Mechs.

any robot that can do all human mannerism is Unrealistic Dream.

reply to post by Omega Pickle


Big ones? No. Bad idea.. however.

Something more something like the mecha from Full metal Panic would be more effective.

If you're interested in it.. then here's the link.

full-metal-panic.animeshinobi.com...

I would post a youtube clip but it's nothing but a bunch of music videos. I won't subject the ATS'ers to such a terrible sight.

The main reason it would work? They are slim and fast enough to get through urban areas, small enough to hide between houses. With the right armaments, speed, and the proper pilot I think a mech could be a very good tank killer.

At stealth technology, and then you have a deadly force on hands.

Although it completely defies the laws of physics, and way beyond any technological capabilities we have currently.. Wouldn't this be cool to have? (The one that's red, white, and blue)

edit
Just going to link video because it works in preview but not when I post it..
Freedom Gundam
[edit on 19-9-2009 by Miraj]

[edit on 19-9-2009 by Miraj]

[edit on 19-9-2009 by Miraj]

If so, I'll take a shadowcat! Meesa deadly with a shadowcat!

PEW PEW!!

Seriously though, a few years ago I would have said no, however we have made great strides in bipedal robotics so at this time I can say yes it would be possible in the future. I don't know if it would be the same sort of idea we have of a battle mech but I'm sure one day we will be using bipedal designs.

reply to post by DaMod


id take a shadowcat as well,

reply to post by DaMod


id take a shadowcat as well,
I read in an engineering mag that an engineer did some figuring, and for an arm on a vehicle the size of a mech to move at the same relative speed that a human arm can, the end of it would break the sound barrier.

[edit on 22-9-2009 by punkinworks]

The military has been in possession of advanced "mech" technology for years.

The following images unfortunately are not as good quality as one could wish for but its not, after all, as if you could walk right up to this sort of technology and take detailed close up photographs !
You use what you get and ANALYZE it.

It truly is amazing what you can find using GE if you KNOW where to look ... sometimes you can get VERY lucky indeed !

And just before the detractors start their posting frenzy ... NO ... it's NOT pixellation, an imagery artifact, a rock, or tree or bushes or anything else as plainly obvious as that.
Take a long, hard look before you start writing it of ...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3171a2f51ff0.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/24f4476afc5e.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ccd9c62ed19d.jpg[/atsimg]

A lot of people will say that the technology is impossible..

But a lot of things were impossible until war demanded them.

Mechs are simply impractical unless they move fast enough and can maneuver fast enough. That is if they are for combat.

Mechs are fun and glorified in sci-fi, anime, and the comic books...

Realistically, the current tech is still at the point where you'd paint a nice big target on your back. There would be a long ways to go.

The military may still have a use for these cumbersome and unwieldy devices close to their current state. If you have a new forward base or unfinished airfield, you're probably not going to be having very much nice flat pavement and finished warehouses. Standard cargo movers may not work so well under these conditions, so manpower makes up for it. Mechs might be a solution that frees up manpower for other uses. So the first mechas likely to be in deployment are likely not going to be much more than glorified forklifts that can operate in unfinished facilities and terrain. Useful, yes. Very much so in the support of logistical supply lines. But as a guns-a-blazing rockets everywhere blaze of glory weapons package? Nope. Not anytime soon. I suppose the next closest thing to sci-fi mechs might be akin to StarCraft's SCVs. Army engineers and Seabees may get some mech-style multi-function construciton vehicles to support forward base construction in difficult terrain. (But that'll probably wait until after some proven capability in civilan use.)

So they'll show up. But not as the most exciting things.

Full AI robotics are probably going to be the first mecha-like things that get weaponized, but these things are like large dogs or small deer (ala Big Dog) and not manned. But the kinks with AI terrain navigation and mobility need to be worked out. These too will likely be modest going pack mules first before they're fast moving pack hunters. (It's like how helicopters had to get good and reliable before somebody thought it would be good to make a gunship of one. They had other uses until then. Not much point in throwing in cannon fodder too soon in the game.)

If the tech for mechs is good enough, there would be no reason for troops...
If we make mechs we can make unmanned robotic/remote controlled armies

reply to post by tauristercus


Oh good lord, not THAT nonsense again...

It's a bunch of rocks.

Possible? Maybe. From a technical standpoint, Asimo is getting better and better in walking.. Practical? Not so much. As pointed out before, it would only be feasible (given we work the kinks out of the walking. whether chicken-walkers or man-walkers or multi-ped insect like) if we also develop armour that is thick enough so armour piercing rounds will not ruin our nice, giant walking target-practice In a situation where there is shooting. "high is not good" why would soldiers otherwise crawl and stay low when shot at..

As rescue-bots? That seems way more practical. Large, bi-pedal fire resistant Mechs could be useful in f.i. bush-fires, because they are less likely to have burning trees falling on their noggins(a large contributor to firemen's casualties and wrecking of fire-engines I've been told), since they stick out above the growth.

Nah..have to be honest here. They look mega-cool, no doubt there, but big labors are completely implausable..

reply to post by Omega Pickle


I did this thread a while back but it went nowhere because of a lack of other people's foresight like I was trying to explain.

Segway For Law Enforcement, Possibly Evolving Into MechWarrior Machinery

I think there are many different types of electronic devices that would make good launch platforms for the initial stages of this very topic.

reply to post by AlnilamOmega


There is a friend of mine who believes at least Japan has been working on BattleTech style mechs due to at one point a bit of fluff they released that was blueprints for the Mad Cat Mech had more or less been pulled off the selves and becare VERY scarce. It was speculation on his part and he had admitted it but in the end who knows.

For mechs to be viable, you need a situation where tracked and wheeled vehicles, regardless of how cleverly suspended they are, aren't mobile enough, that's profitable enough to warrant many millions of dollars of research and development, but doesn't warrant just buying an off-the-shelf helicopter. I don't really think such a situation exists. Giant stairs in caves?

Most people are content to either not go places they can't drive logistics vehicles to, build roads, fly in, or walk, along with pack animals.

Both in and out of combat, logistics are important. You aren't going to get a ride from a tow truck back down the side of a mountain that's impassible to regular vehicles. Nor are you going to be able to bring fuel up there without a walking fuel truck. If you can do these things with a helicopter, you may as well just send a helicopter. They're simpler machines, and are a highly mature technology. I would fully expect similar maintainence and fuel consumption figures between helicopters and mechs.

People think mechs might be good in urban warfare. I don't understand why. Being tall and having less all-around armor per weight due to higher exposed surface area can't be a good thing. lightly armored tracked and wheeled vehicles are at least boxy enough to easily cover with slat armor for blocking outdated rockets. Without thick armor or other passive defenses, crappier rockets start getting more deadly. So do medium cannons, like 30-60mm automatic cannon. Light tracked and wheeled vehicles at least have the advantage of a low silhouette and dismount infantry to protect and look ahead for them, while tanks have the low silhouette and enough armor to survive.

The dismount infantry is also very important. Vehicles are only deployed in cities to support infantry. Besides direct fire support, their main job is to transport and evacuate infantry. So it kind of helps if your vehicle is pretty much a box full of infantry. This seems to me like it'd be harder to do effectively with legs. maybe some kind of bizarre spider contraption, but that doesn't seem like it'd be worth the expense just so it can cross some road blocks. You're really better off focusing on getting good combat intelligence, and keeping around some combat engineering vehicles to clear the roads if it's absolutely necessary, and you can't just find a better route.

Urban combat is all about infantry, since they're the only unit small enough to go through the rooms of all the buildings. If you had the technology, load bearing exoskeletons carrying extra armor would be great for that, but as soon as you stop fitting through doors is when your armor isn't useful anymore.

Mechs are not viable? Maybe not in conventional wars, but they have their place in unconventional warfare.

For instance, look at Metal Gear REX (Metal Gear Solid). It was created not to fight in frontlines, but to stealthily launch nuclear warheads with a railgun from secret locations. It is highly mobile and equipped with defensive weapons (like SAMs). Obviously it would be a big target, but it's less of a target if you use it where nobody is looking.

Consider the Russian strategy of its strategic nuclear forces. They use mobile launchers, like Topol, that can be moved and deployed almost anywhere within Russia's large area. This makes them much harder to find and destroy pre-emptively (because the launch would expose their location).

And then there is Metal Gear RAY, which is amphibious and designed to destroy ships.

Although i ponder this as well, I do in fact believe it to be a possibility. Too pricey, some people say? well, look up the price of an up-armored M1151 HMMWV, or an MRAP. or Bradly fighting vehicle, or a single rocket of any type. All the HMMWV's we have in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, will stay there when we leave these countries. We have given over 1,000 1151's to the Iraqis. Trust me, if there is anything stopping the military from building something like that, it's not the price. Especially when benefits outweigh the cost.

reply to post by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi


So why does it make sense to build walking platforms to carry nukes to strange areas, than it does to clear out some dirt roads in the back country to expand the places you could drive an ordinary SRBM carrier? Also: if you can't drive a truck to where you've driven your walking robot, you can't get it's crew food, water, or replacements.


If you want to launch nukes anywhere in the world from a secure, stealthy platform that's got almost no chance of being destroyed preemptively, you build a submarine.

There's something to be said for psychological operations. I think that would be the only benefit. If your forces converged on a city and a giant robot was leading the charge, you might scare quite a few more people into surrender.

I doubt it would be worth the cost, though.

I've always loved the idea of building Mechs or something like the Aliens movie...I think we need an amazing advancement of power generation/storage before we can get anything like that. Either a small reactor that generates hundreds of megawatts or batteries that can store hundreds of megawatts...

Just pointing out that there is a battle mech that already exists. Sure it's slow and clumsy but it is just first gen. I'd imagine next gen mechs will be better.





[edit on 6-10-2009 by DaMod]