Real World robots are on their way, IMO.

Ley Line walkers, Juicers, Coalition Troops, Samas, Tolkeen, & The Federation Of Magic. Come together here to discuss all things Rifts®.

Moderators: Immortals, Supreme Beings, Old Ones

Shark_Force
Palladin
Posts: 7128
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:11 pm

Re: Real World robots are on their way, IMO.

Unread post by Shark_Force »

power supply is one problem with RL giant robots. but not remotely the only one. or the most difficult one to solve.

the main problem is that the humanoid form is not generally useful for large vehicles. it's great for exoskeletons, because we have created an environment designed to function for human-sized, human-shaped things. but if we hadn't created such an environment, for the most part we'd be better off with a wheeled, tracked, or other more standardly propelled vehicle rather than putting legs on anything.

for any war machine or construction machine or other use for a massive robot you can think of, legs are simply not an ideal solution the vast majority of the time, and that problem is going to stick around until we create an environment that is best suited for giant humanoid robots. which basically means that giant humanoid robots are going to remain something that you only own as a hobbyist for the foreseeable future (most likely, such robots will not be using small nuclear reactors for a variety of reasons).

it is still a pretty interesting development though :P
User avatar
Blue_Lion
Knight
Posts: 6226
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2001 1:01 am
Location: Clone Lab 27

Re: Real World robots are on their way, IMO.

Unread post by Blue_Lion »

From a military stand point Gaint humanoid shape robots are not very sound idea. Hard to hide a 40' tall walking tank. Humanoid walking is close to constant falling would not take much to go wrong to trip it and make it fall. The impact on the ball of a 180 pound soulders foot is around 550 pounds. How would the ground react to a 40 ton humanoids robots foot steps. (I would say depending on the speed of the foot falls it is likely to be well over 120 tons at the point of impact.)

Now in pop culture they are cool, and lets face it the best thing since flight.
The Clones are coming you shall all be replaced, but who is to say you have not been replaced already.

Master of Type-O and the obvios.

Soon my army oc clones and winged-monkies will rule the world but first, must .......

I may debate canon and RAW, but the games I run are highly house ruled. So I am not debating for how I play but about how the system works as written.
guardiandashi
Hero
Posts: 1437
Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:21 am

Re: Real World robots are on their way, IMO.

Unread post by guardiandashi »

TheGrayRaven wrote:Granted, we already have robots, but what I am referring to is robot vehicles and potentially power armor.

Lockheed says makes breakthrough on fusion energy project by Andrea Shalal

from the article...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp said on Wednesday it had made a technological breakthrough in developing a power source based on nuclear fusion, and the first reactors, small enough to fit on the back of a truck, could be ready for use in a decade.

Tom McGuire, who heads the project, said he and a small team had been working on fusion energy at Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works for about four years, but were now going public to find potential partners in industry and government for their work.

Initial work demonstrated the feasibility of building a 100-megawatt reactor measuring seven feet by 10 feet, which could fit on the back of a large truck, and is about 10 times smaller than current reactors, McGuire told reporters.

In a statement, the company, the Pentagon's largest supplier, said it would build and test a compact fusion reactor in less than a year, and build a prototype in five years.


100 Megawatts is enormous. The ability to fit into the back of a truck is roughly small enough to fit in a big robot vehicle and 100 megawatts should power it. I'm guessing that a house would average 1000 watts, or one kilowatt, so 100 Megawatts can power 100,000 homes on average. Also, with things like robot exoskeletons that have actually been built and work, the real drawback is their requirement to be "plugged in" due to not being able to carry a strong enough power supply. This might do it. :D

A few other notes:

power of a diesel locomotive: most < 4 MW, one up to 14 MW
Boeing 747: average of 140 MW, can put out up to 190 MW

Just some food for thought...

the estimate from the site was actually ~80,000 houses for the 100mw generator
User avatar
Blue_Lion
Knight
Posts: 6226
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2001 1:01 am
Location: Clone Lab 27

Re: Real World robots are on their way, IMO.

Unread post by Blue_Lion »

A quick google shows

"As an electrical engineer for a power company I see on average a house that is 1600-2000 square feet and having electric appliances except for the furnace use an average of 1500Kwatt-hours per month making 50 Kwatt-hours per day and a total of 18,000 Kwatt-hours per year."

http://www.answers.com/Q/How_much_elect ... r_per_year

So 100,Mwats hour can power one house for 5.55 years. or about 50,000 houses for 1 hour.
The Clones are coming you shall all be replaced, but who is to say you have not been replaced already.

Master of Type-O and the obvios.

Soon my army oc clones and winged-monkies will rule the world but first, must .......

I may debate canon and RAW, but the games I run are highly house ruled. So I am not debating for how I play but about how the system works as written.
Post Reply

Return to “Rifts®”