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Strapping a high-density power source to a man (or machine) in a bullet ridden environment sounds like a terrible idea. I imagine we'll see progress on this fr
by ethbro 9y ago
Strapping a high-density power source to a man (or machine) in a bullet ridden environment sounds like a terrible idea.
I imagine we'll see progress on this front when there's a breakthrough there. Barring that, you get some analog of the rocket equation: power source + fuel requires armor (for survivability) which means more power and fuel is required, etc etc
- TeMPOraL 9y agoI suppose you can cheat it this way: hide the power source behind just enough armor that when a soldier gets hit with something powerful enough to pierce it, he'll most likely be dead anyway. Another avenue to cheat: put extra armor just around the fuel/power source.
- seanp2k2 9y agoI've seen enough action movies to know that the future is nuclear fuel cells the size of a hydroflask.
- logfromblammo 9y agoIn future Boston, a miniaturized nuclear power cell may be able to power a whole building for 500 years, but it can only handle a mechanized exoskeleton for about 45 minutes.
- swampthinker 9y agoAnd there is an additional settlement that needs saving?
- rangibaby 9y ago> other avenue to cheat: put extra armor just around the fuel/power source. Wouldn't that make it heavier and take away the advantage of having an exoskeleton in the first place? I imagined something like the Soviet "Shtrafbat", battalions made up of prisoners and other undesirables. Of couse the shtrafniks will die in a terrible conflagration when they bump their battery, but think of all the expensive equipment taxpayers can buy for them, and a use for the prison population! Of course the prisoners will be rented to the state for a nominal fee, and there will be compensation to PrisonCo when their property is damaged. It's a win-win-win!
- adrusi 9y agoAs the volume of the battery grows larger, the battery's mass grows cubically while the mass of the armor shielding it grows quadratically. It's nothing like the rocket equation problem.
- konceptz 9y agoNo arguments but payloads and ammo are also things that enter bullet ridden environments.
- chrisbennet 9y agoRifle ammo isn't explosive for the most part. For example, if you left it in a fire, it would cook off. The bullet would stay where it was more or less and the case would split open and fly a little ways.