GALRT Prostethics
Reviews from a newspaper article that sought statements from customers.
So sleek, smooth, comfortable!
Adjustable settings for your walking, running, or working needs, Comfort on demand!
Solid, strong and durable Dwarven craftsmanship!
The absolute latest in Chy-mech fuel cell storage and efficiency!! Cost effective and efficient!!
200 Gold Crowns for a leg, 250 Gold Crowns for an arm. 100 Crowns for a foot, 150 Crowns for a hand. Payment plans available!
Company Disclaimer: Giudarak and Giudarak Machinists make no guarantees about the physician doing the install, in regards to comfort, fit, or safety of assembly/settings. Always calibrate your GALRT every morning. WARNING: Fuel used is highly flammable and combustible. Keep away from exceedingly high temperatures, fires, and large quantities of flammable material. The following activities will NOT be covered under our guarantees;
Getting shot, Pissing off your local pyromancer, Welding, Working a forge, Working in MCPC assembly, Working with fire, Using a torch or lantern, smoking, open fire cooking, getting RAESPed, being outside during a storm producing lightning, or using candles.
Utility
It is used to well...return to as close to a normal life as possible. To walk, to complete any number of dozens of tasks. GALRT's are used in a variety of fields by a wide variety of individuals. Its discovery was because of a desire to solve an obvious problem. There are cases of misuse, of course, and cases of great injury, particularly with legs, by people whom fail to remember or listen to the installing experts measurement for their stride length, and attempt to calibrate it at a higher rate thinking "Then I could move faster!"
No. Then you can dislocate your limb, or worse. There have been fractures, even a couple full on shattered hips from such fool activities.
No. Then you can dislocate your limb, or worse. There have been fractures, even a couple full on shattered hips from such fool activities.
Manufacturing
The process is really no different than any other complex machining operation, yet very different. The housing must be constructed carefully, each piece of the frame carefully measured, the tension controlled leaf springs and coils of the joints cast of the correct steels and rigorously tested before recieving approval for use in a GALRT. The measurements are key here, working within the barest fractions of centimeters. This is in part because every one to some level needs to be dealt with uniquely when it comes to these internal components. Externally, there is more...forgiveness, more ability to salvage pieces of the frame, especially ones made to big. Giudarak standards state that no internal part can be off by more than 1/100th of a centimeter for safety, although with the dwarf not patenting his technology, there are impersonators with far less vigorous or safe standards, whom simply charge less. However their lower standards do result in a more dangerous and lesser quality item of course.
Parent Technologies
Access & Availability
Though expensive, Giudarak's inventions saw him paid lucratively by the Suranthi government, so long as they had first crack at any updated or improved models in for five decades, a reasonable term for dwarven time sensibilities. Which does make sense, after all one of the more common jobs for loss of limb (and life but that is of no consequence to this discussion) would be loss of limb.
Their price would seem out of the reach of many, but Giudarak Machinist Industries has found a novel and new age solution, opening the door to a whole new methodology. He is willing to accept but a very small piece of what he should be owed, and work out a payment schedule that fits your ability and career. The whole goal of this technology after all is to get injured men and women back into the work force, back into society.
Their price would seem out of the reach of many, but Giudarak Machinist Industries has found a novel and new age solution, opening the door to a whole new methodology. He is willing to accept but a very small piece of what he should be owed, and work out a payment schedule that fits your ability and career. The whole goal of this technology after all is to get injured men and women back into the work force, back into society.
"Ach o' course I let t'e poor and destitute 'ave loans man, ya daft?! Tis literally t'e point o' me creation. Ta try an' avoid t'at strain bein' so heavy on society's efficiency, ta try and let people recover and remain contributers an' keep their quality o' life even after such an injury. 'ow ye supposin' I do t'at if I nae willin' ta work with those o' limited fiscal viability in one way or another. So ye can take yer coin an' shove it up yer arse. I won't sell!"
Giudarak telling off a human noble trying to buy out the dwarf, for his greedy vision for the invention."
Complexity
These innovative pieces of technology are quite complex in their design. But in general one can understand the basic considerations the overall technology better examining it in two sub-categories as will be highlighted here;
Legs/Feet: So the first thing to note is that as one might expect the more joints required to be articulated the harder and more complex the construction. In the case of a leg or a foot, the design is actually rather simple to explain, just complex to build. The basic engine is contained within the limb, along with its fuel canister. In the case of a foot, due to the small size of piston one can get away with, the fuel canister is smaller, and therefore less risky in general. But be it just the foot, the leg up to the knee, or all the way up to just below the hip, the design remains the same. The toes are not articulated, ever, and though this can be of a mild detriment, it is not that noticeable and quick to get used too. As with all GALRT's, there is a calibration dial to dictate how much power and fuel one needs to burn each time they stride. Basically what is your movement pace. The dial is measured in specific output of comfortable stride length, in increments of five centimetres per marked setting (though you can set the dial between two marks) and goes as high as 200 centimetres. This is where the warning about potential dislocation, detachment, or other injury comes in. Over the course of a day of use, with no terrain being perfectly square and level, it will slowly fall out of calibration, and that dial will slowly deviate. This is why one must calibrate every day. Legs and feet work off a basic pressure plate system, though inverted. When your weight is upon the limb, it is at rest. As you try and lift, releasing the sensitive pressure plate, the fuel, a carefully measured mix of fortified whale oil and coal dust, will be fed into the piston chamber in a precise measurement based on the calibrated setting, the piston will push down rapidly, igniting the fuel, creating a rebounding force that pushes it up, that force so great that it lifts your limb on pace with you. The fuel cannister holds an average (at a stride of 100 centimetres, or one meter) of eight hours worth of fuel. That is eight hours of straight walking. Other than this, the knee and ankle joints, as applicable, also have their own pistons and fuel draw tied to the motions as well. Pivoting is more difficult to control, but the knee and ankle 'joints' do come with an adjustable dial to alter how much rotation they are capable of, and it is a mere matter of utilizing the gases produced when the fuel is burned, which are captured and pressurized by an internal high pressure system, and vented to allow such rotation as one attempts it. All this is encased in a sound framework of quality steel, and attached to you how one might expect a prostethic to be, that is it straps or buckles to you.
Hands/Arms: Here however, is where things get far more complex. The basic principles still apply as they do with the legs, but that is barring the pressure mechanism. Instead a far more dangerous process needs to be undertaken by the patient. They need not just a doctor, but a skilled Meanma magister to partake in the surgical installation, hence the price jump. This magister will weave powerful spells, altered slightly in their original arts, to allow your body to....for want of a better term, permanently 'plug in' your nervous system to this machine, the complex wiring giving you a...mediocre simulation of actually having your arm again. The largest issue of course is the calibration of the fingers, wrist and if required, elbow joints, in that unlike legs, these joints settings may need to be adjusted far more often, especially the fingers and all their little joints. However with practice, one can become quite efficient, for the secret, as Giudarak will tell anyone, is to do as much as you can at the settings your on before adjusting, so ideally you don't need to adjust back to a setting configuration you'd already used. Project management, thats the key. Giudarak himself has one of these, a relatively recent change, only the last three decades or so, after a lab accident cost him his left arm just past the elbow.
Legs/Feet: So the first thing to note is that as one might expect the more joints required to be articulated the harder and more complex the construction. In the case of a leg or a foot, the design is actually rather simple to explain, just complex to build. The basic engine is contained within the limb, along with its fuel canister. In the case of a foot, due to the small size of piston one can get away with, the fuel canister is smaller, and therefore less risky in general. But be it just the foot, the leg up to the knee, or all the way up to just below the hip, the design remains the same. The toes are not articulated, ever, and though this can be of a mild detriment, it is not that noticeable and quick to get used too. As with all GALRT's, there is a calibration dial to dictate how much power and fuel one needs to burn each time they stride. Basically what is your movement pace. The dial is measured in specific output of comfortable stride length, in increments of five centimetres per marked setting (though you can set the dial between two marks) and goes as high as 200 centimetres. This is where the warning about potential dislocation, detachment, or other injury comes in. Over the course of a day of use, with no terrain being perfectly square and level, it will slowly fall out of calibration, and that dial will slowly deviate. This is why one must calibrate every day. Legs and feet work off a basic pressure plate system, though inverted. When your weight is upon the limb, it is at rest. As you try and lift, releasing the sensitive pressure plate, the fuel, a carefully measured mix of fortified whale oil and coal dust, will be fed into the piston chamber in a precise measurement based on the calibrated setting, the piston will push down rapidly, igniting the fuel, creating a rebounding force that pushes it up, that force so great that it lifts your limb on pace with you. The fuel cannister holds an average (at a stride of 100 centimetres, or one meter) of eight hours worth of fuel. That is eight hours of straight walking. Other than this, the knee and ankle joints, as applicable, also have their own pistons and fuel draw tied to the motions as well. Pivoting is more difficult to control, but the knee and ankle 'joints' do come with an adjustable dial to alter how much rotation they are capable of, and it is a mere matter of utilizing the gases produced when the fuel is burned, which are captured and pressurized by an internal high pressure system, and vented to allow such rotation as one attempts it. All this is encased in a sound framework of quality steel, and attached to you how one might expect a prostethic to be, that is it straps or buckles to you.
Hands/Arms: Here however, is where things get far more complex. The basic principles still apply as they do with the legs, but that is barring the pressure mechanism. Instead a far more dangerous process needs to be undertaken by the patient. They need not just a doctor, but a skilled Meanma magister to partake in the surgical installation, hence the price jump. This magister will weave powerful spells, altered slightly in their original arts, to allow your body to....for want of a better term, permanently 'plug in' your nervous system to this machine, the complex wiring giving you a...mediocre simulation of actually having your arm again. The largest issue of course is the calibration of the fingers, wrist and if required, elbow joints, in that unlike legs, these joints settings may need to be adjusted far more often, especially the fingers and all their little joints. However with practice, one can become quite efficient, for the secret, as Giudarak will tell anyone, is to do as much as you can at the settings your on before adjusting, so ideally you don't need to adjust back to a setting configuration you'd already used. Project management, thats the key. Giudarak himself has one of these, a relatively recent change, only the last three decades or so, after a lab accident cost him his left arm just past the elbow.
Discovery
No one really knows what inspired Bavik Pilanmac Giudarak's bold new idea and approach, or why he even saw to see this problem in the medical field, which as an engineer, was arguably outside his field of expertise. To hear the dwarf himself tell it, he felt it a shameful waste on all sides to have men and women losing their ability to partake in such large parts of society because of a mere 'lost limb'. This is especially true in the case of those whom lost it fighting for their home and the Suranthi people. So he set out to do something about it. The current models still have hefty limitations, but he is hard at work trying to find a way to provide a more.....useable design, whilst cutting enough weight to insure it is still practical and affordable. Affordable is the key one of course. He also is seeking ways to lower the cost of construction, as one should, to try and pass along savings to the people. He has not patented his design, further encouraging others whom think they can handle the challenge to try. As Giudarak himself puts it.
The main component that allowed this technology is the advent of the age of steam power. The steam engine, at its core, is where this journey began, and is the key shoulders of a fellow giant in the fields of technology that Giudarak has stood upon the shoulders of.
"W'at need I 'ave fer some manling paper? Me people know, an' besides! I nae want it ta be illegal ta try and copy me. In fact, I encourage any of me rivals an' equals in t'e field ta try, an' what more, try an' do better. Try an' make 'em more affordable, whilst sacrificin' nae quality. I no coward man. I welcome t'e competition.
The main component that allowed this technology is the advent of the age of steam power. The steam engine, at its core, is where this journey began, and is the key shoulders of a fellow giant in the fields of technology that Giudarak has stood upon the shoulders of.
Nice article. I especially like the user experience / instructions part with all that can go wrong :p The sidebar is a bit long though. You could consider moving some stuff around to either make it the same length or get rid of the sidebar and make your own column :)
That second one is my plan and what I'd like to do. Basically move those headers out of the sidebars. Not sure how best to do it cause I'll be honest there is no direct function to make your own column and I'm not sure how to go about it with CSS.
And thank you :) I'm glad you like it and yeah I thought that disclaimer and the user experience/instructions part was just a great touch to have. Makes it feel more....fun. and dangerous. And I do like dangerous
Ooohhh, and now I learned a thing!!! Thank you!!! :D I will likely apply tonight or tomorrow. Gotta work on my Hospice for Lost Minds