Real Japanese Mecha available for sale

[Colette]

http://www.livescience.com/22007-japanese-robot-smile-command.html

Drives like Natalya's spider tank and features a gun that fires when the pilot smiles.

Discuss.

[Robot Monkey]

And this, gentlemen, is what things like a Third World War would be waged with.

[Thesson]

We're screwed!

[Silverdream]

Close enough.

[Whiteagle]

And this, gentlemen, is what things like a Third World War would be waged with.

Yes, because such a vehicle would play such a CRUCIAL role in combat rolling along at the pace of a slow jog with a highly exposed cockpit...

[Robot Monkey]

And this, gentlemen, is what things like a Third World War would be waged with.

Yes, because such a vehicle would play such a CRUCIAL role in combat rolling along at the pace of a slow jog with a highly exposed cockpit...

Just imagine a horde of these things piloted by gamers. Whoever they'd be fighting would be screwed.

[Colette]

WhiteEagle has a point- in order for a Mecha to be practical in a combat sense, it would have to be like a Knightmare, armed and armored like a tank but incredibly fast and therefore impossible to hit despite the cockpit's bad position.

IRL that role would probably be filled by an armored car.

[Whiteagle]

Yes, because such a vehicle would play such a CRUCIAL role in combat rolling along at the pace of a slow jog with a highly exposed cockpit...

Just imagine a horde of these things piloted by gamers. Whoever they'd be fighting would be screwed.

By... what exactly?
It's pathetic Airsoft-style armaments, which it probably uses because the arms are too weak to lift actual heavy weaponry?
The way it's designed to present the cockpit as a huge target perfect for RPG strikes?

Whiteagle has a point- in order for a Mecha to be practical in a combat sense, it would have to be like a Knightmare, armed and armored like a tank but incredibly fast and therefore impossible to hit despite the cockpit's bad position.

IRL that role would probably be filled by an armored car.

Hell, there's nothing this thing can do that can't be done by a SINGLE INFANTRYMAN, let alone a well equipped squad.

Admittedly, a multiped combat vehicle would be very useful in urban or mountainous terrain... like in Japan... but it's far more likely to a more traditional spider tank; an armored box on legs with a turret on top.

Now, if these guys retooled this design for practical, real world application, then I'll be interested.

[Robot Monkey]

[sarcasm] No, you'd send it to war armed with water bottles and BBs. [/sarcasm]

You'd replace the water bottle launcher and the BB minigun with a rocket launcher and a legitimate minigun, and then armor the cockpit. Very simple solutions to the problems you pointed out.

[Natalya]

The purpose of a mecha is to have the armour and arms of a tank but the mobility of infantry. Once things like this get the mobility bit down we will start to see them. This one is slow because it has a weak engine.

[Zupponn]

I'm not sure if I like a mecha over a tank or vice-versa yet. A mecha will rely on legs to move, meaning that the loss of one of those legs renders it immobile. But on the other hand, you could argue that a tanks treads suffer the same drawback, but with a tank being lower and more compact, the treads seem much easier to protect. Maybe a mecha could see practical use though as a different style of warmachine, rather than trying to replace tanks as I am thinking. Even then, what would win, a tank or a mecha?

[samuelzz10]

who cares. I just think it is fucking awesome.

[Ben-Jammin]

The only really useful thing I see with it is the auto-target thing integrated into the HUD. Put that on a modern tank like an Abrams or T-90 and see how well this thing fights.

I understand that mecha are meant to be lightweight and mobile in most cases, but it just seems rather fragile. Of course the leg thing has already been addressed, but the armor around the cockpit and arms seems very thin, especially in comparison to the rounded, stronger plating on the legs. A few bursts from a heavy machine gun or vulcan could probably tear the upper torso to shreds. Adding extra armor to these areas would improve its survivability, but would make it slower and therefore an easier target. Adding a larger engine would perhaps increase the size and thus be counter-productive by reducing its mobility in a different fashion.

Personally, I could see it as a support unit, but not as a front-line combat unit. The auto-target and "smile-and-forget" feature seem to be the best parts.

[Killer Karetsu]

I prefer skis and a rifle.

[Whiteagle]

[sarcasm] No, you'd send it to war armed with water bottles and BBs. [/sarcasm]

You'd replace the water bottle launcher and the BB minigun with a rocket launcher and a legitimate minigun, and then armor the cockpit. Very simple solutions to the problems you pointed out.

You do realise such armerments would be a helluva lot heavier, right?

The only really useful thing I see with it is the auto-target thing integrated into the HUD. Put that on a modern tank like an Abrams or T-90 and see how well this thing fights.

I understand that mecha are meant to be lightweight and mobile in most cases, but it just seems rather fragile. Of course the leg thing has already been addressed, but the armor around the cockpit and arms seems very thin, especially in comparison to the rounded, stronger plating on the legs. A few bursts from a heavy machine gun or vulcan could probably tear the upper torso to shreds. Adding extra armor to these areas would improve its survivability, but would make it slower and therefore an easier target. Adding a larger engine would perhaps increase the size and thus be counter-productive by reducing its mobility in a different fashion.

Personally, I could see it as a support unit, but not as a front-line combat unit. The auto-target and "smile-and-forget" feature seem to be the best parts.

Yeah, like I said, if this could be retooled into something that could actually do real work, then I'd be interested.
Right now it's just a super sub-compact car with "robotic arm" attachments and REALLY over done hydraulics.