From: | Starjammer <starjammer@**********.COM> |
---|---|
Subject: | Engine control (was Re: Drones in Close Quarters) |
Date: | Thu, 3 Dec 1998 18:42:24 -0500 |
><SNIP>
>If you're a
>rigger pushing the gas petal flat against the floor in the same vehicle
>does not make you go faster than if you are not a rigger.
>D. Ghost
Not necessarily, and I'll tell you why. (Yeah, like I wouldn't've... ;) )
AFAIK, every car manufactured today uses a microcomputer to regulate the
engine. In most stock engines, the programming encoded in the
microprocessor is fairly conservative; it doesn't use the engine to it's
limits. In fact, there actually exist today organizations (mostly
hot-rodders and speed-freaks) from whom you can buy "souped up" chips with
programming designed to optimize engine performance.
In 2060 then, it's not hard to imagine that part of the rigger interface's
function would be to override the engine's onboard computer and allow the
rigger to take direct control of the engine functions, tweaking them to
levels that the manual controls just don't allow.
Starjammer | Una salus victus nullam sperare salutem.
starjammer@**********.com | "The one hope of the doomed is not to hope
Marietta, GA | for safety." --Virgil, The Aeneid