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Post by Pkmatrix on Jan 7, 2005 18:51:56 GMT -5
No, I kid you not, there is a former US Army Engineer currently in the later stages of constructing his very own Gundam-style mecha in Anchorage, Alaska. www.neogentronyx.com/I'm impressed by his results. In less than two years, he's accomplished more than what Mechanized Propulsion Systems has in over double that time! According to the website, he intends the NMX04-1A to merely be the first in a long line of mechs, which he ultimately plans to sell to Police, Fire Departments, and the Military among other groups. I suppose we must wait and see what happens we he begins testing it in the Spring...but, I'm VERY excited about this thing! I WANT ONE!    |
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Post by Infested Manae on Jan 7, 2005 23:16:23 GMT -5
Heh, deffinitely not pretty, is it...  I hate to say it, but I've a feeling when he removes the frames and tries to make it walk the first time, it's going to simply fall over. I wish him the best, though. You should check out Shard's old page. Mostly 'reviews' of mecha, but the essays might be an interesting read for you, particularly arguing the practicality of mecha. Ahhhh, I miss Shard. Dunno what ever happened to her. We had some good discussions back in the day, we did. |
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Post by Pkmatrix on Jan 8, 2005 15:54:13 GMT -5
Heh, deffinitely not pretty, is it... I hate to say it, but I've a feeling when he removes the frames and tries to make it walk the first time, it's going to simply fall over. I wish him the best, though. I was thinking the same thing...but, hey, who says it HAS to work the first time around? I'm sure he'll get the balancing to work with trial and error if it doesn't work the first time. You should check out Shard's old page. Mostly 'reviews' of mecha, but the essays might be an interesting read for you, particularly arguing the practicality of mecha. Ahhhh, I miss Shard. Dunno what ever happened to her. We had some good discussions back in the day, we did. That's an interesting site. She doesn't believe mecha could be used in real world combat? I'd have to disagree. They CAN be used...but, they'd play a specifc support role in extreme combat situations. Anyways... I stopped by MechAPS to see if anybody was discussing this. I found a topic, but the lead engineer there scoffed, basically saying "Yeah, right. It'll never work." Heh. I'll laugh if this guy gets his mech to work by June. Considering he's an Army Engineer, if anybody could make a working mecha in their backyard, it'd probably be this guy. |
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Post by The Giant-Size Man Thing on Jan 9, 2005 20:22:27 GMT -5
Wheels and treads will always beat legs. It's just how it is. Bipedal mechs have that "ooh and aah" feel to them, but are otherwise inferior and dangerous in real combat.
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Post by Infested Manae on Jan 10, 2005 21:22:24 GMT -5
It's true. Look at a person running and someone on a bike. Now, if the biker was riding a bike with gears all of the same size, and the wheel was the same size as the circle his feet made, he'd have a rough time keeping up with a fast runner.
But that's not how a bike is. You have a big gear getting worked upon, spinning a chain attached to a much smaller gear, which is in turn attached to a rather large wheel. Now there's no way the runner can win.
Legs have a great limitation: they can provide a lot of power, but only so fast due to their length.
Really. Wave you hand around as fast as you can back and forth. Now try your arm. Which is faster? As things get bigger, they have more drag, and require a lot more energy to move. They slow down.
On an odd side note, let's all hear it for Sumeria. There was a civilization that managed to build huge temples and sprawl all along the Fertile Crescent, yet had no idea how to make a wheel. Those poor bastards.
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Post by Mega Raptor on Jan 11, 2005 5:13:55 GMT -5
Honestly, I think that small scale mecha could potentially work in specialized roles (construction, demolition, possibly urban-environment combat), but the big stuff that most animes use is just plain out of the question.
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Post by DarkAries on Jan 13, 2005 20:27:12 GMT -5
Guess Patlabor IS the way of the future, despite being called a lame anime.
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Post by The Giant-Size Man Thing on Jan 13, 2005 20:43:49 GMT -5
Nah, it'd probably end up being like the loaders from Aliens, which even still a standard forklift would be more effecient.
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Post by Mega Raptor on Jan 13, 2005 22:03:34 GMT -5
Let's just agree that with currently existing technology, mecha is impractical at best.
Maybe in the future there will be some unforseen breakthrough that makes some form of mecha possible, or even practical, to use. But such an advancement would have to be pretty earth shattering.
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