Modelcollect

[scooter]

I need to study ants moving.
Plenty of them in the yard to look at tomorrow.

Don't forget to use a magnifying glass.

[rickshaw]

Walking tanks suffer from multiple problems such as:

High ground pressure
High C of G
Generally slow speed (and clumsy gait).

Their legs are vulnerable,  They cannot carry as much armour plate as a tracked or wheeled vehicle can.  They suffer balance problems when struck by a projectile and when they fire their main guns.

I have never understood the Sci-Fi universe(s) fascination with them, myself.  Tracked and wheeled vehicles out perform them in most ways.

The idea of giant walking robots is another thing I don't understand the way some authors are fascinated with.

However, they sell comics/books/movies/TV series, particularly in Japan.   

[Old Wombat]

Mind you, you could say the same about hover-tanks/trucks/jeeps/etc. from a purely technical & practical aspect.

The fascination with bipedal robots is primarily for the purposes of anthropomorphisation & viewer/reader engagement with the mechanical protagonist.

The super large combat suits is largely about giving immense power & strength to an otherwise unremarkable human being, to Average Joe Bloggs. Again, someone the viewer/reader can relate with, someone like themselves, & giving them the power that they don't have to change the World.

Practically; lighter, quadruped/hexaped walking robots for the purposes of logistics transport could have a place in rugged terrains where vehicles can't go but mules & humans can. Your biggest problem is a suitable power supply & refuelling/re-charging of the power source without having to take excessive amounts of fuel (may as well use mules & carry their food) or having to pause for half a day to charge the batteries with a pedal generator or solar panels.

Anthropoid robots may also have a place in society, being able to enter spaces designed for human access in environments which have become hostile to human survival, in the emergency services.

[PR19_Kit]

My concern would be for the crews of such vehicles.

The vertical, longitudinal and lateral ride during 'walking' over even level terrain would be horrendous, accelerations in all three directions would be excessive I'm sure. And as for 'walking' over rough terrain, the mind just BOGGLES at the forces they'd be subjected to!

Quite how a weapons system would handle such movement is also open to question. No doubt with modern gyro-stabilised and computer driven auto-stability systems keeping the weapons on target it would be possible, albeit with huge power loading, but in earlier years it would have needed the 'walker' to stop before aiming and firing.

[Dizzyfugu]

I need to study ants moving.
Plenty of them in the yard to look at tomorrow.

Don't forget to use a magnifying glass.

Phasmatodea might be even better benchmarks - and IIRC, these animals are actually used as benchmarks in robotics that try to mimic animal movement.

[Madoc]

Yeah, the US Army investigated "walking" vehicles in the late 50s and early 60s.  They made some lab test articles but nothing beyond that.  The things were too heavy, too complex, and too cumbersome to be of much use.  They envisioned the walkers to operate in terrain so broken that even tracked vehicles couldn't negotiate it.  Things like heavily forested mountainsides and jungles.  The walkers would step through the trees and easily be able to handle the broken terrain under them.

The mechanics of it proved too difficult for the tech of the day as it was hydraulic and electric motor with transistor type control mechanisms.

Today's tech has significantly advanced for walking machines.  Just look at the various products to come out of Boston Dynamics, for just one example of a company now making such machines.

The Imperial Walkers were described as being made that way partly for the psychological effect on the foes facing them.  As a visual, yeah, that works.  In the Star Wars universe.  In reality?  Not so much...

As far as the functionality of a walking vehicle goes, you can do it with four legs as that provides the minimum stable base to allow the other legs to lift up and take the next step.  That's something which the two legged Star Wars walkers and all the other mecha two legged machines never actually do right.  A biped walker would have to be actively balanced just like humans do in order to stay upright.  But they look cool.

[zenrat]

 

I need to study ants moving.
Plenty of them in the yard to look at tomorrow.

Don't forget to use a magnifying glass.

You haven't met an Australian Bull Ant have you?

[Old Wombat]

Bull Ant:

https://australianmuseum.net.au/bull-ants

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrmecia_(ant)

[Rheged]

I need to study ants moving.
Plenty of them in the yard to look at tomorrow.

Don't forget to use a magnifying glass.

You haven't met an Australian Bull Ant have you?

No, nor have I any desire to do so!

[Thorvic]

Photos starting to appear on their FB page with test shots of the P1000 Ratte, lower hull, wheels, tracks and Turret.

Also show for us Cold War fans are painted up test shots of the Tomahawk GLCM and Pershing II NATO truck and launcher builds

[zenrat]

One of the not so LHSs stocks Modelcollect kits.
They are not cheap.

[chrisonord]

One of the not so LHSs stocks Modelcollect kits.
They are not cheap.

You can buy directly from the factory too Fred, might be a cheaper option for you.
Chris

[tigercat]

The Ratte weapons set might work nicely for a futuristic warship weapons outfit

[Dizzyfugu]

From the Nuremberg toy fare. A bit scary...

[PR19_Kit]

They couldn't find the big one then?