53 replies to this topic

[GrimRiver]

Real mechs, it's already happening.

https://youtu.be/NCrBC_V92hY

Give it a 100 years and we'll be on track for real mech warfare.

[Acehilator]

No we won't... do you think tank development will stand still the next 100 years, lol?

[GrimRiver]

Acehilator, on 18 December 2016 - 04:12 PM, said:

No we won't... do you think tank development will stand still the next 100 years, lol?

There will always be a place for tanks, like in the BT universe.

Tanks will be useful in open ground combat while mechs will excel in urban combat as arm mounted weapons can be aimed around a corner while a tank has to expose it's body just to fire it's main weapons.

[DAYLEET]

GrimRiver, on 18 December 2016 - 04:21 PM, said:

mechs will excel in urban combat as arm mounted weapons can be aimed around a corner while a tank has to expose it's body just to fire it's main weapons.

lol. Tanks have a hard time in cities. They need good coordination with infantry. A battlemech would be a disaster in a city just like anywhere else. In the future, weaponry will be either in the drone form of fully automated. The AirForce have right now an AI that no pilot can defeat, just give them times and computers will be doing the fighting.

[Pariah Devalis]

GrimRiver, on 18 December 2016 - 04:21 PM, said:

There will always be a place for tanks, like in the BT universe.

Tanks will be useful in open ground combat while mechs will excel in urban combat as arm mounted weapons can be aimed around a corner while a tank has to expose it's body just to fire it's main weapons.

...actually, in an urban setting, Mechs would be awful. If your vantage point is well above a doorway, it wouldn't be difficult to hide in a building until someone starts to go past, then aim for the extremely delicate kneejoints.

[GrimRiver]

Pariah Devalis, on 18 December 2016 - 04:42 PM, said:

...actually, in an urban setting, Mechs would be awful. If your vantage point is well above a doorway, it wouldn't be difficult to hide in a building until someone starts to go past, then aim for the extremely delicate kneejoints.

You're assuming the mech won't have any kind of sensor equipment to detect movements within 100m of it, like tanks currently do that can deploy anti missile counter measures.

[GrimRiver]

Tanks have come a long way in the past 100 years, from the Mark 1 to the Leopard 2A7 and Type 99A2.

Who's to say mechs won't be the future of combat as stealth technologies become advanced enough to render the machine invisible to the naked eye.

[FupDup]

This is like the third thread about the Korea ghettomech.

[C E Dwyer]

seems like they might be ok as long as there are high places you can tie rope to, so they don't fall over, and you have a very long cable to power them

It's a nice gimic the university is using to get more funding to use on practical work.

Battle Tech Mechs will never work in RL, because there will never be a practical internal power source, they might find a limited practical application in warehouses or docks where being connected to an outside power source doesn't penalise them something along the lines of the loader that Ripley uses in Aliens

[El Bandito]

Bipedal mechs are never gonna find military application, since they are very easy to knock over. Treaded or wheeled mechs sound more practical, as less glamorous looking as they are.

[GrimRiver]

El Bandito, on 18 December 2016 - 07:44 PM, said:

Bipedal mechs are never gonna find military application, since they are very easy to knock over. Treaded or wheeled mechs sound more practical, as less glamorous looking as they are.

People said that about tanks too back then "They're too slow and make easy targets for artillery" but 100 years later even with all the types of way to counter them, they're still being used to great effect.

Yeah, as they are now bipedal machines that tall are easy to fall but once we get that down they'll be doing stuff like this https://youtu.be/rVlhMGQgDkY

[TechChris]

One of the first babysteps that eventually leads to SkyNet!

They grow up and destroy the world so fast!

[adamts01]

Cathy, on 18 December 2016 - 05:30 PM, said:

Battle Tech Mechs will never work in RL, because there will never be a practical internal power source

I don't think we'll have the power source any time soon, but I wouldn't say never. Just scaling down and controlling fusion or fission could work. And then there's dark matter which we still have almost no understanding of.

But even if we did have a power source, anything that could realistically power a mech could power some crazy weaponry, that you could just mount on an aircraft. There's not much reason to limit that firepower to a walking tank.

[Vonbach]

adamts01, on 18 December 2016 - 08:57 PM, said:

I don't think we'll have the power source any time soon, but I wouldn't say never. Just scaling down and controlling fusion or fission could work. And then there's dark matter which we still have almost no understanding of.

But even if we did have a power source, anything that could realistically power a mech could power some crazy weaponry, that you could just mount on an aircraft. There's not much reason to limit that firepower to a walking tank.

Never mind the power source even if you could get a mech to work perfectly a tank would eat it alive.
Mechs would be to tall and too slow a tank is a much more stable firing platform. Then theres the issue
of if a mech could even stand up without sinking into the ground. Tanks have treads to spread the weight
over a larger area to keep them from sinking.

[adamts01]

Vonbach, on 18 December 2016 - 09:04 PM, said:

Never mind the power source even if you could get a mech to work perfectly a tank would eat it alive.
Mechs would be to tall and too slow a tank is a much more stable firing platform. Then theres the issue
of if a mech could even stand up without sinking into the ground. Tanks have treads to spread the weight
over a larger area to keep them from sinking.

Yeah. You could try to brainstorm some very specific terrain where a mech would be better than a tank, but in that case a helicopter type vehicle would be better than both. But, nothing would be cooler than a mech, can't really argue against that.

[draiocht]

[mod]This thread has been moved to
Off Topic Discussions.

Title was edited for clarity.[/mod]

Edited by draiocht, 19 December 2016 - 03:06 AM.

[Vellron2005]

WOW

"Wanna buy a mech pack?" just took on a whole new meaning...

Seriously though.. on the modern battlefield of earth, mechs will have little use, since they are too tall, and have lots of critical areas that could put it out of operation.. A helicopter would make short work of mechs.. simply cose' they have a tall big profile and are large targets compared to tanks.

BUT..

When humanity takes to other planets, mechs might be the weapon of choice that will replace tanks - simply because of their humanoid mobility over rough terrain.

The humanoid shape is actually earth's best long distance runner, and one of the most dexterous shapes in the whole animal kingdom. When mechs get to a level they can match the full range of human movement - they will replace tanks in rough terrain of other planets.

Other than combat though - mechs could be ideal for use in industry as loaders, transport vehicles and hazardous environment vehicles.

The video shows a great mobility level in the legs - previously unmatched in such a large robot. Also, advanced control systems for the arms.. I like the way the pilot has a full range of arm motion.. add a neurohelmet (wich is a real thing already - rudimentary neurohelmets exist today), and you have a good weapon's platform!

I really want to own my own mech.. I hope I will some day..

Edited by Vellron2005, 19 December 2016 - 03:15 AM.

[Lily from animove]

GrimRiver, on 18 December 2016 - 04:03 PM, said:

Real mechs, it's already happening.

https://youtu.be/NCrBC_V92hY

Give it a 100 years and we'll be on track for real mech warfare.

could be faster,t he main issue is still an independend power supply, yet those things yould furfull roles so far as industry mechs first where power is avialable locally via cable. they are at leats more space saving than most common working machines.

Vellron2005, on 19 December 2016 - 03:13 AM, said:

WOW

"Wanna buy a mech pack?" just took on a whole new meaning...

probably more than 500$ and not even gold xD

Edited by Lily from animove, 20 December 2016 - 05:23 AM.

[Tordin]

El Bandito, on 18 December 2016 - 07:44 PM, said:

Bipedal mechs are never gonna find military application, since they are very easy to knock over. Treaded or wheeled mechs sound more practical, as less glamorous looking as they are.

Yeah, because we all know about the possible future tech that could actually eliminate such problems, no way it can happen /sarcasm

Mechs, Tanks, Infantry etc thats the future. Noone replaces anyone, jsut different roles.
"Mechs not possible!" Bah, snobsnob. Sceptics are so funny.
Sceptics and underminers said we humans would never take to the skies, never dive to the deep ocen, never to reach space, that thinking sending manned crafts to mars are insane and so on. And yet they have and will happen. Nothing is impossible, it just needs the right tech, time, cash and trust in "wild" projects. We are an amizing species with a brain of the truly creative, either it be for the better or worse.

Edited by Tordin, 21 December 2016 - 07:41 AM.

[Lily from animove]

Tordin, on 21 December 2016 - 07:41 AM, said:

Yeah, because we all know about the possible future tech that could actually eliminate such problems, no way it can happen /sarcasm

Mechs, Tanks, Infantry etc thats the future. Noone replaces anyone, jsut different roles.
"Mechs not possible!" Bah, snobsnob. Sceptics are so funny.
Sceptics and underminers said we humans would never take to the skies, never dive to the deep ocen, never to reach space, that thinking sending manned crafts to mars are insane and so on. And yet they have and will happen. Nothing is impossible, it just needs the right tech, time, cash and trust in "wild" projects. We are an amizing species with a brain of the truly creative, either it be for the better or worse.

as much as a car would never replace the horse because they were technically inferior so that their performance was REALLY bad in comparison to a horse. Gottlieb Daimler said the demand for automobiles will nevr be more than one million. So even thes poeple themselves who were the pioneers of their new techs didn't knew what it could become. And thos poeple weren't actually on the opposition of these technology.