OMG! Battle Mechs are Real!

[Kyriakos]

Oh, let's face it. We should scale up Big Dog, and put a turret/cockpit on it!

Which looks rather hugely exposed to anything having large fire-power anyway...

(not that this is the worst of its problems, the elephant would likely die from the heat of that metallic layer covering it).

 

[gay_Aleks]

Like all things in life, WH4Ok has a solution. The Orks have you covered!

 

[Timsup2nothin]

@ Tim :
Not sure what you meant ? Maybe there was a twist of irony there ?
Surely an Operating System could compensate for the machine not having quite the human form.

As you shorten the links in the operating system the closer you can get the controlled form to the form originally designed to be controlled the better. Even mechanically it is easier and faster to aim a "weapon arm" than a turret mount, though the weapon arm is much more complicated to build. Better to intercept the incredibly complex impulses that control bipedal movement and USE them than to spend time translating them to control belts and rotors. If your goal is a minimal response time neural control system then leaving out the "interpreter" stages may be desirable, despite the more complex construction.

 

[Commodore]

Then they would have to be really short legs, no? Otherwise any part continuously cut enough to render the leg useless would effectively have turned your 100 million mecha into garbage or at best a sort of immobile artillery piece waiting to be blown to bits with the new hit. In a tank you won't render it immobile if you just destroy any minor part of the system of treads (which itself would need huge precision anyway, unless you are using an anti-tank mine or something). The treads are virtually not exposed at all even for a hit, let alone the armor being directly covering them from above and all other directions not being even visible.

True, which is why I don't see mechs being a true replacement for tanks, but rather a specialized weapon system to bring tank-level firepower into rough terrain. I don't think mechs would ever be produced in the same numbers that tanks are and would probably be useful as a heavy fire support option for special operations forces or any other force that might need heavy firepower but would be impractical to deploy tanks.

 

[BornInCantaloup]

If your goal is a minimal response time neural control system then leaving out the "interpreter" stages may be desirable, despite the more complex construction.

^Understood. I suppose it makes sense


Although... wouldn't you need some very high velocity for it to matter ? Like when we do space combat ?

 

[El_Machinae]

This is Big Dog

 

[The_J]

Never realized it, but bigger and with guns it'll make a nice AT-AT.

 

[thecrazyscot]

Like all things in life, WH4Ok has a solution. The Orks have you covered!

And, it must be painted red.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Fits the tvtrope "awesome, but impractical". I can see some large human-like robot arms having some space applications maybe, but not a full mecha as such. Even if you could mass produce markedly superior versions of these, how would they hold up to an RPG, anti-tank mine, artillery fire, or missiles markedly better than a tank?

Sure a "neural interface" might allow them ever-so-slightly faster reaction times, if the opposition doesn't find a way to trivially neuter that advantage.

Anime mecha usually find some way of adding a sci-fi (or more rarely, some kind of magic) element to the things so that conventional arms don't just blow them to smithereens and weaken the plot significance of the pilots . If these mechs had "energy shields" that could survive explosions, could flip through the air, go into space (and fast!) and back without issue, or turn invisible then yes they'd be more appealing than tanks lol. But I bet we could make invisible tanks if we could make invisible mechs, and remote-controlled tanks at that!

I forget the book I read, but one of them had a sci-fi take on "neural interface" that allowed for *remote-controlled* mechs, but where the usage and especially losing the mech took an emotional toll on the pilots such that they had high suicide rates and abnormal empathy with the machine. That was a pretty interesting way to approach it.

 

[Takhisis]

*Summons Perfection to thread*

 

[Commodore]

Fits the tvtrope "awesome, but impractical". I can see some large human-like robot arms having some space applications maybe, but not a full mecha as such. Even if you could mass produce markedly superior versions of these, how would they hold up to an RPG, anti-tank mine, artillery fire, or missiles markedly better than a tank?

Sure a "neural interface" might allow them ever-so-slightly faster reaction times, if the opposition doesn't find a way to trivially neuter that advantage.

Anime mecha usually find some way of adding a sci-fi (or more rarely, some kind of magic) element to the things so that conventional arms don't just blow them to smithereens and weaken the plot significance of the pilots . If these mechs had "energy shields" that could survive explosions, could flip through the air, go into space (and fast!) and back without issue, or turn invisible then yes they'd be more appealing than tanks lol. But I bet we could make invisible tanks if we could make invisible mechs, and remote-controlled tanks at that!

I forget the book I read, but one of them had a sci-fi take on "neural interface" that allowed for *remote-controlled* mechs, but where the usage and especially losing the mech took an emotional toll on the pilots such that they had high suicide rates and abnormal empathy with the machine. That was a pretty interesting way to approach it.

You know, people said tanks and warplanes were impractical when they were first invented as well....

It also seems you are arguing as to why mechs would not be a suitable replacement for tanks. On that we agree, which is why I already addressed what role a mech could possibly fill in future militaries.

 

[Perfection]

*Summons Perfection to thread*

Hi.

One step closer to the extinction of the human species, I approve!

 

[gay_Aleks]

And, it must be painted red.

But of course.

 

[Kyriakos]

^So how exactly does the driver there control how that thing moves?

 

[bhavv]

Related:


Link to video.

 

[thecrazyscot]

^So how exactly does the driver there control how that thing moves?

Given that they're Orks, I would guess they don't really. Not that they particularly care who it squishes...the more the merrier for them.

 

[Formaldehyde]

A cinch strap would be my bet. It is what motivates bulls and horses to vigorously move at rodeos.

 

[El_Machinae]

I keep hoping someone will be curious enough about turning fishing line into artificial muscle (and type 3 levers) to invent something that will cause more people to consider the technology. Then eventually we'll get real exoskeletons

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I keep hoping someone will be curious enough about turning fishing line into artificial muscle (and type 3 levers) to invent something that will cause more people to consider the technology. Then eventually we'll get real exoskeletons

I'm curious. Maybe not curious enough, but definitely curious.

 

[El_Machinae]

I think it requires people to read a couple articles about the topic (that's what, 15 min?) and then look at a photo of a type 3 lever to understand the potential. This is high-school-shop levels of technology, but as a motive source it's completely untapped.

Look up there at these robots, it's all hydraulics and pneumatics. Those are mature technologies. Artificial muscle would be an entirely new field of innovation. It just requires a couple minor 'Eureka!' moments, a few tiny inventions, and then the entire field could take off. There are likely a gazillion places where artificial muscle would be better than pneumatics, or that could benefit from the smaller size.