Posted on 12/22/2004 11:07:00 AM PST by mhking
Carlos Owens is building an 18-foot tall mech (or battle robot) in his back yard.
Owens, a 26 year-old steel worker in Anchorage, AK, plans on finishing it next summer.
"This is a concept that's been around for a long time," Owens said in a telephone interview. "But I'm not going to wait for the other guy to come out and make it when I've got the capability to do it myself."Owens suggests on his own website, Neogentronix.com, that one day mechs like this would be able to help put our wildfires or go into military combat.He's always had an eye for huge projects, and an inventor's itch. He built a 35-foot wooden version of his mecha when he was 19, he said, as a sculpture project because he couldn't afford the materials to make it function. The latest project, drawing on his experience in the Army and as a steelworker, is more ambitious.
"I've always been building things," he said. "But with the mecha I wanted to do something different than what everyone else was doing. It's hard to invent something new."
When completed, the idea is for the pilot to be able to strap himself into a central, padded compartment, and then control the mecha with the motions of his own body. When the pilot walks, the mecha walks. Raise an arm and open a hand, and the mecha does the same, with 46 possible movements planned.
Sounds like he's watched one too many episodes of Gundam Wing or someother Anime on Adult Swim.
That was great!
I'd love to see them assembling the head.
Hey apprentice, get me the torque wrench. ;)
The day the earth stood still? Do I win a prize?
How long do you think it will take before we see this on ebay?
Micro-turbines may be a good option for power.
There has been aloy of progress on tiny diesel-burning turbines. They can be smaller than a pac of cigarettes, and have a higher power-density than a li-ion battery of the same size... Very efficient conversion to electricity.
I think micro gas turbines are going to make a bigger impact on these types of ridiculously-high-drain applications than hydrogen fuel cells or conventional batteries could dream of.
Another idea, or a supplement to the idea, would be to beam power to the mech or other piece of equipment.
So long as the pilot has sufficient Electromagnetic protection, a microwave beam, or other wavelength of beam, originating from a central point on the jobsite, or battlefield, can carry energy to the machine. The machine would have local power as well, but could use the remote-source energy as the primary, and use local generation via micro turbines, batteries, or fuel cells as short-term backups. This reduces the dead weight of the machinery, but restricts its deployments to line-of-site.
Narf!
Now that he has robot and can rule the world he will get a lot of babes
No, it's a tautology.
The best way around the heating problem was load up on standard machine guns and ammo, then set them to "All Fire." Projectile weapons produce practically no heat, and on a good-size 'Mech (like a Timberwolf), you could really bust some heads.
Ahhh, I love Mechwarrior....
Send me the specs....I want to scare the hell out of one of my neighbors.
BTW...Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Oh and all the rage in Japan yo.
I believe it was Ultra Man........
WEll if he wants to spend his time making a robot instead of watching Reality TV-- the NFL golfing-- bowling or any of the other productive pastimes ( sarcasm) let him use the too much time on his hands as he wants
I found no evidence of insanity in your post or choice of pics but then again I'm crazy.
By the way, when I scrolled down to the picture my scroll bar jammed. What's with that?
You've obviously never around the barrel of an M-16 set on "rock & roll."
By the 5th 30 round magazine it can be used as a branding iron.
And if there is anything I have learned from anime it is that the guys with the giant robots always get the babes.
Yeah. As long as the wearer is cool. If he's Ikari Shinji, well, then you get to destroy the world through your self-centered hatred.
I want a giant robot.
BAH! He has a GIANT ROBOT. Who needs a girlfriend if you have one of those? Besides, as anime has taught me, the guys with giant robots get the babes (most of the time).
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