Ever imagine how you climb into a giant robotic suit and fight, or lift heavy objects, flip cars? The films show that this is an affordable pleasure. In fact, creating such a device from a blueprint can be a huge challenge.
For many decades, we have become accustomed to thinking that the battlefield of the future will look exactly like this: giant robots in which people sit (or better not sit). These titanic monsters - better known as' Mechs - have become synopsis of sorts for the wars of the future. Piloted robots first appeared in Japanese anime, but very soon migrated to the Western world through all sorts of serials. Hollywood movies like Aliens, Avatar, and Pacific Rim did a great job of showing how it should look.
Films are films, but how real are such projects in reality? When will we see people piloting giant robots?
Jordan Weissman of Harebrained Schemes made Mech-themed BattleTech games in the 1980s. He took a relatively down-to-earth approach when he conceived his Mechs compared to previous examples. Jordan imagined mechs built from a steel frame surrounded by electrically charged artificial muscles that move joints, with a gyroscopic stabilizer and an onboard power station.
Jordan's basic message is clear enough. Artificial musculature was to some extent like electroactive polymers. “The electrical beams that expand or contract when electricity is passed were the muscles in our bellows,” says Weissman. “Thirty years later, the same material is now being used in the development of prostheses.”
One of the reasons the human shape attracts designers is its special ergonomic design. “Human anatomy is incredibly effective for walking on rocks and roads,” explains Rob Buckingham, director of Race at the Culham Science Center. "Just look at a soldier who can carry several times his own weight across any terrain." However, walking on two legs requires special dexterity, and maintaining balance can be very difficult.
Also, how do you manage a three-meter giant? Professor Setu Vijayakumar of the Edinburgh Robotics Center proposes a combination of teleoperation and an automated system that reacts to the pilot's intent. “The high-level intent will come from the operator, but a lot of low-level control will be built into the platform, like maintaining balance while walking,” Setu says.
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In fact, making a human-controlled bipedal mech will be easier than making a stand-alone one. “This is a completely feasible type of technology. More likely than an autonomous system, since a fully autonomous system has a lot of problems in terms of sensory and contextual decision making."
However, any type of telecontrol system will require a communications platform that is tamper-proof and fault-tolerant and capable of handling 500,000 operations per second.
There is also the question of what energy the fur will operate on. Weissman thought the BattleTech Mechs would run on fusion reactors, but given today's factory-sized fusion reactors, this is unlikely. The 'Mechs at the Pacific Rim used conventional nuclear fission reactors, which do provide high power output, but are extremely unsafe. “Battery technology and energy density are lagging behind theoretically possible,” Setu says. "Research is underway, but it is still in its infancy in terms of what can be done."
Providing the pilot with contextual information and situational awareness is another challenge. “We've made progress with real-time control, such as balance,” Setu says. "The problem is we know how to do it, but when working with real-world sensors, any slight deviation in the sensors will shut the system down."
Vibration feedback - like the one found on game joysticks - is useful for determining whether you are touching something or not. But providing the pilot with extra sensations that add context to what the robot is experiencing carries the risk of overwhelming the pilot with unnecessary information.
Naturally, the more you build something, the heavier it becomes. The pressure exerted on a surface is the force divided by the area. When you have a two-legged system, like a fur, most of the mass is concentrated in two legs. This creates a “hairpin effect” where all the weight is concentrated in a small area. “If you take a woman and concentrate all of her in a quarter of an inch in a stiletto heel, she can punch through a fair amount of material,” says Weissman.
The Germans faced a similar problem in the development of the Maus super-heavy tank during World War II. Weighing 188 tons, it passed the tests on reinforced concrete well, but at the first field test it got stuck in the ground.
Another problem would be getting the fur to walk. The gyro stabilizer already allows machines like cruise ships to self-balance. Nevertheless, the act of walking is a very unstable process. People walk by stepping forward and placing their weight on their legs. And the higher the object, the harder it is to balance.
Kuratas developed by Suidobashi Heavy Industry and Mark-2 developed by MegaBots, both claimed as' Mechs. Although they both mimic human form, the robots rely on wheeled movement instead of bipedal movement. One problem is that imitating the human form - which has a well-distributed system of weight and energy - is a challenge for engineers.
The motors in each joint could solve the problem, but such a solution requires heavy motors to support the rest of the body. The motors are relatively heavy, so a lot of weight will be concentrated in the joints and it will be more difficult for the fur to maintain balance.
Research on pneumatic muscles is advancing, but two will be needed for each joint. “From pneumatic muscles, you can create something with five joints,” says Setu. "But when you try to put them together into a two-legged system, everything goes to hell in terms of electronics, routing and wiring."
We have already started production of bellows with the prototype Assist Suit AWN-03 exoskeleton from ActiveLink. This support suit is being developed as a solution to the labor shortage that can arise with an aging population. Forklift trucks and lifts are not suitable for all situations. “There are some isolated fields that cannot be mechanized, and industrial workers will still have to carry heavy objects by themselves,” says Hiromichi Fujimoto, president of ActiveLink.
The next step in the Assist Suit will be to reduce weight and production costs, and then develop a model for heavier work. The new Assist Suit will be able to lift objects that a person would otherwise not be able to lift on their own.
One day we will have human-piloted exoskeletons for moving loads and possibly heavy construction. But giant 'Mechs stepping over buildings will still remain blockbuster material. “In fiction, it all looks pretty, but speaking of practical military transport, you probably don't want it to be tall,” says Weissman.
“In a sense, all the technology is already there,” Setu says. “We’ll make humanoid mechs if we can use them.” Only science fiction writers care whether they will have two arms and two legs."
ILYA KHEL