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? about lower/upper arm/leg actuators
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nicewitch
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PostPosted: 12-Nov-2012 18:11    Post subject: ? about lower/upper arm/leg actuators Reply to topic Reply with quote

Why not just have one critical slot in each arm called "Elbow Actuator" instead of the upper & lower arm actuators, and why not just have one critical slot in each leg called "Knee Actuator" instead of the upper & lower leg actuators?
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Kraken
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PostPosted: 12-Nov-2012 20:41    Post subject: ? about lower/upper arm/leg actuators Reply to topic Reply with quote

Consider this map of the human muscular system: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Muscles_anterior_labeled.png

Look at the knees and elbows themselves.

There aren't any muscles, are there?

That's because actual muscles on the joints are minimal; it's mostly tendon, fat, and skin.

Instead, if you'll note, the muscles are above and below the joints.

Battlemechs are designed in a similar fashion: the knee and elbow joints don't have very much in the way of "muscle", as the "muscles" are on the upper and lower limbs.
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nicewitch
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PostPosted: 12-Nov-2012 20:58    Post subject: ? about lower/upper arm/leg actuators Reply to topic Reply with quote

Then what exactly is an actuator? I think I read that it's a motor, not a form of muscle myomer like TSM or standard 'Mech myomer.
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Kraken
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PostPosted: 13-Nov-2012 11:28    Post subject: ? about lower/upper arm/leg actuators Reply to topic Reply with quote

Actuators on a robotic leg:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2005-11-14_ShadowLeg_Finished_medium.jpg

The actuators on that particular leg are, if I read the description right, pneumatic mechanisms wherein the flow of air causes expansion and contraction similar to the muscles in a human body; a linked page contains a gif of a pneumatic actuator in action: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sam_animation-real-muscle.gif .

On a mech, I would presume that the actuators are what channels the electricity through the myomer "muscles" and the joints that cause them to function. They might even be a short-hand way of referring to both the actuators *and* the myomer bundles.
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