Construction Loader Robot Takes Cues From Aliens

[Amnestic]

Because of this [http://www.mahq.net/Mecha/Gundam/msgundam/rx-78-2.jpg], this [http://starsmedia.ign.com/stars/image/article/831/831290/aliens-ripley-powerloader_1193711350.jpg] and this. [http://www.foolyou.net/topics/home01/home01_0380.jpg]

Boys and their mass murder machines toys. There's nothing not cool about combat mecha.

In fition, sure. But I'd hate to see modern armies with mecha...

Even if they reduce casualty rates? Fielding a squad of ten hewge mecha to control a town poses less risk to your armed forces than fielding two battallions of foot soldiers with variable vehicle support.

Heck, if we just get a few of those Matrix APU's, they could stand in for ten foot soldiers a piece.

 

[Anarchemitis]

I work with a powered jack at a warehouse, and something like this would kick awesome. So much easier than a walkie skid.

And I really anticipate the days when legéd machinery overtakes treaded ones.

 

[thevileangel]

Battle application of these things is nearly impossible and totally impractical. They would need to enhance the speed and armor to a point not yet possible by our technology. If it moves too slow, it'd have to be built tougher than a tank and not be knocked off it's feet. If it's not that tough, it'd have to be fast enough to evade any directed missle weapon. It's best use would have to be urban pascification and that's a stretch. You're better going with an ED-209 that isn't manned and is disposable.

Now... space exploration, on the other hand... this has plenty of potential. And in space, there's always some critter that you can stomp. No, wait... that's fantasy. No life in our corner of the universe. Just us balding monkeys and our pets.

 

[Meshakhad_v1legacy]

I agree that a real combat application is a ways off. Besides, Japan isn't really known for developing weapons (given that they have a minimal army). Most of the applications for this will be civilian.

That said, the Pentagon is working on similar stuff. Their current goal is to produce a combat exoskeleton that would allow a soldier to carry more equipment. I do agree that there would be a benefit if we could actually get some sort of power armor into the field (I'm thinking closer to Space Marines than any sort of mecha). It would be great for urban warfare - and could definitely result in fewer casualties.

Consider if Israel had had this sort of thing in the Gaza war last winter. They wouldn't have had to use airstrikes and missiles to disarm Hamas. A single soldier in power armor, effectively immune to bullets, could assault a Qassam site or arsenal, destroy the weapons, kill the terrorists, all without any collateral damage. Even if a terrorist has a civilian standing right in front of him, making it too dangerous to shoot, the power armored soldier could just walk over and either pull them apart so the terrorist can be taken prisoner, or simply *****-slap the guy halfway to Sderot.

 

[Amnestic]

I agree that a real combat application is a ways off. Besides, Japan isn't really known for developing weapons (given that they have a minimal army). Most of the applications for this will be civilian.

That said, the Pentagon is working on similar stuff. Their current goal is to produce a combat exoskeleton that would allow a soldier to carry more equipment. I do agree that there would be a benefit if we could actually get some sort of power armor into the field (I'm thinking closer to Space Marines than any sort of mecha). It would be great for urban warfare - and could definitely result in fewer casualties.

Consider if Israel had had this sort of thing in the Gaza war last winter. They wouldn't have had to use airstrikes and missiles to disarm Hamas. A single soldier in power armor, effectively immune to bullets, could assault a Qassam site or arsenal, destroy the weapons, kill the terrorists, all without any collateral damage. Even if a terrorist has a civilian standing right in front of him, making it too dangerous to shoot, the power armored soldier could just walk over and either pull them apart so the terrorist can be taken prisoner, or simply *****-slap the guy halfway to Sderot.

I'll have to disagree with that.

First of all, I can't see this- or any type of modern armor - surviving an explosion. Even a pretty small one. Even if it's completely closed up, the temperature combined with sheer force from the blast would probably kill off the pilot. And guess what's easy to make and is rather available? Explosives.

Second of all, I doubt that any of these exo-skeletons provide somehow improved movement speed. Rather, you'd be pretty damn slow in it - I've seen a demonstration of a similar exo-skeleton, a light one at that - something that could potentially let crippled/paralyzed people move around on two feet... And it was rather clumsy. And if it was made for combat, it'd have to provide some kind of armor - and the weapons are heavy enough as it is... So it'd be just like the exo skeleton in this article, too heavy for a person. And wheels, while fairly good at what they are doing, might not be the best for, say, stairs and bad terrain.

Oh, and the cost would be huge, too.

Also, this isn't Iron Man. The guy would just shoot the prisoner.

All good points, it's clearly not ready for combat yet, and might not be in the near future.

But it should be clear to people that technology is advancing at an alarming rate and it's going to be the future soon. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDiDK_yBCw0] While in its current incarnation it's no where near combat worthy, it may be sooner than we think. DARPA has been known to perform miracles, when their experiments actually succeed.

 

[theonecookie]

This is all very well but where can I get my gundam or at least a wanzer

also to any one who says it to heavy for a person its called an exo-skeleton for a reason it would carry its own weight so to the guy in side it would be weightless