Mobile Suit Controls

[Phantom-Takaya]

There are technical manuals for each Gundam series, I believe. Some actually explains the control system and you'll notice that there is no universal control system.

[JagdPanther]

Originally Posted by Phantom-Takaya

There are technical manuals for each Gundam series, I believe. Some actually explains the control system and you'll notice that there is no universal control system.

I have the 08th MS team manual. Maybe I'll flip through that and see.... I don't remember such depth as describing the control systems.

[LynnieS]

I believe that one of the more recent "Official Gundam Fact Files" had a section on mobile suit controls, but Nanohafied's explanation pretty much covered everything.

[supperrfreek]

the controls seem to be based slightly on those of the F16 fighter (throttle on the left and manuevering on the right and at the feet with pedals).
In my opinion, without any sort of Neuro linking, the controling of any MS is impossible to say the least, unless the aircraft controls are very sophisticated in which case it would probably make no sense to use in anything but stationary combat, which then why build an ms when you could just have a fort or awesome armored force.

[kureshii]

Originally Posted by Int3rmission

Thanks everyone for their interesting explanations.

I wonder if they ever released a Gundam encyclopedia that details the controls of a mobile suit??? Was their ever an official Mobile Suit Gundam encyclopedia?

They did. Book covers here:

Spoiler for Book 1:

Spoiler for Book 2:

Spoiler for Book 3:

Spoiler for Book 4:

Books are pretty small, smaller than A5, has a short section (3-4 pages) on cockpit internals. Details them from 0079 up to Z IIRC - have to go check again. Can't scan it in though, I'll break the spine. Once I can get decent digicam shots I'll post them. Unfortunately, I can't read Japanese so no translations from me.

[supperrfreek]

if you look at cockpit sketches of almost all ms, you'll realize the basics are very similar, a control stick to the right, throttle to the left (like an F16 cockpit but this is where the similarities end: the instrumentation is quite different), there is a keyboard, an instrument panel and several monitors (panoramic or flat screen).

[kureshii]

That's for CE MS... early UC designs were somewhat similar, but later on they became very much streamlined. I can't remember what 0083 cockpits looked like, but from 0087 onwards (Z, ZZ, etc) the pilot interface was pretty much just 2 joystick throttles (joysticks on a throttle slider), a few buttons and a screen in front of the pilot, with pedals... and the whole setup was held above a 360-deg all-enclosing panoramic view. Of course, not all MS had such an advanced interface - many, such as the Zaku, had multiple monitors instead of the panoramic view. It's much more streamlined than any of the CE interfaces I've seen.

Here's a fan's interpretation of the cockpit design, incorporated into a very detailed Z bust mod.

[supperrfreek]

yeah, generally they have the same elements- two control sticks (one throttle one movement), two foot petals, a keyboard, monitors (panoramic or flat) and a chair. As you said some are more sophisticated, the one your showing me is very sophisticated.
Although the cockpit seems to be enough I think it is a little too sparse to be controlling human movement and some sort of link to the human brain is provided.

[Siege]

watch the episode of wing where HEERO's doing testing on the ZERO system theres a screen where you see his fingers clicking the right hand i think it is control stick and and moving it backwards and forwards this must be the arms movement to allow aim and melee combat as for walking and crouching and stuff must be controlled using the other control stick

though in SEED if u watch kira in the opening credits he pushes his foot down and the freedoms engines start accelerating

[supperrfreek]

the controls can probably be changed to suit the needs of the pilot.

[X207]

im at a loss to explain how such complicated controls work, although it provides for way to pass time

[supperrfreek]

the software behind the controls would have to be made to be impossibly perfect and the OS is a big problem.

[Phantom-Takaya]

Well, considering that the Gundam series is suppose to reflect one universe with futuristic devices and machines, we can't really say it's impossibly perfect. Almost ten years ago, when I was learning about cars and exactly how they worked, I was amazed how car mechanics and computers were meshed together in a car. That was nearly ten years ago. I'm sure about half the components in a car are computerized to work with the driver for ease of use and what-not. Back then, some dared to dream these things, while most thought it was impossible. So, you never know.