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Guys enough with the mech's thats not what we're talking about.
Guys enough with the mech's thats not what we're talking about.
Maybe not, but it's related to the subject matter, as you know if they could make power suits, they would eventually make mechs to replace things like tanks, artillery, etc etc.Originally Posted by muttbutt
And to answer your other question - To build big, it's best to start small. If they make the man sized suits, and can work out all the bugs and such, then they can start going bigger and bigger working on those same principles.
Mechs are pure fantasy that only work when fighting other mechs. First of all, we have enough difficulty getting a bipedal robot the size of a child to walk as sufficiently as a human, imagine trying to get a 4+ story mech to do the same thing effectively. Second is that a mech would ultimately end up as a bullet/missile sponge, as any conventional enemy (aircraft, tanks, soldiers with AT weaponry, etc.) could fire at it and be assured that the mech would be hit and damaged. So no, we're not gonna see Gundams in the future.
Human-sized powered armor, on the other hand, is plausible and useful in battle because they are an agumentation of what a soldier can already do. All you need is an exoskeleton to build around and you have your very own Master Chief.
It's related, but we're just working on the power armour first, the 80 foot bladewinds can wait
maybe, but to try and fix everything into the smallest package posssible right at the start seems to be an awkward way to go, why not go a little bigger then worry about Miniaturization
I dont think so. Look at thoese Gundams,Theyre like 60-70 ft scale size to people. I think they would make excellent replacement for Tanks and Artillery.
See my other post why not.
The powered exoskeleton even seems too big.
Macross fan,eh?
That and Ghost in the Shell.
Not really, you see a 60 foot mech walking down the street, he's going to attract all kinds of fires, fast air, arty, anti armour, unless the thing has some sort of super battle ship armour it's dead....cool yes, practical no I'm afraid
Honestly,I think ur right to a certain extent about Mechas being sorta pointless. I mean when I thought about a Tomahawk Missle or soemthing like that,It would suck being the Pilot. I think Macross are more realistic in tha thteir faster and more agile.
Landmates are pretty cool too.
Fuchikoma would be pretty awesome in action.
Masumune Shirow is amazing.
Last edited by PsychoMantis; 06-01-2007 at 10:48 PM.
The Square-Cube Law, among other concerns.
The bigger it gets, the heavier it gets (and -not- in a 1:1 ratio), the stronger its structural material must be (and most of the currently available and feasible "stronger" materials are -denser-, adding even more mass) and the more power it takes to move it.
Currently, you go more than slightly larger than a human frame and you don't have the energy density (battery or engine) needed to match the increase. We're having a fun time just powering a ~2m suit for any reasonable length of time.
Lastly, control systems. A man-sized suit can follow natural biomechanical motions of the wearer. Larger systems need an entirely artificial system of control (DNI, HOTAS, pedals, XBOX controller, whatever), which no one has really come up with yet.
A more distant, yet real, concern is that a larger (say, 3-4m) system would attract direct fire from weapons it cannot resist. No forseeable power armor could defeat a direct RPG strike, or even 12.7mm fire. You have to stay in the size range that can resist small arms (5.56-7.62mm.....maybe) and small blast/frag effects from near misses, but is still small and nimble enough to take cover from heavier weapons.
Landmates are on the near edge of realistic (ICE powerplant, mimics wearers motions, etc). Except for the flying ones.
Might have something to do with Shirow being an engineering student at first.
Makes sense, thanks for clearing that up for me.
Actually much as i hate all that cartoon sh!t there IS a point in going bigger....
Active defense systems - there on the cusp of being manadatory in tanks and AFV's...
If trophy weighs 300kg and can defeat a RPG....what might a 4th/5th generation of something like Trophy weigh and be able to defeat?
There are bigger systems now which proport to being able to defeat mortars and artillery....
Still you got to get round the question why are you sticking all this stuff into a TALL human like figure....extra tall for extra field of view (afterall your active defense should stop most attacks), defeating road mines by using legs etcetc.... still seems a little weak reasonwise to make things tall and human like. Though IF it was possible engineering wise biped should = extra mobility.
The damn thing would prolly be able to cloak to visible light as well...
LOL i should write sci-fi.....
Still havent worked around the propullsion and structural engineering problems but who knows in 30-40-50 years time....
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