OK i want to know what ya'll think the feasibility of mecha would be on modern battlefields. Lets assume for a sec that they are incredibly fast, decently tough, and very heavily armed. And by the way I mean people in HUGE battle suits, not things that think for themselves.

:eek:

And yes i do have an obsession with futuristic war machines, especially cool looking ones.

Yes, I'd like to see an army of these slaughter a pathetic human resistance, then track down their families.

Only joking. Grow up.

all you need is this with armour and about 8 20 mm and you're good to go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGrMMlNjBB8

that IS pretty cool.

I think if there were a real advantage, they would build them already. For one thing, they make easy targets standing upright. They also must consume tons of fuel. They can fly, but I doubt very fast, since they are not streamlined and they are very heavy.

Red, has anyone ever told you not to tread on little kids' dreams?

The army should seriously start thinking in terms of coolness factor.

Yes, they should have their bullets sponsored by Pepsi and Nike: "Just Do It. Oh, Wait... You're Dead."

ha. Is that some of your dry british humor?

I suppose it must be.

a mech is also kinda complicated right now, a leg's alot harder to maintain as compared to a good 'ol fashioned wheel and transmission. plus, while you could damange a wheel for alot of vehicles and still have them move around, take out a single hydraulic or electric ram of a mecha's leg and you've kept it from walking. that's if it's biped of course, quadraped would be different but doubly complicated to maintain and control. plus, recoil would need to be discipated somehow to keep from blasting it over

Heavy legs would lower the center of gravity.

I don't think it will ever be fully done. From what I can tell mecha simply don't have any value on todays battlefield. With the world coming into an overpopulation problem more soldiers dying is a good thing. With Mecha they'd have all kinds of escape hatches, etc. I really would like to see a race of robots like in Casshern attack humanity, now that'd be something.

My main idea is that instead of wasting resources on mechanized robots why not just use young children or homeless and experiment with their genes, drugs, etc. Sooner or later we'll get something close to a mecha that is actually alive, then all hell can really come out!

I think bipedal machines would be used more for construction work than military work.


[Renrue]

yeah they'd probably be of more use in that stuff. Maybe urban fighting? Policework (fairly small models)? I was thinking not so much as a force on the battlefield as a means of entertainment.

OK i want to know what ya'll think the feasibility of mecha would be on modern battlefields.
They're working on this stuff already:
Project Alpha, a U.S. Joint Forces Command rapid idea analysis group, is in the midst of a study focusing on the concept of developing and employing robots that would be capable of replacing humans to perform many, if not most combat functions on the battlefield.

The study, appropriately titled, “Unmanned Effects: Taking the Human out of the Loop,” suggests that by as early as 2025, the presence of autonomous robots, networked and integrated, on the battlefield might not be the exception, but, in fact, the norm. http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/weapons/a/robots.htm/robots_2.htm
Of course that refered to robots, here's more what you're looking for:
Thomas said a future "battle suit" could be more like a car than mere camouflage-and-khaki clothing -- with options like radio communication, heating and air conditioning, bulletproof shields and bionic-man-like tools built in.

Some of those features could work automatically, like air bags, at the instant they're needed, by a soldier who may be under fire or injured.

"You don't have to push a button to activate them," Thomas said.

One MIT project group is tinkering with simulated muscles -- a ribbon of accordion-folded polymer fibers that bend at a series of molecular "hinges." The bend can tighten and relax in response to electrical impulses, a property that could some day help combatants hoist heavy loads. Right now, the action is more like a slow twitch than the rapid contraction of human muscle. But they're working on it.

Other fibers that could be woven into battle dress might form a tight network impenetrable to shrapnel. Sleeves might be designed to stiffen when needed to act as a splint or reinforce an arm to deliver a karate chop. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/04/07/BU305865.DTL

look in the "supersoldier technology" topic in the general science and technology thread, we wrote a good bit on mecha toward the end in there if anyone's interested

They're working on this stuff already:

Of course that refered to robots, here's more what you're looking for:

nice dude.

Bipeds: too big of a target, and too easy to cowtip allowing split seconds for rpg attack.

I would prefer more of a spider bot.

I still think that if they were very heavily armed and very fast, the bipedal thing would be more of an advantage than an inconvenience.

Where does the word mecha originate?

MECHAnical?

Christ yes that is obvious, but where does the shorterning of the word in that specific manner come from?

no idea

I was under the impression "Mecha" was one japanese sybol and "nical" another and that therefore being how the shortening for that word came about.... or somthing along those lines.