Exquisite Rhombus

[Hansen]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: Creating a Liquid Crystal Polymer for use in First Order Powersuit and Exoskeleton Armour designs.
• Image Source: Source
• Restricted Missions: N/A
• Primary Source: Liquid Crystal, Laboian Mineral Crystal, Falasian Liquid Crystal.

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Name: EXQUISITE RHOMBUS (Codename), Liquid Crystal Polymer (Common Name).
• Manufacturer: First Order Corps of Imperial Engineers
• Homeworld (optional): N/A (Synthetic)
• Production: Limited (First Order PCs/NPCs)
• Affiliation: Shaehan Timiari, First Order.
• Modularity: No
• Material: Liquid Crystal

PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Classification: Polymerised Liquid Crystal
• Weight: Negligible/Ultra-lightweight.
• Color: Varies

RESISTANCES

• Blasters (And other plasma type weapons): None
• Kinetic: None
• Lightsabers: None
• Other: None

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Superconductive Properties: The Liquid Crystal functions as an electric superconductor in a wide range of temperatures encountered in the ambient environment on civilized worlds, losing this property only in an extremely cold environment.
• Piezoelectric Effect: Exquisite Rhombus generates an electric charge and polymerizes under principles of the Piezoelectric effect when a mechanical load is applied to it, when used in a bodysuit, for example, this creates an exoskeleton with the Polymerized Liquid Crystal carrying the load of the applied mechanical stress.

Strengths:

• Mechanical Advantage: The Mechanical Advantage provided by the liquid crystal polymer multiplies physical output by wearers of bodysuits equipped with it. The wearer of such a bodysuit has their physical output multiplied by two.
• Exoskeleton: Bodysuits equipped with the Exquisite Rhombus Liquid Crystal Polymer function as Exoskseltons; Supporting its weight, creating a sense for the wearer that the Armour is their skin as opposed to traditional protective equipment.

Weaknesses:

• No Protection: Exquisite Rhombus' polymerized liquid crystal offers zero protection in of itself and must be incorporated into an Armour system's bodysuit to function properly.
• Plastic Deformation: If the Liquid Crystal is subjected to a high-voltage high-amperage electric current, it cannot polymerise and plastically deforms; In armour systems this has the effect of paralyzing the wearer as it tricks the bodysuit it is incorporated into to 'think' it is under massive mechanical load. So it attempts to protect the wearer.
• Extreme Temperatures: While the Armour system it is equipped to can protect its wearer from extreme temperature, the Liquid Crystal loses its conductive properties at low temperatures, leading to a loss of mobility in the exoskeleton the technology is apart.
• Production Limitations and Cost: Any submissions utilizing this technology are costly and time-consuming to manufacture and thus may only have a maximum production rating of Limited to properly reflect these qualities.
• Requires a power supply: Given it requires mechanical stress and electrical charge to function properly, systems incorporating Exquisite Rhombus require a dedicated Fusion battery or some other potent power cell, without a battery the Rhombus cannot generate produce mechanical advantage rendering hard armour plates attached to a bodysuit equipped with Exquisite Rhombus inert, the full weight of the powersuit or exoskeleton weighing on the wearer.

DESCRIPTION
"Exquisite Rhombus" Is the working codename for a synthetic Liquid Crystal Polymer developed by the First Order's Corps of Imperial Engineers designed for use in the next generation powersuits and exoskeletons which are steadily gaining attention within the First Order's engineering community for their power, complexity and cost in equal measure. Exquisite Rhombus is a technological marvel when poured into an armour bodysuit's capillary system where it becomes an exciting game-changer for Infantry Combat and Exoskeleton Technology, allowing for significant reduction in size and weight of Exoskeleton designs when compared to the types fielded by the long extinct Galactic Republic or Galactic Empire.

Powersuits and Exoskeletons equipped with Exquisite Rhombus have been cited as feeling like a "second skin" by wearers of experimental systems equipped with it. One of the Rhombus' limitations is that when applied to a bodysuit it actually requires a dedicated and quite potent power source leading to the common sight of Nuclear Fusion batteries in their design. This is caused by the necessity of generating an electric current and therefore mechanical advantage even the wearer is idle; Failing to have a functional battery means the wearer will be carrying the weight of their inert exoskeleton themselves which more or less makes them immobile at the worst and struggling to move their limbs at best.

Another significant drawback of Rhombus is its inability to cope with contact with high-voltage and high-amperage currents which is often a risk for soldiers when operating in urban environments or where contact with certain force users is expected. Exquisite Rhombus plastically deforms when subjected to aforementioned electric currents and so has a paralysing effect on the Liquid Crystal where it cannot polymerise in response to applied mechanical stresses. This translates to the wearer of a system incorporating exquisite rhombus where the entire system's weight will come down on them.

Exquisite Rhombus offers significant benefits too when applied to a bodysuit the technology permits a Human wearer to lift approximately twice his or her own body weight and multiplies all other physical output by a factor of two as well resulting in increased speed, agility and endurance that would usually only be possible with advanced cybernetics. Soldiers wearing protective equipment incorporating exquisite rhombus Liquid Crystal layer can operate support weapons that would normally weigh the wielder down significantly or require a crew to displace. However, if the wearer was to be subjected to mechanical stress that exceeded the Rhombus' design specifications the force would be transferred to the site of application and then multiplied by two easily crushing the bones and other tissues at the affected site. This is a risk, particularly where free falling from great heights and landing safely is a concern as the Liquid Crystal struggles to deal with the mechanical stress testing in prototype models indicates that free-falling a distance of one-hundred and fifty meters is considered safe but will leave the armour system and its wearer inside paralysed for several minutes.

 

[Rusty]

Hello, I'll be the factory judge reviewing your submission. If you have questions, please feel free to respond to this thread once we are underway.

 

[Rusty]

So the problem we seem to be encountering here is that, as near as I can tell, there's no scientific basis for liquid crystal technology behaving in this manner. If you can find me an example, either in canon or in real world science, I'll review it and we can move forward. If not, I'm afraid this submission isn't viable in its current form.

[member="Shaehan Timiari"]

 

[Hansen]

Piezoelectric Effect

"The piezoelectric effect is understood as the linear electromechanical interaction between the mechanical and the electrical state in crystalline materials with no inversion symmetry. The piezoelectric effect is a reversible process in that materials exhibiting the direct piezoelectric effect (the internal generation of electrical charge resulting from an applied mechanical force) also exhibit the reverse piezoelectric effect (the internal generation of a mechanical strain resulting from an applied electrical field)."

Liquid Crystal Superconductivity

"Although there is not yet an agreed upon explanation for why electronic nematicity occurs, it may ultimately present another knob to tune in the quest to achieve the ultimate goal of a room temperature superconductor.

Electronic nematicity happens when the electron orbitals align themselves like a series of rods - breaking their unidirectional symmetry apart from the symmetry of the crystalline structure. The term "nematicity" commonly refers to when liquid crystals spontaneously align under an electric field in liquid crystal displays. In this case, it is the electronic orbitals that enter the nematic state as the temperature drops below a critical point."

And there you go, the study of this phenomena falls under physics and yes there is documentation of Crystalline Materials i.e Liquid Crystal having these characteristics when in these sorts of environment and since we know liquid crystal displays exist in star wars there shouldn't be an issue here with this, as liquid crystals in your televisions and computer monitors are also manipulated by generated electric fields. It's spelt out quite plainly really and I believe I've done a good job of incorporating these principles and characteristics into the submission.

[member="Rusty"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

[member="Shaehan Timiari"]

This is coming off very passive aggressive. Please edit this post and remove the bold and larger font to the items you feel need to emphasis. This is a civil discussion to help guide the submission to fit the format and system we have in place for fair role play on the board.

This is a warning, please work together with [member="Rusty"] so we can have this submission passed through to approval. Inability to cooperate and work with the Factory staff will result in a denial without possible second chance. Again we are here to help.

Thank you.

 

[Hansen]

[member="Shaehan Timiari"]

This is coming off very passive aggressive. Please edit this post and remove the bold and larger font to the items you feel need to emphasis. This is a civil discussion to help guide the submission to fit the format and system we have in place for fair role play on the board.

This is a warning, please work together with [member="Rusty"] so we can have this submission passed through to approval. Inability to cooperate and work with the Factory staff will result in a denial without possible second chance. Again we are here to help.

Thank you.

[member="Allyson Locke"], [member="Rusty"]

I wasn't attempting to be "passive aggressive" I was attempting to put emphasis on what I thought were the pertinent details in the cited texts for ease of reading, that's all.

 

[Allyson Locke]

[member="Shaehan Timiari"]

Please make the full edits I requested. I'm explaining to you how it came across. Your intent may not have been that, but that was the perception you gave. Please be aware of how things may be received, we work with text so it is the perception of the person and that perception is their reality and that you can't argue. I explained the perception that was received and I hope we can move forward.

Thank you.

 

[Rusty]

Oddly enough, I'm more than passingly familiar with all of the technologies mentioned, which is why I'm not at all certain this will work.

In order to augment the wearer's strength with a system like this, you need to simulate muscles. That is, you're simulating the way they relax and contract in sequence, thus exerting force on the skeleton and creating motion. Instead, you've got a system that can, at best, selectively harden, and not to any useful degree. You've got bones, but no muscles.

Show me something that suggests that the liquid can expand and contract within the capillaries in a meaningful manner and we may have a basis to work off of. Otherwise, the concept is dead in the water as it currently stands.

There's some merit to the idea of using a piezoelectric system to control an exoskeleton. As force is applied by the user's muscles, that force generates an electrical current which could then be translated into usable input for a hydraulically augmented exoskeleton. That would, I think, be entirely doable, and would be far more in line with the spirit of what you're trying to do.

[member="Shaehan Timiari"]

 

[Hansen]

There's some merit to the idea of using a piezoelectric system to control an exoskeleton. As force is applied by the user's muscles, that force generates an electrical current which could then be translated into usable input for a hydraulically augmented exoskeleton. That would, I think, be entirely doable, and would be far more in line with the spirit of what you're trying to do.

[member="Shaehan Timiari"]

That's why the submission possesses the liquid crystal in a capillary system within a bodysuit; That right there is a basic hydraulic system and the liquid crystal is stimulated under principles of the Piezoelectric effect, remembering that the liquid crystal changes structure when subjected to an electric charge i.e goes from Crystalline to Semi-Crystalline depending on the mechanical stress and electrical charge applied it goes through a reversible amorphous transition, so the crystal correspondingly contract and expand, see? What's better yet is we know the Exoskeleton is a Canon concept in star wars, I don't know if that is how -all- exoskeleton designs work in Star Wars but this is how I want the ones submitted with Exquisite Rhombus are going to function.

[member="Rusty"]

 

[Rusty]

Changing structure does not equate to a meaningful change in volume, which means you're not going to get the pressure differentials needed to make this thing work. That's where the problem lies. Nothing I've seen suggests that it does anything more than harden a bit, which presents its own problems in a situation like this. The only liquid crystal technology I've found referenced on Wookieepedia thus far refers entirely to its use in displays.

I'm aware that exoskeletons exist, which is why I suggested using the liquid crystal as the control medium for a more conventional hydraulic system. I suspect that you'd get a far greater degree of precision than more conventional schemes, and I'm perfectly happy to let this submission move forward in that form. Otherwise, barring compelling evidence to the contrary, I'm afraid it's just not going to work.

[member="Shaehan Timiari"]

 

[Hansen]

Show me something that suggests that the liquid can expand and contract within the capillaries in a meaningful manner and we may have a basis to work off of.

There's some merit to the idea of using a piezoelectric system to control an exoskeleton. As force is applied by the user's muscles, that force generates an electrical current which could then be translated into usable input for a hydraulically augmented exoskeleton. That would, I think, be entirely doable, and would be far more in line with the spirit of what you're trying to do.

Changing structure does not equate to a meaningful change in volume, which means you're not going to get the pressure differentials needed to make this thing work. That's where the problem lies. Nothing I've seen suggests that it does anything more than harden a bit, which presents its own problems in a situation like this. The only liquid crystal technology I've found referenced on Wookieepedia thus far refers entirely to its use in displays.

I'm aware that exoskeletons exist, which is why I suggested using the liquid crystal as the control medium for a more conventional hydraulic system. I suspect that you'd get a far greater degree of precision than more conventional schemes, and I'm perfectly happy to let this submission move forward in that form. Otherwise, barring compelling evidence to the contrary, I'm afraid it's just not going to work.

[member="Shaehan Timiari"]

It seems you've overlooked my statement that a bodysuit equipped with Exquisite Rhombus does indeed feature a hydraulic system, as it is a necessity for function. What is a hydraulic system? Any system which uses fluid to create a mechanical advantage through the use of transferring power through small tubes of varying sizes which in this case is a bodysuit's capillary system where exquisite rhombus is supposed to be inserted into, it already functions exactly how you suggest it functions? The whole reason I'm creating this submission is that Jaime mentioned that we've not seen liquid crystal technology be explicitly used in this application or with these properties and that I would need to create a technology submission, which was fair enough and exactly what I've done here.

more conventional hydraulic system.

What would exactly meet the definition of a 'conventional' Hydraulic system for this application, do you think? There's not a lot of information on Exoskeleton function in Star Wars and would it be a problem if I'm going for something a bit unconventional? You see oil in a capillary/tube system which is a liquid liable to combust in temperatures likely to be encountered in environments encountered in combat (i.e fire). The main difference between Exquisite Rhombus and Oil is that Oil would probably require pumps to physically move the fluid and then control valves to make sure it moves in the correct direction.

This would necessitate quite a large armour system I imagine, which is the exact thing Exquisite Rhombus has been designed to avoid in the exoskeleton designs it is apart of; reduce cross-section. The liquid crystal will deform along the axis of applied mechanical stress where an electric charge is generated under the Piezoelectric effect, meaning you don't need big pumps to move the hydraulic liquid or valves to control its direction. I'm wondering why this makes a difference to the submission itself anyway? I mean considering it's a substance, not an armour submission. You've been a really great help and I appreciate your help with this, I hope that explanation will satisfy you and we can move on otherwise I'll have to start considering other options; either dumping the submission entirely or taking the route of a second chance.

We're writing in a science fiction setting with quite a significant presence of fantasy esque elements, I'm trying to indulge my creativity with this substance submission but if we don't move on because you and I disagree on the point of whether or not it's completely 100% functional in its intended application under the principles of hydraulics, piezoelectricity and glass transition in the real world we're not going to get anywhere.

Your previous post implies that you're happy with the balance of strengths and weaknesses here, meaning it abides by the principle of fair play that the factory is supposed to be an arbiter for but we're stuck on this disagreement and I think it's unfair that a writer should have their submissions potentially canned because they're perceived rightly or wrongly to be thinking outside of the square when their substance submission is applied to the real world, insofar as I'm aware exoskeletons of this nature are mostly theory in the real world with a few tests models while the rest are relegated to the realm of science fiction.

I'm not trying to give you a hard time or personally attack you, I know you're here to help and I have a deep respect for the time volunteer staff members take to do this I certainly wouldn't want to be wearing your shoes but I've put so much time and effort into these submissions I'm not willing to let them get shot down easily, I trust you'll understand.

[member="Rusty"]

 

[Rusty]

We haven't even begun to address the balance, because the concept still hasn't been proven to work. There comes a point where further debate on the matter simply becomes counterproductive, and I think we've reached that point. I'm going to have to deny this submission. Here's why.

We fully realize that this is a fantasy/science fiction RP site. As such, there are some allowances made for that when it comes to technology. Lightsabers and mystical Force powers are ludicrous from a scientific perspective, but they work within the confines of the universe. They have a consistent internal logic, barring a few bits of fringe canon. In order to make a submission on Chaos, we require that it fits within that internal logic, or that there's some sort of real world scientific basis to explain it.

Ordinarily, that's not a problem. A blaster is a blaster, and if you want to make one that fires more quickly or more accurately, that's easy enough to judge. So long as it's balanced, it can move forward. When we get into more abstract concepts like this, however, a deeper level of scrutiny is required. Not only does the submission have to be balanced, it has to fit in with how we know the Chaos universe works. If we didn't take that closer look, we'd open the door to all sorts of weird things, and we're quite happy to leave that bolted shut.

In the case of this submission, there is no relevant Star Wars analogue. There's no real world scientific basis. As near as I can tell, this was inspired by a set of power armor from Fallout 4. Lacking a grounding in Star Wars or real world science, this submission cannot move forward as it stands. And since you've refused to make the suggested edits, I've no choice but to deny it.

I realize that it can be frustrating to work hard to bring a concept to fruition, only to have things fall apart. Been there, done that. It sucks. But the standards must be upheld, for the good of everyone who calls Chaos home.

What I would recommend is to take a step back for a few days, then move the submission over to the Pre-Factory to work out the kinks. Once you think you've got things to where they'd be approved, request a second chance.

Sorry things couldn't work out this time, and I wish you luck on future endeavors.

[member="Shaehan Timiari"]

 

[Rusty]

This submission has been denied and moved to the Archives.

You may request a Second Chance within the Factory Discussion Forum and tag Cira for review.

Thank you!