Re: [GZG] Gzg-l Digest, Vol 35, Issue 10

With rapid advances in medical technology, my hope is that John lives
a life happy and long enough to prove him wrong on this.

WRT the substance of his argument, I think I'll start by pointing out
that the links he quoted for optical image stabilization directly
support autostabilized lasers, since you could move either the emitter
or the laser in whatever manner was most efficient. Recoil for a laser
isn't an issue, obviously.

For mini-missiles and plasma weapons, these are sufficiently
speculative that they're largely PSB to begin with. Additional PSB to
justify stabilization isn't that much of a stretch once you've
accepted the weapon itself.

OK so that leaves conventional firearms. I'm proposing two possible
forms of autostabilization. First, allowing the barrel to be moved
slightly within the body of the rifle, then controlling this by
computer to maintain or alleviate instability. John, you say this
isn't physically possible even in science fiction, which is a pretty
wild claim. Certainly nothing I've seen in physics suggests it. The
computers and sensor systems already exist, as evidenced above. The
only question is whether mechanical controls small, strong and agile
enough can be fabricated. It's been a few years since I took physics,
but I don't see why this isn't a possibility. As you point out, even a
few degrees makes a big difference downrange.

The other strategy is what I'd call "fire-by-wire", where you
de-couple the mechanical connection between trigger and firearm. The
gun is free to fire when the trigger is depressed, but will only
actually fire at the moment when the barrel is aimed at the selected
target. Computers that fast and compact are already in use, though the
image recognition isn't there yet. Presumably countermeasures might be
invented, but those would have nothing to do with the shooter's motion
and everything to do with the target's countermeasures.

The two strategies are complementary. As the soldier runs, his gun
bouncing around, the computer is watching the cone of possible shots
(defined by the freedom of movement of the barrel) bounce around as
well. When it sees a shot coming, it moves the barrel. When it sees
the opportunity, it fires. The result would be an irregular, staccato
pattern of single shots. The rifleman might actually be better off
letting the gun wave around in the general direction of his target on
purpose to give his battle computer more chances to fire.

While I'm typing this, Allan's email came in, and he's right to point
out that this is very plausible and mundane compared to such staples
of the setting such as grav, FTL and out-of-the-box habitable worlds,
neither of which are remotely possible according to physics as we know
them.

Rob

On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 4:46 PM, Indy <indy.kochte@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ah, John John John. It's too bad neither of us will be around long
enough to
> see this discussion become moot by advances in technology. :-D
>
> Mk
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