MACU-2 Snow Leopard/MIU-1 Kodiak MK3

[Berkut]

its smaller, a person is about knee height, I had a comparison somewhere at the beginning of the thread.

lol, I was kidding about about engineering, I wish. It can side step, both hip and ankle connections are ball joints. Yeah the controls are realistic (no neural interfaces) but largely the computer helps the pilot out a lot, same as controlling a mech in like MechWarrior or ArmoredCore games, most movement is conducted by keyboard/joysticks while aiming is conducted by the helmet (the currently selected weapons aim straight in the middle of where you look). Although it is near future I want these things to still be impressive displays on the battlefield, not just a walking tank, its meant to be a shock troop that can cut through enemy lines with ease and finish the battle quickly, thats why I wanted some speed.

[docprice]

here is an idea

Take the jump jet idea. Angle the engine exhaust port ar a more horizontal angle, add in thrust vectoring nozzles. Keep in mind, this is not for sustained flights or short jumps, but assisted burst of speed for running.

The engines fire to assist with running speed so that there is less stress on the servo motors for the legs. the thrust vectoring comes in for terrian tracking so you have a constant level angle of thrust despite your terrain(referance M1A1 Abrams barrel track system). This is for limited distance. 80-100 kph for about 250-300 meters burst. They dont have to be huge engines since the primary motor for the movent is the main Servo motor, These secondary jet engine can be small and are only intended for assisted running.

What do you think about that.

[Berkut]

I thought about that before, but I was wondering if it would have difficulty keeping its footing with such an extreme burst of acceleration/speed (I think with jet engines it would be going a hell of a lot more than 80 kph). I may just leave this design as is, relying on its powerful main engine for speed. And possibly incorporate some high speed systems into future designs, considering it from the start rather than an afterthought like it ended up here.

[Berkut]

soooo yeah, I kinda ended up doing the high speed mode anyways, heh. In walking mode the rear ball/wheel is locked in place. In driving mode the front toe is lifted a bit while the front ball is lowered. Both front and rear balls have 360 degree rotation so the unit can drive in any direction. The only downside being that a relatively flat/hard surface is required to drive. I'll prolly add speed assist jet engines tomorrow (for some reason when I think of that I keep remembering the coyote on rollerskates with jet engines in those roadrunner cartoons).

[Mach Crit]

I really like the progress on this. The coil guns and artillery pack are most impressive. I think the legs are detailed enough. As far as greebles go, the only thing I could think to put on them aside from armor attach points would be vents and/or heatsinks in less exposed places and some sort of maintenance attach points. Tanks and other armored vehicles have these hooks and loops about them for attaching tools and supplies (although I don't see the bagged groceries type stuff on a mech). Some attach points are welded on for depot maintenance (how else do you move a leg from one part of the shop to another?). There might also be some small access ports for hydraulics and maintenance access.

The wheels in Heavy gear always felt so silly to me. It looked like the kid at the mall with the roller heel shoes. Plus, it wouldn't work on any soft surface unless the wheels were huge by comparison (rollers without tracks? 5 or more inline but wide).

It might be interesting to work up some spring action assist to the legs for some kind of jack rabbit distance hopping. I am thinking a capacitor charged heavy actuator that works on the hip/thigh joint and sends something to the toes. You would get a couple of good bounces for a short (say 1-3Km?) burst at a higher rate of speed. The coil packs would have to recharge and their use under heavy fire might be limited when using the coil gun (which would have a bad affect on accuracy anyway...) It might take 1 or 2 minutes to recharge the packs between jumps. This isn't for height, but for distance. Kind of the "7 league boots" .

As far as a hot drop, the rocket assist landing would be external one shot pods that drop off when the mech flexes its legs on landing. They would be installed in the drop carrier.

[docprice]

The Heavy Gear system for High speed movement is nice in theroy i didnt like the execution of it. Im more in favor for the energized spring fireing system for short distance speed runs. Then as your story line progresses and battle field data comes back you can rethink for new version. Gen 2,3,4, and so on. lol you can even take this story line to a "first contact scenario" Theese machines can be the saveing grace for the human race or you make friends with the ET's and they show you how to make them better.

OOOOOO the possiblitys are astounding. lol.

[Berkut]

thanks for the replies guys

@Mach Crit, yeah basically the wheels are only for roads. Its just more of a fast way to move the unit around same as modern tanks/apcs still generally move around on roads, and go through crappy terrain only if they have to or for combat. They can also be used in city terrain very effectively. Thanks for the ideas on greebles.

@docprice, yeah this is a generation 2 unit of the EU. Basically I will have different types of experimental technologies for all the alliances. (That is if I manage to start finishing wips).

[Meph]

Originally Posted by Berkut

(for some reason when I think of that I keep remembering the coyote on rollerskates with jet engines in those roadrunner cartoons).

LOL, yeah, but this one looks like he might actually hit something

Good job on the meachanics there mate

[docprice]

ooooo

Electromagnetic Mass Driver. PEW PEW LAZORZ.

[Berkut]

@Meph, thanks. Yeah lets hope so, lol.

@docprice, huh? Isn't a coil gun technically an electromagnetic mass driver?