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Building / Mecha / what-is-mecha | |
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Mecha. What is it? A question that is best answered loosely. Mech, Mecha, Robot, it’s all the same. If its a robot of some sort, if it has the imaginative nature of working technology yet in existence, it’s Mecha. If it is a lumbering worker robot. It’s Mecha. If it has a pilot or an imaginary A.I. core. It’s Mecha If it is fun and robotic. Its Mecha. Not to proclaim all, simply in terms for all of us interact here. If you have to think about it, then call it what you want. This newsgroup serves them all. From Classic Anime styled Mecha, to Battle Tech inspired automata. It’s a Mech. Simple and straight forward. Quibble not, this is a place for us all. Androids, Cyber-beasts, robotic animals and life forms, Biomechanoids, Mechanical Frames, Hercs, Mechanized tanks, crawlers, droids and bots. Who cares, just have fun and build. Building Mecha usually starts with either inspiration to use a given part or parts. Or it starts with your collection by figuring out what parts you have to create the joints. Gravity is the checksum for all bipeds. Quads and Hex’s have their own dynamics. Let’s talk about bipeds. Bipeds, humanoid in shape and design. Having a head (s) Arms (s) and Legs (multiple). Joint Tech - What is it? Joint Tech refers to the kind of parts used to create the major joints and points of articulation. Bipeds need several areas to be considered for Joint Tech placement. These Points of Articulation or, POA need certain types of parts at the right scale to make the mech stand properly.
The Head Building heads for Mechs is fun. It gives the Mech personality. This helps you to get a flavor for where the build is going to end up. The head certainly determines the scale. That is not to say you need to start with the head, just that in the end the scale of the Mech and the head will closely match if done properly. Mounting the head can occur in many ways. Using all kinds of parts to create the neck and mounting for the head is part of the fun. A list of possible parts to use will be added at a later time. The Shoulders Giving your Mech the ability to flex it’s arms and attain a human like posture is one of the cool things about building Bipedal Mecha. Often, the simple ability to raise the arms of the Mecha to provide for a realistic pose is actually tricky. Scale and the types of parts used are key and directly relative to each other. You need to choose if you want this kind of movement. The way you build and the kinds of movements included are entirely up to the builder in question. Because the shoulder joint can contain multiple POA, choose a part that provides at least one of the movements you feel is best to include. Many kinds of parts can be used. Keep in mind the scale of what you are building and be realistic about what you expect your Joint Tech you are using. The shoulder joint needs to be at least as strong as the joints you are using for the lower half of the model. A list of possible parts to use will be added at a later time. The Elbows The elbow joint helps give a lot of flare to the pose you get your Mech to do. Often, just the twist of an elbow in a subtle way can give the impression of motion frozen in time. The elbow of a Mech does not have to be as strong as the rest of the major joints, depending on your design. Again, the builder in question needs to decide what is best based on available parts and or knowledge. A list of possible parts to use will be added at a later time. The Wrist and Hands Wrist rotation is not always a necessity. However it does help in angling the hands to appear more life like. Also good wrist rotation helps in providing realism to the angles the hands may have to adapt to during a pose. The wrists usually don’t require heavy duty Joint Tech, depending on your design. The hands of a Mecha are important in conveying scale and style. Many types and kinds are possible. Many parts can be used to create the hands of a Mech. Trick is to make them believable. They must fit the scale of the Mecha and at the same time fit the style of the Mech you are creating. One key is in trying to keep the scale of the head and hands relative to each other. A good rule of thumb for proportion is, the wrists and hands should hang down at or around the level of the hips. A list of possible parts to use will be added at a later time. The Waist Torso, chest, midsection, all come together and join at the waist. The waist then begins the formation and extensions to the lower extremities. Some advanced designs include full rotation, pivot, and side to side bending motion. It is not always necessary to include all these movements, depending on the scale of a given creation. Some models can support the inclusion of a single POA at this location, while others attempt to include as many separate POA as possible. A list of possible parts to use will be added at a later time. The Hips The hips of a Mech are a key feature in how posable your creation will be. The hip splay, or ability of the hips to kick out to the sides of the body can be accomplished in many ways. The key is as always to use parts that fall within the scale of the Mecha and the ability of the part or parts in question to hold the weight of the creation. This is a tricky area. Many forces transfer through this area as the joints work together to become the Mech as it stands. If you choose to create hips that have a POA that includes the splay feature, keep in mind that the ankles will need to have a degree of freedom that is relative to the angle that the hip’s joint tech can accommodate. That is to say the ankle’s side splay is by virtue, the business end of the hip joint’s movement. They are relative to each other. A list of possible parts to use will be added at a later time. The Knees The knees of a Mech should be strong. Strong enough to hold up to the stresses involved in maintaining the stance of the pose you want to achieve with your Mech. Some parts used in tandem can help to provide strength enough to do the job. Depending on the scale of your Mecha, you may need heavy duty joints or you may be able to make use of smaller elements to create the movement of the knees. The knees of a Mech in themselves are of course functional, but they also serve another purpose. The help give the notion of motion as it were in the subtle application of slight to extreme bending that helps convey realism to the poses you apply to the stance of your creation. A slight bend in the knee can give the impression of coming to a stand still just after running or moving. A larger bend can help in making the Mech appear to kneel down or create the impression of some other kind of biometric motion. Reverse knee designs, found in “Chicken Walker” or Battle Tech Styled Mecha also need to be strong. Even stronger then conventional Bipeds. The look and style is up to the builder. The knee still remains a major joint in what ever style you build. A list of possible parts to use will be added at a later time. The Ankles Building ankles for Mecha is by far the most important in terms of keeping your creation standing. A good design will allow the Mecha to stand and be adjusted to allow for a variety of positions. The ankle’s ability to splay as described above, is the extension of the hip of the Mecha. The ankles themselves can contain multiple POA to allow for additional posability. Without a good ankle system, your Mecha call fall right on its face and prevent more realistic poses than if you have limited movement. The ankles of a Mech are close to the ground. Think of the pivot point as a big lever. Without the proper Joint Tech or relative reinforcement, your Mech will be doomed to either fall or have a less flexible look. Again, it is up to the builder to decide what is best for their given creation. Try to use a good joint system to help your Mech make the most of its ankles. Your reward will be added posability. A list of possible parts to use will be added at a later time. The Feet The feet of a mech should flow with the design esthetics of the body as a whole. Some advanced builders have started to include flexing toes in part of the foot design. What ever you choose to do, pay particular attention to the integration of the ankles to the template of the foot design. Both go hand in hand. A good size foot print will undoubtedly help keep your Mecha stable and firm when standing. Take care in keeping the scale in line with rest of the body. Its OK to exaggerate the size of the extremities to fit the personality of the creation. A list of possible parts to use will be added at a later time.
One of the challenges of Mecha Construction, is not only the synergy of parts, the Joint Tech, including adequate POA, making it artistic and or stylish, but the true test is designing all the parts together to make the Mecha stand without falling! Depending on what kind of Joint Tech is used and how many POA you have in a given region of the body, fine adjustments are needed to keep the Mecha balanced. Make no mistake, building Mecha is as easy or hard as you choose it to be. Make no additional mistake in thinking that your job is done when you add the last brick. When you complete or are imagining the Mech, think about the role the joints play. Think about what the Mech would do if it was alive like you. Develop an empathy play with your creation. Determine where and what the joints would do when you start to pose your Mecha. It might sound silly, but think about how you would stand if posed in some manner. Think about what joints are taking the load of the body. Think about what joints need to be torqued and adjusted to keep your creation standing. Often a slight adjustment in one place, say an arm, will require adjustment in another place. Building Mecha is in part, understanding how to stand up a model. A static model that has no life of its own until you pose it, to see it like it is alive, and that a moment in time has been frozen. Even the best looking Mecha are susceptible to falling over. When done properly, you can engineer your Mecha to stand in a sturdy manner and resist gravity. If you are concerned about the ability of the Mech to stand on its own, take precautions. Rebuild your Mech to include better Joint Tech. Modify the POA in certain areas to better help. Think about creating a service stand or Moonbase Mech Bay to display your Mecha. Remember, even the most advanced designs can fall over, its up to the builder to work towards keeping the center of gravity under control. Kicking the feet out to the sides of the Mecha in tandem with the hip control, orientation of the arms, degree of tilt in the waist and knees all play a role secondary to how you actually build the Mech in the first place. When you are confident your Mech has been properly balanced, give it the push test. A sturdy stance and correct attention to biometrics will allow the body of the Mecha to sway a little before coming back to rest in the central position you have posed it in. Some examples of Mecha Poses can be seen at the top and bottom of the Mecha User Guide.
Building Quads and Hexapods are fun. Challenging in other ways aside from keeping your Mecha standing, as in bipeds. A good multi-legged Mecha still has its challenges in keeping it standing. By virtue of the multiple legs, they have a better chance of keeping upright. Still the joints need to be strong. Different kinds of stresses are present then the traditional bipedal Mecha and Mechs of various configurations. Quads and Hexapods have the additional flexibility in allowing for the main platform to be anything one desires. Turrets, pods you name it can be integrated in to the main body. Lots of designs exist out there and the sky is the limit. One vulnerability multi-legged Mecha have is the danger of all the legs “splaying out”. That is to say, a cascade of legs pushing out from under the main body. Some builders include supports on the undersides of their creations to help reinforce the stance of the multi-ped. Hidden within the confines of the legs. The stress and forces on the legs of certain types of multi-peds can be many times that of bipeds. The angles of the legs the direction of the center of gravity forced through the often multi-jointed legs is notable. When building Multi-ped like Quads and Hexapods, keep in mind that the area under the main body is where the creation is most vulnerable. That is to say the distance of the toes or feet should be kept with in a reasonable distance from the center point of the creation. Unless of course measures are taken to ensure the Joint Tech used can accommodate the stresses and weight involved.
One type of Mech is the Two-Legged kind that composes the main design. Best remembered for the classic FASA inspired Battle Tech Clan Mechs. These reverse knee designed Mechs have many design challenges to over come. Because of the type of leg geometry, the forces of these types of Mechs transfer their weight in two distinct ways. One is that all the downward force; the weight of the Mech is transferred in a zigzag fashion through the “Z” shape of the legs. Putting tremendous stress on the joints of a reverse kneed Mech. The other force worthy of mention is the inherent “falling forward” motion that the legs of this class mech posses. In theory, this is what makes Two-legged Mechs favorable in speed and carrying tonnage. This class of Mecha are the champions of speed and lumbering platforms. A strange phenomena in this category of Mecha building is called “Toeing up”. This is when the foot of the reverse knee Mech does not sit flat and the toes do not transfer the weight of the Mech directly to the ground. “Toeing up” can be countered by adding and creating torque and resistance in the ankle. The forces transferred via the “Z” shape of the legs, puts the weight at the heel in the rear of the foot rather then directly to the toes as in bipedal Mecha. An additional bonus to creating this class of Mech, is without an upper torso to worry about, a vast array of platforms can be created atop the leg and hip structures. Many details and imaginative fun await the Two-Legged Mech builder.
Powered Suits, Mobile Suits, Power Armor, Powered Frames and other like names refers to the class of Mecha where the pilot is an integral part of the design. That is to say rather than a pilot being enclosed or semi-covered in a control suite or cockpit, the pilot and joint systems are closely related to appear to work in tandem. These types of Mechs feature Joint Tech that either directly takes their control from the movement of the pilot or appear to have integrated technology that mimics the pilot’s movements seamlessly. Some of these suits may be massive like Gundam Mecha that take the concept to the root of the genre, or some can actually appear to be worn directly on the body of the pilot. Building this class of Mecha is challenging in the use of parts that directly connect to Mini-Figs and or contain POA that correspond to the biometrics of the pilot.
Part of the fun of creating bots is in making them small (or large) and giving them personality. Making use of common elements to create something smallish and still have a recognizable function is a challenge. Bot making can be a way to make tons of drones, each with its own purpose and job to do. Another cool thing about Bots is they can be included in most any creation. You can always create a couple of Bots to fit in to or along side a ship or vessel a support rig or larger Mecha. There is just as much creativity in making small and large Bots as with true Mecha. It all depends on the builder.
Some builders in other genres have made use of Mecha Building Techniques to create movement in the joints of their creations. These creations can still maintain an organic look or stay true to the genre of origin and yet still use common Joint Tech found in Mecha Design. Dragons, Gorillas, and creatures of all sorts that are not robotic, still need joints and limbs. These limbs can be built to hide the underlying Joint Tech beneath the “skin” of the creature. You may not want to post your creation to lugnet.build.mecha, but its ok! Many builders have shared their creations in this forum in an attempt to illustrate how they made use of common Mecha Joint Tech in their non-robotic creations. Sharing and being diverse is a welcome addition to the discussions here.
By virtue of the LEGO Technic System and Mindstorms, building real Mecha is a reality. This is where you make the leap from static models to real robotics. Motors, sensors, computer control, gears and an array of mechanical components makes building real Mecha possible. The only limit is the dollar in your pocket and the desire you have to make it happen. Creating mechanisms that mimic human movement are routinely done by robotics groups. The synergy of all the components to create life like movement via motors and computer control is the ultimate exercise in Mecha Design. Lego puts this technology in the hands of everyone. The added mention of even calling it Mecha infers a skin and design style apart from the bare bones automata seen in some labs. The real appreciation comes with the inclusion of style and form along with the true functionality. Only a few if any have ventured into this realm. The epoch of consumer created real Mecha is upon us. It has been widely known that many professionals and Mechanical Engineers and tinkerers have used Lego in the development and prototyping of robotic platforms. Many of the Battle Bots builders are known to use Lego. The Technic system is the key. The RCX is the magic. How to’s and Building Instructions
Official LEGO Sets featuring Mecha Designs Bionicle Bionicle is great for helping to build Mecha Designs. The Lego Mecha Hall of Fame  Fan created resource honoring Mecha Design Bricks on the Brain: Mecha Designs 
Browse through Mecha Design Ideas and Instructions created by Fans! The links above will help you get started in understanding how this news group works. Like all other newsgroups here on LUGNET™, each has its own theme of interest and similar guidelines to help users gain a better command of the tools available to you. With time and observation you too can join in the fun and interact with other builders by replying to other people’s creations, make posts about your creations, write stories, and add picture links to your posts to make for a great presentation. Be sure to check out the LUGNET™ User Guide to learn about the additional features available. ver. 2.06 Since 7/15/04 Credits   
  
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