Cool stuff!. I've linked to articles on the same technology before, of course, but what's cool here is that they're going to be on the market soon. The mark 4 and 5 prototypes allow a person to life 40 kg more than they can unassisted. Let this technology mature for a few years and it'll undoubtedly be more. Finally I can begin assembling my superhero outfit!
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
They're calling it HAL?!? Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Heh. Yeah, I had the same reaction to that. Might not be an auspicious name, eh?
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
That's so very cool. It seems to me there is a lot of recent breakthroughs or releases of new technology. I love it.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
The other thing this made me think of was MechAssault. Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
*snickers* At least I'm not the only one.
-Trevor
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
I don't mean to belittle the development, I think it's awesome. But how long, really, will it be before someone mounts guns on one of those things? Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
You're joking, right? Five bucks says the first sale goes to the US Military or a defense contractor.
I assume the U.S. military is developing a bigger, badder one on its own. Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
There's no doubt that this will have military applications. The first models probably won't be rugged enough, but give the technology a few generations to mature and combat uses are pretty much a given.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
I'm sorry, I just can't get the image of duelling Mechs out of my mind...
Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
I'm waiting for Nintendo to buy the patent and make it a feature of their new gaming system.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
I'm sure the US is trying to develop one, but I haven't heard any stories about a successful prototype.
This fellow is about to unveil a fully functional commercial release which sounds like its leaps and bounds ahead of anything the US Military has either developed on their own or successfully commissioned.
Feh - strap that sucker with kevlar and you've got a light tank that would make most SWAT units sit up and beg.
-Trevor
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Trevor, you realize that the fact that the general public hasn't heard about a piece of military technology doesn't mean that that piece of technology doesn't exist, right?
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Does anyone else feel like the next big technology jump for things in this area will have to be a replacment for the chemical battery?
Hobbes Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
We definitely need one, if only for environmental reasons...
Hm. Now there's a field I could go into...
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Thanks Noeman.
"Has not seen a successful military deployment in any overt theatre of operations or in any functioning capacity insofar as the general public is aware."
However, as a general rule of thumb, I don't give the US military much credit for developing functional weapons systems first time out and then not trumpeting their success.
-Trevor
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:Has not seen a successful military deployment in any overt theatre of operations or in any functioning capacity insofar as the general public is aware.
Well okay then!
How long was the stealth bomber around before its existence was known to the general public? Honest question--I really don't know the answer. I thought, though, that it had been around for quite a while.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
Every time I see this thread title I hear mech sounds.
*tromp tromp tromp*
*pause*
*fwoosh!* *kablooie*
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
It's entirely possible - but stealth fighters/bombers are, by their very nature, hard to detect at the best of times considering how they are utilized.
Imagine trying to use a new tank and not having reports trickle out. I have a hard time believing that something as "in your face" as an armored gorilla wouldn't raise eyebrows and start tounges wagging as soon as it lumbered out.
-Trevor
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Yeah, that's a point, although the military has been pretty successful at keeping journalists from running free in Iraq. Still, I doubt that such a system has actually been deployed in combat yet, even if it exists.
Posted by no. 6 (Member # 7753) on :
quote: But how long, really, will it be before someone mounts guns on one of those things?
Guns, that's a given, but I'd like to see some light armor mounted on them.
For... safety reasons. Obviously.
...what?
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
quote:...a new field called cybernics
New field? Cybernics? Try Cybernetics, a concept that has existed in Sci-Fi for one hell of a long time, and which this would fall under! New field my arse... Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Yeah, I kept twitching at that one - I was wondering how they could have made the same typo so many times.
-Trevor
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Noeman - not successful enough, although the insurgents are doing their best to dissuade curious reporters.
-Trevor
Posted by Miro (Member # 1178) on :
This is what exoskeletons make me think of. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:A Japanese quadriplegic plans to climb to the peak of a Swiss mountain by riding piggyback on a mountaineer who will get some extra muscle from a robot suit.
Seiji Uchida, 43, will take a cable car to within striking distance of the Breithorn's summit before attempting the daylong trek this August, said Shinichiro Saigo, business manager of the With Dreams organisation that Uchida founded to support the expedition.
...
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
That's fantastic!
Posted by Vasslia Cora (Member # 7981) on :
I don't know the exact amount of years but the stealth aircraft were around for quite a few years (5-10 I think) before the general public found out.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
All I keep thinking about are people dying more quickly because they bought one of these and their muscles atrophed from lack of use.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Don't spend thousands on a metal exo-skeleton suit.
Buy a gym membership.
Posted by Miro (Member # 1178) on :
Phil! And don't forget about Logan. Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
Just great! You just know someone's gonna perfect this for industrial applications, then some shady government agency will send a mission to bring back some of those leathery eggs full of face suckers and we'll be up to our armpits in aliens.
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