[SolaraTron Industries] Orion Security Droid

[Ice]

Note: Ignore scale! The droid is 2 meters tall exactly. Also ignore the rifle in the picture and replace it with this.

Image Source: http://th05.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2011/059/e/4/epitome_of_armor___mecha_by_shimmering_sword-d3amz9n.jpg
Intent: To create a 600 droid security force for Slate Estrada's Orion Corporation.
Development Thread: A Business Proposition
Manufacturer: SolaraTron Industries
Model: Orion Security Droid
Affiliation: STI, Orion Corporation
Modularity: No
Production: Limited
Material: Durasteel, droid components, blaster components
Classification: Fourth Degree
Weight: 110 kg
Height: 2 m
Movement: Bipedal
Armaments: Retractable 12" blade (right forearm), flamethrower (left forearm), particle beam "cannon" (head), Shotgun (provided by Orion Corporation)
Misc. Equipment: Basic scanners and vocabulator
Description: This is STI's solution to Orion Corporation security needs. This 4 armed giant of a humanoid droid sports medium armor giving it an armor rating of 7. It has a variety of weapons to be able to deal with many types of scenarios. It's primary weapon is it's heavy particle beam rifle that sits on top of its shoulders. With this weapon situated where it is, the droid is able to keep and incredibly small profile when peaking around corners or rising up from cover to return fire to an enemy.

A shotgun to be provided by Orion Corporation provides another means of attack if a defender is particular adept at defending against a traditional energy weapon. To increase the effectiveness of this weapon though, STI has developed a 20 round tommy gun style magazine to allow the weapon to last longer in a fight than its current 5 round, or even 10 round clips. This is being provided to Orion Corporation free of charge to the inability to offer maintenance for the droids, as well as they just wish to have a happy customer.

But STI didn't stop there. To give it maximum flexibility in combat situations, a flamethrower is also included on the left forearm to discourage anyone from trying to overwhelm the droid up close. The only issue with this weapon is its limited amount of fire. It can only fire 5 burst before it's reserve of fuel is depleted. In the unlikely event that the droids shotgun and flamethrower run out of ammo, and the particle beam rifle is just not a good choice for a given situation. A retractable 12" blade is attached the the right forearm to handle more melee typ situations.

Per the customers specifications, the droid has not been fitted with it's own processing core. It is essentially a drone carrying out the commands of the main control center within Orion Corporation buildings. While this grants complete control from a central location. It runs the risk of the droids being completely useless if that control center were ever disabled or cut off.

Like most any other droid, this droid is particularly vulnerable to EMP grenades and ion rifles.
Primary Source: N/A

 

[Popo]

[member="Ice"]
Under Review

 

[Popo]

[member="Ice"]
Alright. So, after looking through this sub, pondering a bit, and asking a couple of questions here and there, here's what I've got.

Without a Dev Thread:

• Drop the Particle Beam Cannon entirely
• Add the shotgun weapon held by the inner arms to the armament, please.
• Electrical/Ion/EMP weaknesses need to be added.

With a Dev Thread*:

• The Particle Beam Cannon can stay, though with limited ammunition.
• The Particle Beam Cannon will have to move from the head entirely, maybe into the outer arms or replacing the shotgun held by the inner arms.
• Still need to add the shotgun weapon held by the inner arms (if kept) to the armament.
• Electrical/Ion/EMP weaknesses need to be added.

*The dev thread will need to be around 20-30 posts minimum. My reasoning for this is as follows:

• You'd need to develop the particle beam cannon to place on the droid (10 posts)
• You would need to develop a way to make it small enough to mount on/be held by said droid (5-10 posts)
• You would need to ensure the droid can maintain the power requirements of said weapon, plus the myriad of other weapons the droid carries along with maintaining constant contact with the controler station without depleting itself (5-10 posts)

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to ask.

 

[Ice]

[member="Popo"]

Hey Popo. Thanks for taking the time to review my sub!

A few questions few you. Actually first. I added a line specifically stating that it is vulnerable to EMP and Ion Rifle. I also went ahead and posted an ammunition limited before needing a reload.

The shotgun is not being provided by STI, that's why I didn't add it in the inventory. You sure it is appropriate for it to be here? I just don't want someone in the future wanting to order these and be expecting the shot gun to come with it. Cuz it isn't what STI was offering. Nor do they make them at all.

I did already provide a 15 post (soon to be 16 post) dev thread for this droid already. Is there any way we could lower the dev thread requirement a bit since I subbed it with a dev thread automatically?

It communicates with the command center center via a built in comm link, like almost all droids. And power should not be an issue since a knife doesn't need any, and the flamethrower needs almost none. Plus I gave the flamethrower an extremely limited amount of ammunition as well.

My last concern is about the particle beam weapon itself. Can you please explain to me why I can't have the weapon placed where the head would be normally? It is there, after all, that it will be most strongly supported on the droid. And from an engineering perspective, I can see zero reason why this would be technically impossible. I can't even see why it would be troublesome.

 

[Popo]

[member="Ice"]
Alright, lemme go through your post bit by bit and try to cover everything.

A few questions few you. Actually first. I added a line specifically stating that it is vulnerable to EMP and Ion Rifle. I also went ahead and posted an ammunition limited before needing a reload.

Awesome. That adds another layer to the sub which is what folks look for when purchasing droids and other products from companies. Clearly defined parameters give folks a clear idea of what they're looking to buy and help the FJs when they're judging the submissions in question.

The shotgun is not being provided by STI, that's why I didn't add it in the inventory. You sure it is appropriate for it to be here? I just don't want someone in the future wanting to order these and be expecting the shot gun to come with it. Cuz it isn't what STI was offering. Nor do they make them at all.

Any weapon used or carried must be listed. If one type carries it and the other type doesn't, list them in variants (ex. Droid-A, Droid-B ). Doesn't matter who makes the original weapons. If it's carrying it, you'll need to list the armament.

I did already provide a 15 post (soon to be 16 post) dev thread for this droid already. Is there any way we could lower the dev thread requirement a bit since I subbed it with a dev thread automatically?

I've looked through your dev thread (Somehow missed it) and as a contract thread for Tier Advancement, it's great. However, the three areas that I mentioned as my reasoning for the Dev thread were not touched and, to be honest, the majority of the thread was wheeling and dealing the costs and fees (good job on a 12,000,000cr contract though. Nice work). There was very little actual design, implementation, testing, etc. of the droid outside of what the buyer's parameters were and the supply of the shotgun weapon it carries. I'm afraid my dev thread request will hold firm.

It communicates with the command center center via a built in comm link, like almost all droids. And power should not be an issue since a knife doesn't need any, and the flamethrower needs almost none. Plus I gave the flamethrower an extremely limited amount of ammunition as well.

The power requirement only comes into effect with the dev thread and the addition of the heavy particle beam rifle. The reasoning for this is due to how the particle beam rifle (also know as a particle accelerator weapon) functions and performs as well as how powerful such weapons are. Particle beam weapons take a charged particle and push it down a series of electromagnetic "lenses" until the particles form a cohesive beam. This beam impacts the target with a very substantial amount of power and causes a massive amount of damage. Currently, there are only two subs done of particle beam weaponry. One is a capital ship weapon valued at around 40 guns and the other is an exceptionally light "machinegun" version that has some weight issues along with some other problems. The other thing is that particle beam weapons have recoil, which I'll get more into later. Suffice to say, you'd have some issues hooking the cannon to the main power without depleting the core and making a separate power source would give you a very limited operational ammunition capacity.

My last concern is about the particle beam weapon itself. Can you please explain to me why I can't have the weapon placed where the head would be normally? It is there, after all, that it will be most strongly supported on the droid. And from an engineering perspective, I can see zero reason why this would be technically impossible. I can't even see why it would be troublesome.

Lemme put it this way. The components, at minimum, of a heavy particle beam cannon would weigh in the 20kg+ range. Now, that's not that huge of an issue on it's own for, say, an artillery droid. Something that requires fast movement, quick maneuvering, and potentially chasing down a target (ie. a Security/Combat Droid) will find the cannon to be cumbersome, unbalancing, and generally more trouble than it's worth. From an engineering standpoint, there's nothing wrong with it... at first. I have many friends who are engineers and work on things from bridges, ships, installations, electricity, and even robotics. The weight of the weapon that high up would cause a cascade failure at some point in the near future. In laymen's terms ('cause I can't figure out the big words they used) the gyro would fail sooner, the servos in the joints - especially in the legs - would burn out faster, the targeting systems would have difficulty compensating for the failing gyroscope and joints, the droid would need to shunt more power to the failing areas to try and keep them at optimum efficiency which would wear them out faster, and as particle beam weapons have some hefty recoil, just using the weapon would fry sensors, screw with targeting systems, and burn servos all over depending on how the droid is standing. You would have to mount it in the chest, have it carried in the arms, or find some way to massively reinforce or redesign the structural integrity of the droid to compensate for the huge weight two meters in the air.

 

[Ice]

[member="Popo"]

Ah. Ok. Shotgun added to the armaments.

Back to the particle beam rifle. STI already makes a couple weapons based on particle beam technology. So I didn't see this as a stretch. Also the rifle itself I had imagined was it's own device simply sitting atop a droid body and rotating platform, rather than actually drawing power from the droid itself. This would also make more sense as to the lower ammo capacity as well. But like I said, I have no problem making a dev thread. I'm not trying to get out of it. I was simply requesting the amount of posts be reduced to the traditional ten as current the requirement set for me is enough for dang good sized ship. lol And the only real thing we are talking about here is a new particle beam rifle, which like I said is what every single STI production rifle currently uses.

Also that brings to mind. If I am doing a dev thread on the rifle...doesn't that mean I'd have to sub that too now? *taps chin in thought* Or how about this. I can have the weapon be a part of the droid power systems with my explanation that I have prepared, but I'd like to increase the ammo capacity if I have a much larger store of power available? What do you think?

Also I can easily take care of both the power aspects, recoil issues, and balancing act, if you wouldn't mind me simply adding another paragraph or two into the sub? Actually it would be a fun addition to the description anyway. So for the sake of the picture, I'll keep the weapon where its at. Chalk it up to higher quality Star Wars parts, and a couple other compensating components I will describe if permitted. Especially since, let's be honest, nobody is going to bring that up in RP anyway. *shrugs*

 

[Popo]

[member="Ice"]

Ah. Ok. Shotgun added to the armaments.

Awesome. Please don't forget to hyperlink specific weapons when at all possible in the armament area. It helps folks out a lot when judging or just looking through the submission for a reference.

Also that brings to mind. If I am doing a dev thread on the rifle...doesn't that mean I'd have to sub that too now? *taps chin in thought* Or how about this. I can have the weapon be a part of the droid power systems with my explanation that I have prepared, but I'd like to increase the ammo capacity if I have a much larger store of power available? What do you think?

If you wanna use the dev thread to modify an existing weapon to fit on the droid, go for it. As for the power source, just remember that power to weight ratios are a thing. Stick a massive generator in something and pay the cost in weight while getting the gain in raw energy. It's a balancing act we have to do as FJs. Power vs Weakness. Plus, always keep in mind, as the great Tefka has said (and I'm massively paraphrasing here) cool stuff is cool and uber powered tech is awesome, but the minute it's reported it can easily go away. The more its balanced in the Factory, the less chances there are of that.

Also I can easily take care of both the power aspects, recoil issues, and balancing act, if you wouldn't mind me simply adding another paragraph or two into the sub? Actually it would be a fun addition to the description anyway. So for the sake of the picture, I'll keep the weapon where its at. Chalk it up to higher quality Star Wars parts, and a couple other compensating components I will describe if permitted.

High quality parts or not, you'll still have issues. For example, in WWII the US did a study. Sherman tank bogie wheel ball bearings were low/mid quality parts and lasted maybe three to five months in the field before replacement was needed. When they found German Panzer bogie wheel ball bearings, they saw the parts were made of much higher quality materials and machining and could last three to five years before replacing. The initial study saw that German products were, of course, far superior to American products in many ways and that production was easy to alter to create the same high quality products. The reason we didn't is because the tanks in question rarely lasted more than six months or less in the field. Don't make something you can't afford to lose. At 20,000cr a droid, they're roughly around the same price as most Main Battle Tanks. Sure you can make them, but if you make them out of much higher quality materials, can you clients afford to lose them?

Especially since, let's be honest, nobody is going to bring that up in RP anyway. *shrugs*

I've lost count of how many people say this and then get mad when others use their submission weaknesses against them. If the droid is mechanically unreliable, people will take advantage of it in a heartbeat. Maybe not everyone, but the RPers that are better improvisors and can more easily think on their feet will.

 

[Ice]

[member="Popo"]

Archive this for now please. I will get back to it at another time.

 

[Popo]

Archived per submitter's request.