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mfb
some background. i'm playing an otaku in a fairly successful otaku tribe--lots of rebuilt junk hardware, very tech-savvy. recently, my otaku acquired two LS-9 surveillance drones. my original plan was to slap a laserlink and a satellite uplink on one of 'em and have it follow my otaku around; the otaku'd have a level 1 RCD in his backpack and a rating 2 signal amp, and would be able to deck from anywhere by connecting a laser to the RCD, pointing it at the drone, and uplinking through it to any satellite constellation he can get a beam on (probably Angel SatCom, as they're the easiest pickin's in the sky). a remote control complex form and a Rigger Protocol Emu Module in the RCD will let me control the drone while i'm hacking.

however, that doesn't quite satisfy me. like a rich man's nagging wife, i want more. it occurs to me that, with a little work, i can have my drone network keep my otaku mobile while he's decking.

first, i'd need a set of skillwires implanted--rating 2, 8Mp. that's enough for an Athletics (Skating) skillsoft rating 2, as my boy's a rollerblader. with a chipjack and expert driver 2, that's 4 dice for blading--plenty for basic go-around-the-block stuff.

next, i'd need a drone pilot and an autonav. the second LS-9 will provide a drone pilot, once we rip it down for parts, and autonavs are cheap. without too much trouble, i can probably rig these up to just run off of the RCD's power supply, which will be beefed up to handle the extra load.

now, for the part where i'm a genius. i route my skillwires to my datajack (datjacks act as cyberware routers with 5 ports). then, i connect to the RCD through my datajack, connecting through the laser to the drone to the sat uplink to a satellite. there, i fire up my remote control complex form, where i find 2 drones on my network: the LS-9, and the drone brain jury-rigged (heh) to my RCD.

the drone brain, by means of some modifications, is linked via external router to my datajack, and from that to my skillwires. from my lofty position in the Angel SatCon, i command the spare drone brain to take my body around the block. the drone brain ponders this, then checks with the autonav--which i've helpfully loaded with a map of Seattle--to plot a route, then relays these instructions to my skillwires. the skillwires, with their 4 dice of goodness, move my body in a manner which allows it to skate with better-than average skill around the block. meanwhile, through the wonders of RAS, my otaku is busy robbing electronic banks to fund his next crazy scheme.

flaws i can see offhand: drones have no real way to interface with skillwires. however, i don't see this as a problem, because the same drone brain can pilot anything from an LS-9 to a car to a fighter jet, with no additional hardware or software required. it shouldn't be a huge problem, to me, for the drone to just tell the skillwires "move", and let the skillwires handle the rest.
Eyeless Blond
Only problem I see here is that drone pilots can only "drive" things that are rigger-adapted, so you'll have to rigger-adapt your skillwires. biggrin.gif This could have... odd consequences if another rigger comes by and takes over your RCD. eek.gif rotfl.gif
Lilt
I suggested something a while back that was a bit like this. What you do is to 'rigger-adapt' your body by using the snakeyes system (P93-95, R3). I was suggesting creating a pilot program, but using a real drone pilot might work too.
Eyeless Blond
Ah, that's right, you need Sensors too, don't you? I suppose that means some sort of simrig/simlink, although I suppose you can make this external to save on Essence.

And revise the rigger adaptation to remote control interface (p 130 r3), which, unfortunately, costs *more*. If I were house-ruling it, I'd say you are basically customizing your skillwires as if they were a vehicle, and use the skillwires's rating in place of Body for this customization job.

Should the remost control customization cost Essence though? Eh, I'm not sure; a lot of the system other than the skillwires can be made external (and thus removable) with no problems; this might be too. Either way though, this guy's gonna look like a freak. biggrin.gif
Eyeless Blond
QUOTE (mfb)
flaws i can see offhand: drones have no real way to interface with skillwires. however, i don't see this as a problem, because the same drone brain can pilot anything from an LS-9 to a car to a fighter jet, with no additional hardware or software required. it shouldn't be a huge problem, to me, for the drone to just tell the skillwires "move", and let the skillwires handle the rest.

Btw, where does it say that the same drone brain can operate different vehicle types? I can't seem to find this anywhere in sr3 or r3.
Lilt
[randomthoughts]
This might not be relevant or possible for your character, but could you create a backpack drone? That is: A small walker drone with enough load to carry you. The drone itself is normally concealed as a backpack, but when ordered to can extend long limbs which could aid when climbing and other activities.

This robot could mount the gear that you need (RCD, Laser link, ETC) and, when you are decking, pilot you through a direct link making it nigh impossible to hack you. Give it a good pilot rating (maybe even a robotic advanced pilot?) and it could help you out when doing other stuff (such-as telling you who is behind you).

The one problem is that it'd probably be quite heavy unless your GM was kind with the weights. Even at close to minimum weight you'd be moving around with weight equivalent to 3-4 2-litre bottles of soda in your backpack.
mfb
it says it by not saying that you have to purchase different drones for different vehicles. remote-control adaption isn't necessary; if you've got a drone brain, you already require a remote-control interface. sensors are a good point; i'll probably just rig the drone to my goggles (magnification, IR, low-light, ultrasound) and call it Sensor 1 or 2. rigger adaption... damn, that thing's heavy. i bet i could strap it to the Strato-9, and connect via another laserlink. no reason it has to be implanted, especially since it's specifically called a 'black box'. that would allow me to translate the neurological data provided/required by the skillwires into machine code.
Eyeless Blond
QUOTE (mfb)
it says it by not saying that you have to purchase different drones for different vehicles. remote-control adaption isn't necessary; if you've got a drone brain, you already require a remote-control interface.

Could you point me to a page number for this? I'm not quite sure what you mean. From the rules I've seen so far (p. 130 R3) it looks to me like a drone brain/pilot is an integrated part of the remote-control interface hardware itself, not something that can be freely interchanged between vehicles. This is why Rating 1 drone pilots are included in the remote control interface option, and why more advanced pilots require more vehicle customization; drone pilots appear to me to be hardwired programs built for controlling one specific machine. Of course I could be wrong in all of this; I really don't know anything about riggers.

QUOTE
sensors are a good point; i'll probably just rig the drone to my goggles (magnification, IR, low-light, ultrasound) and call it Sensor 1 or 2.

Hmm, I'm not sure if that's good enough. Sensor costs are described on p. 147 of R3, and they seem much more intricate than mere goggles. If it were me GM-ing I'd rule that you need some sort of simrig at the very least to get enough meaningful data for a drone brain..

QUOTE
rigger adaption... damn, that thing's heavy. i bet i could strap it to the Strato-9, and connect via another laserlink. no reason it has to be implanted, especially since it's specifically called a 'black box'. that would allow me to translate the neurological data provided/required by the skillwires into machine code.

Well, you're not rigger-adapting your skillwires; you're making a remote-control interface for them. Rigger adaptation is for letting a rigger jump into the machine; remote-control interfacing is the one you want for a dog brain. The Plus side is it's much lighter--negligable weight, in fact. The problem is that the design and customization specs seem to imply that you're internally rewiring things, so doing it may by necessity be internal.

Fun thing is, figuring out how do do all of this is the first step on the way to building a zombie army of remote-controlled metahuman brain puppets. biggrin.gif All you'd need to do is add all the stuff you're doing plus a data filter, and you're good to go. cyber.gif cyber.gif cyber.gif
A Clockwork Lime
The hardwire for the drone is what needs to be drone-specific, really. The software -- the drone pilot -- just requires slotting a chip and connecting the hardware interfaces. The drone just has to say "turn right" and its up to the hardware to handle turning to the right, not the drone itself. Installing a drone pilot is a Computers B/R test, not a Vehicle B/R test, using the Handling of the vehicle as the target number. It's basically the same as installing Sensors, which is just an Electronics B/R test because it's only a matter of hooking all the sensors to the onboard systems. They're no more vehicle-specific than the drone is.

There's nothing vehicle-specific about the rules. The Remote-Control Interface, however, is the one that requires both a Vehicle B/R and Electronics B/R Test, and even that isn't vehicle specific -- you just have to set the hardware up so that it controls everything on the vehicle just right.

Now the Profile Performance autosoft is vehicle-specific. It's the fine tuning to the drone pilot that allows it to use a specific vehicle with expert handling. Without it, it's just a glorified smart-frame program designed for telling hardware what to do instead of running the Matrix.
Eyeless Blond
I'm still not quite sure I follow. Just because installing a more advanced drone pilot doesn't require significant alterations to the vehicle doesn't mean the drone pilot itself isn't vehicle-specific; one doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the other. Both knowsofts and activesofts plug into the same chipjack, but that doesn't mean that they are run by the same systems. Or, to use a more contemporary example, many cars and airplanes today both have onboard computers. These computers run on the same general principles; indeed, some companies make chips for both types of vehicle. But I wouldn't expect a car's onboard computer to be compatible with an airplane, nor would I expect an airplane's onboard computer to be compatible with a car.

Or are you saying that, for instance, driving a car is so precisely the same as flying a vector-thrust aircraft that the same system can do it? If that's the case then I wonder at all the different vehicle skills there are, and why they aren't all wrapped into a single "Pilot" skill if they're all essentially the same.

I don't see how the rules back you up here. On the other hand, if you look at page 43-44, under "Pilot Ratings:
QUOTE
Pilot systems are advanced hardwired programs, tailored for each particular type of drone and built into the machine.

So, um... I'm pretty sure you're wrong here. The Performance profile autosoft that you mention, btw, described on p. 99, appears to work more like a vehicle skill specialization; the autosoft is tailored to a specific vehicle type, mush like vehicle specializations are tailored to vehicle type.

I still think this is a really cool idea, although I am pretty sure by now that you'll need to custom-build a drone Pilot for your skillwires, which could take a while.
mfb
ugh. see, a while back, i tried creating rules for drone and robot programming. i stopped when i realized that the base price for a robot-4 was cheaper than the base price for a drone-4.

on the other hand, while a drone for a car and a drone for a jet plane might not be directly interchangeable, they do cost the same, which indicates that it's probably not too difficult to reprogram one for the other.

i was going to use the rigger adaption because it says that the black box translates between neurological impulses--like what you'd get from a set of skillwires--and machine language. this seems like the easiest way, to me, to allow a drone pilot to send and recieve data from the skillwires.
Eyeless Blond
QUOTE (mfb)
ugh. see, a while back, i tried creating rules for drone and robot programming. i stopped when i realized that the base price for a robot-4 was cheaper than the base price for a drone-4.

Really? By my count a robot-4 costs at minimum 3200 design points (with additional cost for extra options), while a drone-4 costs 1250 design points. Or is my math wrong here?

QUOTE
on the other hand, while a drone for a car and a drone for a jet plane might not be directly interchangeable, they do cost the same, which indicates that it's probably not too difficult to reprogram one for the other.

Validate-8 and Attack S-8 cost the same too. Does that mean I can use Validate to take out IC? They cost the same, so they must be easily interchangable, right?

As I see it, the control programs are as different as two Activesofts for two different skills. Sure you can argue that the drone can default, but that's not nearly the same thing.

QUOTE
i was going to use the rigger adaption because it says that the black box translates between neurological impulses--like what you'd get from a set of skillwires--and machine language. this seems like the easiest way, to me, to allow a drone pilot to send and recieve data from the skillwires.

I don't even think those are close to the same thing though. Skillwires don't have anything to do with simsense; in fact; they seem almost incompatible to me. Besides, a drone can't use a rigger adaptation module anyway, so the point is moot.
Eyeless Blond
Ooooh, I think I see what you're trying to do with the rigger module. You want to wire it backwards, having the controller side plug into the skillwires and the various inputs and outputs for a vehicle be plugged into a drone pilot. That... sound really reall wierd to me. First off you're wiring the module backwards, which doesn't work for the same reason you can't display data on a keyboard. Secondly, the skillwires aren't at all equipped to handle a VCR's I/O stream, so you're kinda boned there too. Finally, the drone is going to be completely confused, because the rigger module is going to be looking for sensory output from it and expecting it to handle machine-level vehicle commands, which is what the drone is supposed to output, rather than input.
mfb
when you stat out the actual nuyen cost for a robot-4, it's less than the parts cost of a drone-4.

validate-8 and attack S-8 perform different functions. a drone pilot, no matter what vehicle, performs the same function: driving the vehicle. piloting a jet is much more complex than driving a car; if a drone-4 for a jet performed its task differently than a drone-4 for a car, then the jet's drone-4 would cost more because its job would be more complex. however, drone-4s cost the same no matter what vehicle they're installed in, ergo the task they perform must be very similar, ergo they must be fairly interchangeable.

a keyboard does not, as its basic function, enable two-way communication. a rigger module does--it transmits instructions from the rigger to the vehicle, and transmits data from the vehicle to the rigger. the module will have to be modified, of course; basically, i'll rip out the neuro/machine translator thingy and build the ports i need into it. the drone brain will send "go here" as machine language to the module; the module will convert "go here" into neurological impulses similar to a human brain's, and send that to the skillwires.
A Clockwork Lime
The problem is that robots aren't available as a customization option. It *has* to be built into the vehicle or even swapped from one to another.

But yes, you're dead on with the Drone Pilot as far as I'm concerned. Like I said earlier, it's just a smart-frame that responds to Sensor input, then sends the data for what it wants to do to the vehicle. What limited programming there is in installing one is going to be little more than putting in the vehicle specs so that it knows what it can and cannot do [which doesn't even require a Computer (Programming) Test].

Regardless, I think you're approaching this all wrong. I only browsed through most of the earlier posts, but if your goal is to basically make your body "riggable" so that while you're off in the Matrix or whatnot, it should be pretty simple to do.

Skillwires, maybe a Snake Eyes suite, and a Customized ActiveSoft (taking the place of the Remote Control Interface) specifically programmed to handle input and output from a Drone Pilot (which has no Load requirement, hinting that it's little more than a couple of chips) instead of a brain is all you really need. The ActiveSoft would be the hard part, almost definitely requiring its own unique code and a rather large multiplier. I'd put the multiplier at 7 (the standard ActiveSoft multiplier plus the Performance Profile autosoft multiplier). The rating has to meet or beat the Drone Pilot's rating; if lower, that's the max rating the Drone Pilot functions at. The Snake Eyes suite would likewise function as its Sensors.

That's where I'd start at least. No need for a Rigger Encryption Module or anything unless you wanted the meat body to be a true drone -- a very bad idea all around.
mfb
well, the protocol emu module is necessary for using my remote control complex form to control the drone(s). the snake eyes thing is probably workable, but... i dunno, not sure i could justify getting it installed in a 12-yr old kid.

the customized activesoft idea has merit, though. as it stands, i'm translating the instructions to my body three times: from mental impulse to matrix code to machine code to mental impulse. i still need some way to incorporate sensor data, since i don't want to install a snake eyes. maybe an autonav?
A Clockwork Lime
Nah, an Autonav really needs a Sensor system, too. It's just so low-grade that it doesn't even warrant a rating by the standard rules (especially since most of the input is usually coming from the GridGuide anyway)... and if you want your body to be riggable, you're going to want some decent Sensors so you know exactly what's going on around you.

About the only other option would be a pair of Cybereyes and/or Cyberears routed to the Skillwires. Maybe getting enough memory for the Skillwires to handle a variant of the Clearsight autosoft (just add another +3 Multiplier) and use its Rating in place of the Sensors? I dunno.
mfb
i was thinking about one of those cybernetically-controlled cameras from Shadowbeat.
Eyeless Blond
QUOTE (mfb @ Apr 20 2004, 07:42 PM)
the customized activesoft idea has merit, though. as it stands, i'm translating the instructions to my body three times: from mental impulse to matrix code to machine code to mental impulse. i still need some way to incorporate sensor data, since i don't want to install a snake eyes. maybe an autonav?

External simrig I'd say, at the very least. Your body uses a lot of different senses and motor neurons just to keep itself balanced, let alone move: pressure sensors in your feet, legs and hips, balance coordination in your inner ear, etc etc. Without all of that data any drone pilot somply wouldn't know if you are teetering on one foot, standing on both feet or on your butt.

QUOTE (ACL)
But yes, you're dead on with the Drone Pilot as far as I'm concerned. Like I said earlier, it's just a smart-frame that responds to Sensor input, then sends the data for what it wants to do to the vehicle. What limited programming there is in installing one is going to be little more than putting in the vehicle specs so that it knows what it can and cannot do [which doesn't even require a Computer (Programming) Test].

Well, that's all spot-on, except for the part where it directly contradicts all the cannon rules on the subject (pl 43-44 Rigger 3). Logically it doesn't make much sense either. If driving a car and flying a plane are so similar that you can simply swap in and out various vehicle schematics and you're good to go, then why are there seperate, mutually exclusive Vehicle skills? Or, if this caveat only applies to software and not wetware, why can I not just buy a Fixed-Wing Activesoft for my character and use it to drive a car with no penalty?

QUOTE (mfb)
a keyboard does not, as its basic function, enable two-way communication. a rigger module does--it transmits instructions from the rigger to the vehicle, and transmits data from the vehicle to the rigger. the module will have to be modified, of course; basically, i'll rip out the neuro/machine translator thingy and build the ports i need into it. the drone brain will send "go here" as machine language to the module; the module will convert "go here" into neurological impulses similar to a human brain's, and send that to the skillwires.

Changing the rigger adaptation module would similarly require a much more massive overhaul than suggested. You're basically going from translating motor neuron data to machine code output and machine code input to sensory data output to translating sendory data input to machine code output and machine code input to motor data output. The two operations are completely different functions, ones that are not necessarily invertable. Even further, the rigger module isn't even designed to create direct nervous output, but rather simsense which is interpreted by a VCR. To put it simply, the rigger module is not built to stimulate *any* nerves at all, and certainly can't be expected to know how to stimulate motor neurons which work completely differently from the sensory neurons that they are designed to emulate in the first place.

The nervous system is a very complicated thing. Fooling the brain into "feeling" a pinprick whenever you hit a wall with a car is a completely different operation than making thousands of muscles twitch in the right order to keep yourself balanced on rollerskates.
mfb
the module doesn't have to do that, though. it just has to tell the skillwires to do it.

translation is necessarily two-way. if a=b, then b=a.

it's not that flying a plane and driving a car are similar. it's that the tasks a drone pilot performs are similar, when flying a plane or driving a car. collatting sensory data, calculating current speed, determining the optimal path between obstacles--stuff like that doesn't vary. what varies is how the vehicle is controlled; for a non-rigger, that means learning how much to turn the steering wheel on your car, or what the function of each button is in a jet's cockpit. for a rigger, or a drone, it's simply a matter of doing it. this is supported by the fact that a rigger can default to Rea on any vehicle with, at worst, a total modifier (before outside factors) of +0 (+2 TN for defaulting, -2 TN for VCR-1).
Eyeless Blond
Well, first off translation is not necessarily two-way (ever play with Babblefish?). If it were then RSA encryption would be impossible. Secondly, rigger adaptation hardware isn't equipped to deal with motor nerves at all, or even deal with nerves at all. It deals with simsense, which is entirely different. Thirdly, you are forgetting that a rigger adaptation module relies on the VCR to do most of this translation; without a VCR (and a person's midbrain hooked up *to* the VCR) you're transmitting the rigger-equivalent of ASSIST signals, which is closer to simsense shorthand. No way are skillwires going to be able to interpret that, even assuming it were possible to derive an inverse function from a black-box function by running the current backwards.

Familiarity with a particular vehicle's controls is covered by a +1 modifier; defaulting to Reaction is something else entirely. Indeed, the drone does *not* tell the car to "just go". It has to control the vehicle and tell it precisely *how* to go, just like any normal driver. The only difference between a drone's command of the vehicle and a metahuman's is that the drone has much more precise controls; they can regulate the fuel/oxygen mixture going into the combustion chamber or the degree of rotation of the tires/wings muh more accurately than the guy pushing on a pedal. But this doesn't make it any easier to determine how much gas to give the engine, or how fast or slow to turn, or anything else.

Riggers get their +2 when defaulting exactly because of their VCR implant. The VCR does some wierd magic in the midbrain which allows the sensory data from the vehicle to process faster, allowing the rigger easier control over the vehicle. Airplane drones don't have VCRs, so they can't default to Reaction to drive a car more easily. They don't have Reaction either, so it doesn't matter either way.

Besides, we all know the real reason a rigger can default so easily with vehicle skills is because making a drone rigger would be a pain in the ass if he couldn't, and that has nothing at all to do with the drone. biggrin.gif
Eyeless Blond
This is all of course all beside the fact that, as per canon rules, drone pilots are tailored to their specific vehicle type (see above quote), which kinda makes this discussion irrelevant unless we're talking about a house rule.
mfb
bah. the system is ridiculous, no matter how you look at it. the rigger module is described as a black box which translates neurological impulses to machine language--yet, mysteriously, you still need a VCR to use it. a drone for a jet plane is no more complex than a drone for a car--yet, mysteriously, you can't flop one out for the other. defaulting from the Car skill to the Bike skill offers the same TN penalty as default from either to the Fixed-Wing Aircraft skill. all of it, from start to finish, is insane.

back to the subject at hand. i route my skillwires--with their custom-progged athletics (rollerblade) skillsoft/performance profile autosoft hybrid--to my datajack, which is linked via external router to the drone in my backpack, which is linked to my external simrig. the drone is controlled, through my rigger protocol emu module (also linked to my datajack; external routers are non-canon but great) by my remote control complex form. the drone uses my sensorium as its sensor input, and directs my body's movements via the hybrid skill/autosoft. workable?
BitBasher
There's some real bad logic here, which I will address.

QUOTE
bah. the system is ridiculous, no matter how you look at it. the rigger module is described as a black box which translates neurological impulses to machine language--yet, mysteriously, you still need a VCR to use it.

Maybe the VCR is necessary to translate it back to machine language for the body to interpret, and it won't work without a loop for the circuit. This explanation works fine, and seems to be supported by the description.

QUOTE
a drone for a jet plane is no more complex than a drone for a car--yet, mysteriously, you can't flop one out for the other.

A simple airplane is not inherintly more complicated that a modern car. This does not mean the car can fly. Inherent complexities are a bad basis for comparison, because they can be equally complex but do totally different things. A TI pocket calculator is more complicated than a pacemaker but that has nothing to do with whether you can substitute the two. Likewise a program for a mac is as complicated as a program for an old amiga. The list goes on and on. It's not a valid point of comparison.

QUOTE
defaulting from the Car skill to the Bike skill offers the same TN penalty as default from either to the Fixed-Wing Aircraft skill. all of it, from start to finish, is insane.
Thats because inherintly operating one is not really more difficult than the others after a certain amoung of learning. in reality, helicopters without computer controlled autorotation and motorcycles IMHO should be harder, but it's all relative.

QUOTE
back to the subject at hand. i route my skillwires--with their custom-progged athletics (rollerblade) skillsoft/performance profile autosoft hybrid--to my datajack, which is linked via external router to the drone in my backpack, which is linked to my external simrig. the drone is controlled, through my rigger protocol emu module (also linked to my datajack; external routers are non-canon but great) by my remote control complex form. the drone uses my sensorium as its sensor input, and directs my body's movements via the hybrid skill/autosoft. workable?

No, because I dont believe theres any canon rules for creating an autosoft, which is similar to but not the same as a skillsoft.
mfb
i'm assuming you meant "translate it back into neurological data". this is redundant, though; you've already got a machine that translates from neuro to machine; why not just use the same machine to translate from machine to neuro?

pilots go to school for months or years, and retrain constantly. i'm not sure how to answer your claim that planes and cars are equally complex, except to say that it's pretty silly. it's also a moot point: drones don't need to be reprogrammed if your vehicle is modified. if i slap a gun onto my vehicle and wire it to the drone, the drone can fire the gun with no problem; if i update the sensors, the drone uses them just fine; if i replace the engine with a customized, supercharged hybrid, add enviroseal, attach three arms, and turn my Porsche into a submersible, the drone pilot functions just as effectively as it ever did, and magically gains the functionality needed to control its new features. given the high level of adaptability inherent in drone pilot programming, i have a hard time imagining that it's very difficult to re-program one to pilot a different vehicle.

as for creating new autosofts, *shrug*. i'm extrapolating, here; there are rules for creating programs and skillsofts, there are rules for programming new copies of existing autosofts, ergo it's possible to create new autosofts.
Eyeless Blond
The fact that planes are harder to handle than cars is reflected in the higher Handling TNs of planes (3-4 as opposed to 4-5). This is essentially irrelevant to the discussion of whether or not drone pilots are interchangable. The issue here is that your definition flies directly in the face of the (IMO perfectly reasonable) definition imposed by the canon rules. If you want to house-rule it you're perfectly welcome to, but note that it *is* a house-rule, and one that others here won't agree with.
(EDIT): And even if we were to assume that drone pilots somehow automagically knew how to drive any vehicle, even those they weren't designed for, we're still stuck with the fact that "driving" a human body is exponentially more complex than driving any car or plane. Cars and planes have between 3 and 20 analogue and digital controls, and sensory inputs from possibly several dozen different places. The human body has *thousands* of nerves and muscles, both sensory and motor, all of which must be carefully controlled to keep a hman upright, let alone zooming down corridors.

I still maintain that my extrapolation is easier: just install a remote control interface in your skillwires! You're already making the assumption that skillwires work in the same capacity as a vehicle anyway--you're attempting to add rigger adaptation to the 'wires, which can only be done to a vehicle per canon rules. If you just add in a remote control interface you get the drone included for "free", don't have to worry about CF, don't have to worry about some rigger somewhere "jumping" into you and riding you like a horse, and don't have to worry about rules for some sort of custom autosoft/skillsoft/datasoft amalgom-thing that isn't even close to any part of the canon rules. The only possible problems with the plan are: 1) Your GM not allowing you to upgrade your 'wires as a vehicle, or 2) requiring you to have Sensors installed in your body, meaning that you'd have to make that Simrig internal. Both possible objections are shared by your proposal, but the difference is mine has no other objections, wheras yous has a host of them, many brought up in the thread above.
Lilt
If there is an issue is getting a pilot capible of steering you properly then why not get an anthroform pilot? They are capible of piloting a craft that is approximately the same shape as you for starters. You can pick-up a rating 2 one for 5k.

As for getting the robot to pilot you through your skillwires: What you really want to do is to connect-up the 3 channels needed to rig. Simsense, Command, and System. Simsense you are choosing to do via a helmet. The command chanel is the one you want to connect to the skillwires. The system channel ensures network integrity and carries auxiliary data (Smartlink, Indirect fire data, ETC).

All 3 connections will probably need to be routed through a Rigger Protocol Emulation Module (P25 M&M, P98 R3), and this is probably all that's needed for the System chanel (A connection to your Smartlink if you had one would allow use of it through the network). This leaves the command chanel, which may be as simple to get working as a wire from the Rigger Protocol Emulation Module to the skillwires. It depends on if/how much the GM wants to screw-about with you.
mfb
my contention is that the core of any drone pilot is essentially the same, which handily explains why you can customize your vehicle to hell and back, and not worry about whether your drone can still deal with it. re-read that quote from pg 43 of R3--it says drones are tailored for each type of drone. one of the several definitions of "tailor" is to take a pre-existing item and alter it to suit an individual. given the proven adaptability of drone pilots, that seems like the most appropriate definition.

i'm already talking about using an RC interface with my wires--you can't have a drone with out an RC interface. whether i rip it out of the Strato-9 or just buy the parts, i'm still dealing with the same issues: namely, how to get the drone to link up with my skillwires. on closer examination of the walker/anthroform rules, i think i might agree that an anthroform drone brain could interface with an athletics skillsoft with little modification. there's gotta be some modification, because an autosoft interpretation system is can't read or use regular activesofts--that's why Clockwork's hybrid skillsoft/autosoft idea appeals.
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