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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.
"I'm gonna die surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy." - If this forum was a Mars Colony
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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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