[TrashMan]

Nah, we'll just build remote or AI controlled robots and watch them pound each other senseless.

[jr2]

XD Pretty cool! 

[Sasquatch]

OH my God, I just thought of the greatest idea with this suit -->   Robot Wars + UFC = Count me in!

[Mika]

Posted by: Sasquatch

OH my God, I just thought of the greatest idea with this suit -->   Robot Wars + UFC = Count me in!

Already done in OMF 2097.

Mika

[TrashMan]

Is that that flick with 2 giant robots fighting in an arena?

Two really HUGE robots, no heads, human pilots has a small cockpit in the chest, a white-red robot fighting a blask one?

[lostllama]

One Must Fall 2097 was a beat-'em-up featuring giant robots IIRC.

As for the film you're talking about - I think I remember seeing a trailer for it years and years ago, it rings a bell. I think it was made in the 80's but I don't know the name of it. Maybe the game was based on the film, not sure though.

You don't see many films about giant fighting robots (well, I don't). But there was that recent Transformers film.

[Agent_Koopa]

*ahem*

Maybe we should get back to the topic at hand. This exoskeleton seems pretty useful. The video was lame, however. "Look at him run!" (soldier in exoskeleton tiptoes two meters) "FOR GOD'S SAKE, HE CAN EVEN WALK ON HIS HEELS!" I don't think it will be even remotely useful on the battlefield, however, until some sort of body armour is attached. I mean, what's the use if it just makes you slower? The fleshy parts are still exposed, and there's little call for heavy lifting out there. Powered armour would be useful; make heavy bulletproof plates completely weightless. And they definitely need to integrate some sort of hand or pincer, instead of the hooks which they currently have attached.

[Tyrian]

Once they finish this off (i.e.  add armor and weapons), I think it could be somewhat useful on the battlefield.  A soldier in powered armor could be used to transport heavier supplies, increasing the other soldiers' mobility.  Or that soldier could be used to carry a really heavy weapon.  Imagine that suit mounted with a 3000 rounds per minute Gatling cannon or maybe a large mortar or missile system. 

[Flipside]

I've always thought that putting a human inside a machine is pointless to be honest, much better to have the machine controlled by someone several miles away in a VR Booth or the like, the machine would even have more freedom of motion because there'd be no squishy human in the way. I know that there's the whole 'situational awareness' thing about having someone on the spot, but, let's face it, if you're envisioning grenade proof suits with arm-mounted chain guns then they aren't likely to be there to help with the milk rounds.

[Herra Tohtori]

*ahem*

Maybe we should get back to the topic at hand. This exoskeleton seems pretty useful. The video was lame, however. "Look at him run!" (soldier in exoskeleton tiptoes two meters) "FOR GOD'S SAKE, HE CAN EVEN WALK ON HIS HEELS!" I don't think it will be even remotely useful on the battlefield, however, until some sort of body armour is attached. I mean, what's the use if it just makes you slower? The fleshy parts are still exposed, and there's little call for heavy lifting out there. Powered armour would be useful; make heavy bulletproof plates completely weightless. And they definitely need to integrate some sort of hand or pincer, instead of the hooks which they currently have attached.

Actually, demonstrating that operating the suit doesn't change fundamental motoric constant of human movement is quite important. It means that the suit is pretty easy to use, which is rather paramount for the design being useful. Having a suit that only increases force capacity at the price of hugely decreased dexterity would not be a good pay-off in most situations. In that sense, it is more important to showcase the fine-tuning that enables more motoric-intensive activities, like tiptoeing or walking on heels, than taking two running steps before the leash runs out. It seemed to me more than the limiting thing in running speed was the leash the suit got power from, not the motoric limitations. I could be wrong though, but from the movements of the guy in suit, it did seem pretty unrestricted so I would guess running would be as possible as without the suit.

I guess it all boils to the response time of the suit. Slow, force-intensive tasks are pretty easy to make happen - it's the fine co-ordination and fast movements that leaves machinery on the shore, so to speak.

For example, the full functionality of human hand motorics and the effectiveness of fingers as pincers is yet to be duplicated (AFAIK). And I do not know if the response time of that particular suit is enough to control the limbs at full running speed.

Could be pretty amusing to put some competitive sprinter in this suit (without the leash) and tell them to do a 200 metre run...

[Hazaanko]

The main problem right now is power source.  We don't have batteries small enough / powerful enough to make this a reality.  But I can see this kind of thing being really useful on the battlefield.  Probably not during actual combat operations, unless the thing was really maneuverable and armored... it would probably be used to clear debris / tear down barriers... things like that.

But yeah - if they made one of these things REALLY fast... THAT would be scary to face in combat.

[Herra Tohtori]

Fuel cells? Although carrying the hydrogen would have the same problems why it isn't widely used as energy storage in transportation - low energy density without being in cold liquid state, which takes energy or damn good insulation to keep cool...

Small combustion engine+generator(/compressor)? Increased weight is offset by increased power, and the noise would only be problem in sneaky pre-combat maneuvering... Most of the fighty time the noise levels are so high that no one would pay attention to quietly operating 4-stroke engine loading the batteries. Like any hybrid car, it could also be set to operate in batter-only-mode. If the suit doesn't use power servos to operate the limbs but instead uses, say, hydraulics, just switch the generator to compressor and smaller generator to keep the electronics going.

And, in civilian use the noise wouldn't be any problem because there's no need to avoid detection in, say, firefighting or other jobs where increased strength and endurance (as well as protection from environment) would be very useful.

[Kosh]

Small combustion engine+generator(/compressor)?

Walking around with a tank of gasoline is just asking for trouble, plus the noise would give away your position and conceal the enemies position.

[jr2]

Once they finish this off (i.e.  add armor and weapons), I think it could be somewhat useful on the battlefield.  A soldier in powered armor could be used to transport heavier supplies, increasing the other soldiers' mobility.  Or that soldier could be used to carry a really heavy weapon.  Imagine that suit mounted with a 3000 rounds per minute Gatling cannon or maybe a large mortar or missile system. 

Armor Weapons

XD

[Herra Tohtori]

Weapons

XD

Hahaha, guess how I heard the guy said "a silent assassin waiting for it's pray" at almost the end of that clip?

Walking around with a tank of gasoline is just asking for trouble, plus the noise would give away your position and conceal the enemies position.

Well, it all depends on what kind of fuel is used and how the fuel system is protected. Using diesel would be preferable for better fuel efficiency, and it would also decrease the flammability of the fuel. Fuel tanks can be made self-sealing, and with sufficient protection to fuel lines and the engine it could be made so that when the engine/fuel tank is killed by enemy fire, that's the least of the problems the guy in the suit is having at the moment.

Air intake would likely be the worst problem for this kind of approach. It would not do to have the multimillion master chief go down with a Molotov cocktail like the early Soviet WW2 tanks, but it is possible to avoid these problems.

I could also point out that by your logic, every time the soldier jumps into a vehicle he's going around with a big tank of fuel. And one view of suits like this is that they indeed are vehicles. Definitely more so than, say, a bicycle, because bicycle is at least muscle operated.

Also, the sound issue is not as bad as you might think. You would definitely need a possibility to put it on battery-only mode, but when the defecation impacts the air circulation system, no one will be hearing the sound from a small four-stroke engine, especially if it's properly silenced. There will likely be hell of a lot bigger tank engines roaring, likely at both sides, gun shots, artillery firing, people possibly wearing ear protection... have you ever been to simulated battlefield? Even with small arms only, the sound scenery becomes extremely confusing really soon when the shooting begins. Need for quiet movement only lasts from the vehicles to the beginning of the firing; after that it's not a problem.

That of course means that the batteries will need to be good enough to power the suit during the approach phrase when getting detected is not desireable. Otherwise, the engine is a good way to load the batteries and offer energy as long as fuel is available. Of course that would tie the suit to logistics more than would be perhaps desireable, which would kinda prohibit the armor from equipment for behind the lines -operations.

Of course, for civilian applications, the sound problem is not really even a problem but more of a feature.

[Flaser]

Is that that flick with 2 giant robots fighting in an arena?

Two really HUGE robots, no heads, human pilots has a small cockpit in the chest, a white-red robot fighting a blask one?

That's Robot Jox!

Back on topic: I think the greatest problem not yet shown is if you fall over, how the hell do you get up in the suit? It hasn't demonstrated the required dexterity for that yet. Probably that's the real reason it's tethered.

[Mefustae]

That's Robot Jox!

"Go get 'em, Commander" *Pat on the butt*

[karajorma]

I've always thought that putting a human inside a machine is pointless to be honest, much better to have the machine controlled by someone several miles away in a VR Booth or the like, the machine would even have more freedom of motion because there'd be no squishy human in the way. I know that there's the whole 'situational awareness' thing about having someone on the spot, but, let's face it, if you're envisioning grenade proof suits with arm-mounted chain guns then they aren't likely to be there to help with the milk rounds.

The big problem with remote control is that it's a lot cheaper to train hackers to take over the enemies suits than it is to actually build them yourself.

There's a very real danger of sending a battalion of super robots against an enemy position only to have them suddenly turn around and start shooting at you. And given the startling number of times I've heard of the Pentagon being hacked by some kid sitting in his bedroom I don't much like the chances of them managing to keep something like this out of the hands of enemies who are doing this for their very survival rather than just for **** and giggles.

[Admiral_Stones]

There's quite a difference. The Pentagon is simply incompetent.

[Tyrian]

Yeah, but it's the Pentagon that plans a great number of military operations...And is responsible for military spending/buying...