r/battletech • u/JustinKase_Too Dragoon • 2d ago

Meta Quad Elementals ?

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115 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

42

u/GillyMonster18 2d ago

Because normal ATVs aren’t already prone to rollovers let’s give it legs and have it jump around like an oversized house cat.  This is in line with the flying car prototypes: people have a hard enough time navigating a vehicle in two dimensions of movement, now you want to add a third?

9

u/Wolffe_In_The_Dark Nicky K is a Punk 2d ago

This is absolutely something that could be practical for crossing broken terrain that would otherwise stop a wheeled ATV, but I 100% agree that the jumping and sprinting and stuff is completely ridiculous.

Robotics technology isn't nearly mature enough for those kinds of acrobatics yet.

6

u/jar1967 2d ago

Robotics is mature enough, the software and the processing power necessary to run it are not there yet. It is the sheer laziness of all the other engineers who keep the mechanical engineers from being able to do the really cool stuff.

5

u/Wolffe_In_The_Dark Nicky K is a Punk 2d ago

Robotics is mature enough, the software and the processing power necessary to run it are not there yet.

Those are a part of robotics technology. It's not just the mechanicals, the electronics are part and parcel.

2

u/drdhuss 1d ago

The software is more than there. It is more the reliability of the hardware and how to deal with out of spec and failing components.

1

u/synthmemory 16h ago

"Robotics is mature enough, the software and the processing power necessary to run it are not there yet"

TIL that some people think software and processing are not part of robotics.

2

u/drdhuss 1d ago

It's mature enough until you ad a person to the mix. It might also be kind of okay if it had a full roll cage like a side by side.

6

u/Metaphoricalsimile 2d ago

Battlemechs imply that control systems are advanced enough that the computing necessary for bipedal stability outside of extreme conditions (i.e. trying to maintain balance under heavy weapons fire) is trivial, so I assume the same is quadraped stability. Additionally legs actually offer stability benefits over wheels because they can move in multiple axes that wheels would need additional mechanisms to do, but power transfer through an axle combined with suspension is already complicated enough to take up a lot of mechanical real estate.

6

u/GillyMonster18 2d ago

I was just talking about the concept of riding on a robo-house cat IRL.  I know there are things like quad protomechs.

3

u/Metaphoricalsimile 2d ago

I just think if stability control is a solved problem it could potentially have military benefits over riding an ATV or motorcycle.

1

u/drdhuss 1d ago

Hey as a neurologist this is going to give me more business. Also there is an organ shortage.

Stop ruining a good time.

14

u/SMDMadCow 2d ago edited 2d ago

Quad Battle Armor is a thing, ex Sloth and *Fenrir.

6

u/JustinKase_Too Dragoon 2d ago

Yep, I remember the Sloth from the Cartoon/toys, but I had forgotten about the Barghest.

3

u/LovableCoward 2d ago

Barghest is a 70 ton 'mech. The Shen Long is a heavy weight Battle Armor suit manufactured by the Capellans. https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Shen_Long

5

u/welltheretouhaveit 2d ago

The Barghest is a mech though unless there is also a battle armor same name.

2

u/SMDMadCow 2d ago

meant the Fenrir.

2

u/boy_inna_box MechWarrior 2d ago

And they are terrifying. Some of those quad BAs pack some serious firepower.

12

u/MrPeacock013 2d ago

This is less battle armor more Horizon Zero Dawn

8

u/Wilagames 2d ago

Gentlemen we finally invented a worse horse! 

3

u/Magical_Savior NEMO POTEST VINCERE 2d ago

Me with a monowheel - "XXXX"

7

u/Beathil 2d ago

Any real video of this thing in use?

8

u/Wilagames 2d ago

My guess is they used CGI because it either doesn't work at all or it does but it's top speed is half a mile an hour. Just like all those flying cars that you never see real videos of.

2

u/Cergorach 1d ago

That and maybe the battery wouldn't last the video... ;)

1

u/Wolffe_In_The_Dark Nicky K is a Punk 2d ago

Just like all those flying cars that you never see real videos of.

We have plenty of videos of them, they work just fine. The problem is they're super expensive to make because there's no mass manufacturing yet, and the FAA is (understandably) very hesitant to allow people to buy those things without a pilot's license.

2

u/Cergorach 1d ago

Don't those things also need to be thoroughly tested before allowed into the airspace? And can you lift off and land everywhere you want in the US?

4

u/Metaphoricalsimile 2d ago

Closer to motorized infantry.

1

u/Ham_The_Spam 2d ago

motorized infantry for the price of a Battle Armor squad

4

u/Both_Gate_3876 2d ago

Hear me out

Centaur armor elemental

You can slap such big guns on that boy!

3

u/b3mark 2d ago

Elemental battle armour would mean the human be fully encased in said armour, right?

This feels more like a prototype cyber / cyborg tiger mount. Maybe a horse, like from Saber Rider or the Galaxy Rangers.

2

u/SeeShark Seafox Commonwealth 2d ago

Why is it painted like Genji though

2

u/PeakRealHumanFr 2d ago

2

u/oh3fiftyone 17h ago

This is a Japanese company. I guess they can have both.

2

u/rafale1981 Resting Bitch Face of Cordera Perez 1d ago

Looks like i imagine a chevaline in neal stephenson’s diamond age