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The physics of Giant Robots-A thread: Cockpit placement! When you think of giant robots, specifically "realistic" ones like Gundam and Macross, where do you typically imagine the pilot sits? One would likely say the chest, right? But what if I told you that's friggin stupid? ....
Okay okay I'm just joking, but really, think about it. Let's use a Gundam as an example. A humanoid shaped robot which has a cockpit in the front of the chest. This is a bad idea for a NUMBER of reasons. The first of which being VULNERABILITY!! The whole point of the robot-
Is to protect the pilot while letting them control a gigantic machine. But what good is that when the pilot is sitting behind the thinnest layer of armor, smack dab in the middle of the robots center mass? This is the part most likely to take a beating. It's why we have-
Bullet proof VESTS and not so much bullet proof gloves and pants. "Okay! So why don't we just move the pilot deeper into the chest! Then they are surrounded by equal armor on all sides!" Sure! And where are you going to place the robots power source? The chest is the-
Natural place to put the generator. Without the generator, the robot is dead. But also the chest is a good place to distribute power to all of its limbs. This is why a human heart is in the center of your chest, and not like...in your skull...But stick a human in there-
And you're basically taking up valuable real estate that could be used for the generator or fitting a larger generator inside. Well okay, if the chest is a no-go, where else can the pilot sit? Well....have you ever wondered wtf the head of a Gundam is even for?-
Like really. Think about it. Aside from the eyes which may act as cameras for the pilot to see, and a very minor weapon like the head Vulcan machine guns, what is the purpose of the head? What else is going on in there that's so important? If you shot off the head of-
A Gundam, why would it cease to function? The pilot is inside the chest, and the head doesn't contain the generator. At worst, the gundam would be blind. But again, why does the cameras and head vulcans require THE ENTIRE head? Seems like a logical plce to stick the pilot...-
On top of being a much smaller target than the center mass, making it more difficult to kill the pilot and incapacitate the robot, you are also creating a natural "eject" feature. Robot is exploding underneath the head? Just eject the head and save the pilot! Easy! -
Not only does this serve a practical purpose, but it also is more true to real life. If you are shot in the head, you typically die instantly. If you shoot the ROBOT in the head, you're killing the pilot thus "killing" the robot. It just doesn't make any sense to be in the chest-
Macross Veritechs however are exempt from this logic however as they are designed as airplanes first and robots second, so their cockpit placement is more of a logical requirement than a stupid design choice. But even some Veritechs have the head UNDER the fuselage-
When in Fighter mode, AND the head is looking forward. I don't see why you couldn't just put the pilot in there and have cameras where the fuselage is, allowing them to pilot with a view more or less identical to being inside the area where the cockpit normally would be...-
I think now, having really thought about it, that the only reason Gundam and other robots that take after Gundam's example, have the pilot in the chest, is because of the Core Fighter, which is a jet fighter which sockets into the legs and upper body of the Gundam-
This means the pilot would HAVE to be in the chest or stomach area. And basically by following this tradition, so many more robots have done this to follow that example, whether they have a Core Fighter or not. But what if we get WEIRD....Ever hear of Zone of the Enders?-
In ZOE, the cockpit is quite appropriately placed on the robot's crotch...Yes. Its a dick. BUT it's also practical for a number of reasons. Firstly, as far as protection goes, Orbital Frames use some kind of hyper powerful forcefield to protect the pilot, so armor isn't an issue-
But placing the cockpit here serves a practical purpose as well. Orbital Frames are VERY fast, and perform a LOT of swooping, flipping, and spinning motions. However, they all do them mostly around the center axis of the groin area. Putting the pilot here would actually-
Reduce the amount of G-forcesbthe pilot feels during these intense spinning and rotating motions. The further away from the rotational axis, the harder you are flung "away" from the robot due to centrifugal force. Take for instance a Gundam, and pretend it is-
Cartwheeling through space at a high speed. The pilot, sitting in the chest, would feel themselves being lifted up out of their seat and pressed into the ceiling of their cockpit. However, if you place that pilot directly on the axis of rotation, they would experience-
Little to no upwards force, because they are basically rotating around their center of gravity. This would not eliminate centrifugal force entirely, but for robots which move faster than sound, spinning and flipping all over the place, it makes sense to reduce it as much-
As possible so you don't then liquify your pilot into a stain on the wall. Orbital Frames wouldn't want the pilot in the head, as that would only amplify the centrifugal forces. Similar to the head, the Cockpit is also in a smaller area than the chest, making it harder to hit.-
I think I'd like to make a video on this subject one day...I hope this was useful or at least fun to read! I'd love to talk more about this...
