| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
 Posted: 10-10-2013 12:54 Post subject: US Army plans 'Iron Man' armour for soldiers |
 |
|
|
| Quote: | US Army plans 'Iron Man' armour for soldiers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24474336
The army wants soldiers of the future to be better equipped
The US Army is working to develop "revolutionary" smart armour that would give its troops "superhuman strength".
It is calling on the technology industry, government labs and academia to help build the Iron Man-style suit.
Exoskeletons that allow soldiers to carry large loads much further are already widely used by the army.
The Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (Talos) would have such a frame but would also have layers of smart materials fitted with sensors.
The suit would also need to have wide-area networking and a wearable computer similar to Google Glass, the US Army said.
Increase strength
It should be made of smart material fitted with sensors to monitor body temperature, heart rate and hydration levels.
The exoskeleton, which could be attached to arms and legs, would be likely to use hydraulics to greatly increase strength.
"The requirement is a comprehensive family of systems in a combat armour suit where we bring together an exoskeleton with innovative armour, displays for power monitoring, health monitoring, and integrating a weapon into that," said Lt Col Karl Borjes, a science adviser at the US Army's research, development and engineering command.
"It's advanced armour. It's communications, antennas. It's cognitive performance. It's sensors, miniature-type circuits. That's all going to fit in here, too," he added.
Magnetic field
According to US Army Sgt Maj Chris Faris, "no one industry can build it".
Instead the army is calling on research and development organisations, private industry as well as government labs and academia to support the project.
The US Army said it was likely that scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology would be involved in the design.
An MIT team is currently developing liquid body armour - made from fluids that transform into a solid when a magnetic field or electrical current is applied.
Large robot
In an interview with US news site NPR, MIT professor Gareth McKinley compared the futuristic armour to that seen in Hollywood films.
"It sounds exactly like Iron Man," he said.
"The other kind of things that you see in the movies... would be the kind of external suit that Sigourney Weaver wears in Aliens, where it's a large robot that amplifies the motions and lifting capability of a human."
The aim is the get the Talos armour out in the field within three years. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
| eburacum Papo-Furado
Great Old One Joined: 26 Aug 2005 Total posts: 1587 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 10-10-2013 16:19 Post subject: |
|
|
|
I think they'll find that the major limiting factor in designing an 'Iron Man' suit is the power supply.
A powered, bullet-proof exoskeleton, okay. Computer assisted weapons and telecommunications, easy. But power has to be carried in the form of heavy batteries or fuel cells, or the suit has to be connected up to a long extension lead.
Tony Stark's biggest achievement is the arc reactor thingy in his chest; it is entirely fictional and probably will remain so. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Pietro_Mercurios Heuristically Challenged
Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 10-10-2013 16:52 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| eburacum wrote: | ...
Tony Stark's biggest achievement is the arc reactor thingy in his chest; it is entirely fictional and probably will remain so. |
Vibranium and adamantium, are also pretty hard to come by, outside the Marvel Universe.
The first version of the military cybernautic suit that I've come across, which pre-dates Iron Man's, was the atomic powered Mobile Infantry space suit worn in Starship Troopers, written by Robert Heinlein, published in 1959. As an engineer, Heinlein worked on high altitude pressure suits in the 1940s. Apparently, the development of modern powered suits was actually influenced by Heinlein's novel.
| Quote: | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_exoskeleton#History
...
Los Alamos Laboratories worked on an exoskeleton project in the 1960s called Project Pitman. In 1986, an exoskeleton prototype called the LIFESUIT was created by Monty Reed, a US Army Ranger who had broken his back in a parachute accident.[11] While recovering in the hospital, he read Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers and from Heinlein's description of Mobile Infantry Power Suits, he designed the LIFESUIT, and wrote letters to the military about his plans for the LIFESUIT. In 2001 LIFESUIT One (LSI) was built. In 2003 LS6 was able to record and play back a human gait. In 2005 LS12 was worn in a foot race known as the Saint Patrick's' Day Dash in Seattle, Washington. Monty Reed and LIFESUIT XII set the Land Speed Distance Record for walking in robot suits. LS12 completed the 3-mile race in 90 minutes. The current LIFESUIT prototype 14 can walk one mile on a full charge and lift 92 kg (203 lb) for the wearer.[citation needed]
In January 2007, Newsweek magazine reported that the Pentagon had granted development funds to The University of Texas at Dallas' nanotechnologist Ray Baughman to develop military-grade artificial electroactive polymers. These electrically-contractive fibers are intended to increase the strength-to-weight ratio of movement systems in military powered armor.[12] |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| kamalktk Great Old One Joined: 05 Feb 2011 Total posts: 705 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 11-10-2013 13:59 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| Pietro_Mercurios wrote: | | eburacum wrote: | ...
Tony Stark's biggest achievement is the arc reactor thingy in his chest; it is entirely fictional and probably will remain so. |
Vibranium and adamantium, are also pretty hard to come by, outside the Marvel Universe. |
Let's not forget the ai Tony has that handles all the other suits. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| gncxx King-Size Canary
Great Old One Joined: 25 Aug 2001 Total posts: 13561 Location: Eh? Gender: Male |
| Posted: 11-10-2013 18:25 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| Stick with breeding the radioactive spiders, I say. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| eburacum Papo-Furado
Great Old One Joined: 26 Aug 2005 Total posts: 1587 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 13-10-2013 02:23 Post subject: |
|
|
|
Vibranium is bollox, and could never work. Does Iron Man use much vibranium in his suit?
As far as adamantium is concerned, carbyne is probably the closest possible fit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_acetylenic_carbon
a sheet of this could support an elephant balanced on a pencil tip.
I expect that the sort of AI systems required to control a humanoid war robot (like an empty Iron Man suit) (and much more besides) will become available this century, and warfare will be entirely changed by this technology.
But the power required to supply such an exoskelton as it lifts heavy objects, or flies like a cruise missile, just isn't reasonable. You'd have to fill the suit up with kerosene and LOX, leaving no room for the pilot. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| OneWingedBird Great Old One Joined: 19 Nov 2012 Total posts: 542 Location: Attice of blinkey lights Age: 44 Gender: Female |
| Posted: 13-10-2013 12:41 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| Or make a humungous Jaeger/Eva/Gundam type suit that's big enough to hold a small nuclear reactor? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Mythopoeika Boring petty conservative
Joined: 18 Sep 2001 Total posts: 9109 Location: Not far from Bedford Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 13-10-2013 20:24 Post subject: |
|
|
|
The only problem with Carbyne is that if just 2 strands touch, an explosion ensues... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| eburacum Papo-Furado
Great Old One Joined: 26 Aug 2005 Total posts: 1587 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 14-10-2013 05:55 Post subject: |
|
|
|
Reading this page, it looks like you are right
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Issues/2010/November/CarbyneOtherMythsAboutCarbon.asp
Ah, well, looks like the strongest materials are graphene and carbon nanotube - these should be quite adequate to make resilient armour. Aggregated carbon nanotube is supposed to be harder than diamond, and I think there might be even harder allotropes out there. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
