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Remember the Imperial Walkers from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi? What if we were to build vehicles like that for getting around Mars? Star Wars basically had two kinds, the two-legged "chicken walkers" found on the Forest Moon of Endor, and the four-legged "snow walkers" found on the planet Hoth. Now in the real world, could there be any reason to use legged walkers instead of wheeled rovers? Certain types of terrain might not be so conducive to wheeled vehicles, such as boulder fields or very fine sandy areas such as dune fields. What do you think?
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I'm not totally sure what the underlying tradeoff here is. My guess would be that legs are more efficient but also more complicated. Wheels are simpler but if we're doing some kind of man amplifying suit it would make a lot of sense for the legs to be mobile.
-Josh
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Just as long as they're not top heavy... something like a bigger big dog, perhaps.
Use what is abundant and build to last
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Don't we have all the elements of a Space Western?
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The US Army has done experiments with walking machines, inspired actually by the good results they previously had with pack mules. Walking machines are very difficult to implement on anything but a paved floor, but, if implemented successfully, they can go where wheeled vehicles cannot. It's a very rough-country application. Your other choice is a vertical takeoff/landing flying machine, and even that gets restricted by a suitable landing spot.
GW
GW Johnson
McGregor, Texas
"There is nothing as expensive as a dead crew, especially one dead from a bad management decision"
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The other thing about flying machines is that they use a lot of fuel/power which makes it hard for them to work for a very long time. Not something you really want to risk on a planet with no breathable external air.
-Josh
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The US army have trialled 'robotic dogs' for carrying packs and other heavy equipment over rough terrain. So the technology is feasible and indeed already exists.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BigDog
An advantage over wheeled vehicles might be reduced dust contamination. With wheeled vehicles moving parts are always down in the dirt. It might also be easier over rougher terrain. A disadvantage of the robodog would appear to be its complexity. Not an easy thing to repair if it breaks down on Mars.
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The US Army has done experiments with walking machines, inspired actually by the good results they previously had with pack mules. Walking machines are very difficult to implement on anything but a paved floor, but, if implemented successfully, they can go where wheeled vehicles cannot. It's a very rough-country application. Your other choice is a vertical takeoff/landing flying machine, and even that gets restricted by a suitable landing spot.
GW
I really must learn to read through other posts before I post.
I remember being given a demonstration of robodog as part of my nuclear engineering degree. They were talking about using similar devices for inspection and decommissioning of seriously hot facilities, i.e. inside AGR and Magnox pressure vessels and fission product contaminated reproccessing plants. It was difficult not to be impressed. The control system was able to cope with al sorts of obstacles. I remember one researcher pushing the dog from the side and it actually corrected its stance and posture like a real animal.
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This topic was created in 2013, and it has been waiting for an update.
I'd like to begin this refresh with a quote from Antius:
The US army have trialled 'robotic dogs' for carrying packs and other heavy equipment over rough terrain. So the technology is feasible and indeed already exists.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BigDog
An advantage over wheeled vehicles might be reduced dust contamination. With wheeled vehicles moving parts are always down in the dirt. It might also be easier over rougher terrain. A disadvantage of the robodog would appear to be its complexity. Not an easy thing to repair if it breaks down on Mars.
In another topic created recently, Calliban has been considering heavy machinery for the Moon.
One of the issues that any machine on the Moon must deal with is dust that can destroy any bearing surfaces in short order if it gets into a crevice.
A solution might be a walking machine instead of a tracked or wheeled one.
There is no limit to the number of legs that might be designed into such a machine.
Earth has produced centipedes and even millipedes, although I doubt there are any creatures that actually have 1000 legs. (*)
A machine designed for construction on the Moon might have appendages totally enclosed in cloth to keep dust out of the mechanisms inside.
Gas pressure inside the envelope might help to keep lunar dust from penetrating where small openings might occur in the fabric.
(*) To my surprise, a creature was found with more than 1000 legs:
Despite the common name, no millipede was known to have 1,000 legs until 2021: common species have between 34 and 400 legs, and the record is held by Eumillipes persephone, with individuals possessing up to 1,306 legs – more than any other creature on Earth.
Millipede - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Millipede
(th)
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