5 replies to this topic

[Elfcat]

It's called "soft-botics", and it's definitely a thing being researched and developed!

https://emagazine.co...-and-evolution/

[LordNothing]

muscle wire is also a thing.

[ScrapIron Prime]

LordNothing, on 09 January 2024 - 11:01 AM, said:

muscle wire is also a thing.

Been following that for a few years. But they're not anything but a curiosity at this point. Their strongest wire to date (Flexinol 375) is 375 microns wide (hence the name), and takes 2.7 amps of power to generate 3 Newtons of contracting force and 19 Newtons of expanding force. Still a BIT SHY of a bundle of leg muscles!

But on the eerily similar end... the problem with that technology... is heat.

[LordNothing]

ScrapIron Prime, on 09 January 2024 - 12:48 PM, said:

Been following that for a few years. But they're not anything but a curiosity at this point. Their strongest wire to date (Flexinol 375) is 375 microns wide (hence the name), and takes 2.7 amps of power to generate 3 Newtons of contracting force and 19 Newtons of expanding force. Still a BIT SHY of a bundle of leg muscles!

But on the eerily similar end... the problem with that technology... is heat.

one problem is that they actuate fairly fast, but then take a long time to reset, as it requires lowering the temperature. a heat sink is usually enough but i imagine on a mech you would have them water cooled, contained in a flexible jacket. or use hollow wire tubes with a cryogen running through them. a big bundle multiply your force by you wire count (current as well). you have a fusion reactor to work with but heat is the limiting factor, some current regulation would be required to keep the wire from vaporizing.

i wanted to do remote controlled paper airplanes, from scratch of course. seemed like muscle wire would be ideal in this application, just need a couple of pwm controlled mosfets to allow current to flow, the airstream will cool the wire, and worst case scenario i can just do two wires to pull in each direction to actuate the control surfaces, one active while the other cools. anyway its just been knocking around my brain with the 50 other projects i want to do and probibly not the one or two i actually do.

problem with every technology is heat. its the primary vector for the second law of thermodynamics (hence its name). its good at turning a bunch of energy into a chaotic mess, and thats why you have a hard time getting efficiencies north of 50% out of thermal technologies like engines and steam turbines.

Edited by LordNothing, 09 January 2024 - 06:15 PM.

[AC2Enjoyer]

Myomers and Fusion Engines are possible but for Fusion engines you need to find a reliable way to source power and to downscale the design to fit it into a mech.

[LordNothing]

AC2Enjoyer, on 24 February 2024 - 11:42 AM, said:

Myomers and Fusion Engines are possible but for Fusion engines you need to find a reliable way to source power and to downscale the design to fit it into a mech.

polywell, even though all the bt artwork seems to show magnetic mirror machines. tokamacs and stellerators are out for their size (there are limits to size). and laser fusion is a non starter (nif may not be iter huge but it requires a building full of lasers to work). fusers cant work because they like to contaminate your plasma with metals.perhaps helion or general fusion machines can be small enough with some miniaturization (that doesnt work on donut machines due to gyroradius issues). focus fusion has a tiny reactor, but it has the same plasma contamination problem as fusers. polywell with a 3m vacuum vessel would probably fit in an atlas torso.

direct conversion is possible when using fuels that produce charged particles and would output hvdc on the order of tens of thousands of volts. one actual spinoff of the smart phone obsession is really tiny efficient power electronics. but then again semiconductors dont like high voltages. maybe silicon carbide, they are looking into using that for a venus lander so your computer doesnt melt. theres also the possibility that your myomers like high voltages. assault mechs would eventually be possible but i doubt they would be viable.