets
for these are hospitals and rehabilitation programs, though it's known
that many private individuals will want to own it themselves for daily
use. Most hospitals, both public and private, can budget the cost of a
few of these units without much effort. Ms. Kane, for obvious personal
reasons, is dedicated to making sure that these units are available to
anyone who needs them, however; for private individuals and families
wishing to own a unit, either for personal mobility or home-based
therapy, Ms. Kane has specified that no-interest loans should be made
available to those who need them through SNG's parent company, Rogue
Star Enterprises, and the RSE Board of Directors has agreed unanimously
with that specification.
(>) RSE Public Relations Group
The inner surfaces of the XS-3 exoskeleton are lined with the flat-pack
batteries that provide it with power. The battery packs are, in turn,
lined with neoprene padding and lycra to prevent chafing and irritation,
something many patients wouldn't be able to notice and which could lead
to severe infection if left unchecked. While the exoskeleton has a wide
range of adjustment, it is not one-size-fits-all; the system comes in
small, medium, and large sizes within each metatype, with special units
for children available on request. SNG will custom-fit the system to
the patient upon request; in keeping with the company's philosophy of
making these units available at a low cost, the surcharge for custom
fitting the unit is only 10% instead of the industry's more typical 75%
to 100% surcharge for customization.
Typical times to put on and take off one of these units vary widely.
The 3q and 3n models, of course, require a second person to assist the
patient into and out of the walker, where the 3p model can be mounted
and dismounted by the patient alone. Mount and dismount times for the
3p range from 20 minutes for beginners to about 5 minutes for
experienced riders; for the 3q and 3n, beginners can expect to spend up
to 35 minutes or so getting a patient into the machine, while
experienced aides can get a patient up and ready in about 12 minutes.
At full strength, the battery packs will last from about eight hours to
as long as twelve, depending on the model and the extent of use. The
recharge system can fully charge the entire system in the space of about
three hours; the charger is located within the chair/docking station
(which is included in the cost of the system).
(>) For the record, since I know that some people out there are curious:
3.5 minutes on, 3 minutes off, and my batteries tend to last about 10
hours before they geek out (I don't always move around a lot at work).
I've also had lots of practice in getting into and out of this thing;
the 5 minute marker stated above is pretty accurate, near as I can tell.
A few pointers, since some things just can't be formatted into a catalog
ad.
First, you're not going to be running any marathons wearing one of
these. For that matter, you're not going to be running, period. I'm
working on making the XS-4 a bit more agile, but for now the unit will
walk. Keeping your balance is fairly easy, but you have to learn not to
over-extend when you're reaching for something on a shelf. If you're
wearing a 3q or a 3n, you're also not going to be doing any intricate
needlework.
Just as a precaution, always wear something underneath this, padding or
no padding, and if you're like me and have no sensation in your
extremities, either examine yourself or have someone else do it. If you
end up chafing and it gets infected, it can kill you. Ask Robert
Wadlow, the tallest pre-Awakening human on record, since that was how he
died. I generally wear a leotard underneath the frame, and some big
baggy pants over the top of it. No matter what you do to decorate it,
this thing is just plain ugly.
Which brings me to my last point: This thing is also fairly obvious.
The movements are all pre-programmed, and while as fluid as I can make
them at the moment, are still mechanical. Not as bad as, say,
_Robocop_, but they lack spontaneity.
(>) Shoebomb
GAME EFFECTS
This is an almost purely role-playing oriented piece of gear; it has
virtually no statistical advantage to offer.
Any of the XS-3 exoskeletons changes a character's Quickness to 3 for
purposes of movement. There is no running modifier for characters
wearing an XS-3; the system only allows the character to walk, with a
movement rate of 3. The XS-3q and XS-3n models also have articulated
fingers; a character's Quickness for purposes of manual dexterity tests
is set at 1.
These exoskeletons may, at GM's discretion, offer a single point of
Impact armor.
For purposes of determining Load requirements, the suit may carry its
occupant without penalty. Additional gear and equipment load should be
determined as if the character has a Strength of 4. Instead of accruing
stun damage, however, the suit's battery duration begins to fall as per
the movement rate reductions listed in the "Hauling the Load" section of
SR3, page 274. For instance, if a character would have his Movement
rate reduced to one-quarter its normal rating, then the suit's battery
power is reduced to one-quarter its original capacity (6 + 1d6 hours, or
GM's discretion). If the suit runs out of power away from its charger,
the character is immobilized.
--
(>) Texas 2-Step
El Paso: Never surrender. Never forget. Never forgive.