Hey Veeky Forums I'm trying to see if I could make a proof of concept exo skeleton inspired by Fallout 4's power armor...

essentially, the exoskeleton would only function to carry heavy armor, it would allow for increased protection

You'd probably have an easier time marketing it to the military/police forces that would eventually be your costumers if you were selling it as enabling them to carry heavier (traditionally vehicle mounted) equipment such as weapons, detection systems, etc. That way your frame wouldn't require the establishment of both the frame and armor systems, it could get by with simply enabling users to use existing technologies more effectively.

I'd market it to NEET neckbeards in Japan and make a killing.

thats actually a pretty good idea, I was planning on doing just that, I felt that a self-supporting frame that the user steps into would be a better way of creating an exoskeleton than making a model that straps to the user

Modern war favors mobility over armor. Anything more than ceramic body plates does not buy you much in terms of protection. Armor does not withstand very many hits from rifles, so anything that impedes the wearer from avoiding hits is detrimental.

the armor im intending to use will be using more lightweight metals and ceramic in certain points of the armor,

Powered Armor and "Roomba" roomclearer bot following you. Make the connecting cable long enough they can't tell you're right outside the door. I'd say whichever is quieter.

It'd be hilarious watching SWAT in powered armor trying to be sneaky with the floor squeaking and a generator and compressor going on an umbilical. LOL

#with_catlike_tread
youtube.com/watch?v=WdJg6Duzzf4

dude, thatd be hilarious

It would work fine if the generator was far enough away and loud enough they couldn't tell where the powered armor was. The power bot would have to be armored because they could shoot at the sound through the wall.

I thought that I could use a hydrogen fuel cell to power the armor

>I thought that I could use a hydrogen fuel cell to power the armor
Why?
Those things are huge, heavy, and have low peak outputs. Also, hydrogen is a pain in the ass to handle.

ive looked into it, hydrogen has a higher energy out put per kilo than fossil fuels, and they are starting to condense the cells and make them more energy efficient, and you could use tanks to pressurize the hydrogen at around 10,000 psi, and if you needed to refuel, go to the nearest water source,the armor would come with a small electrolysis set to separate the molecules, and the water created from the reaction could be used to hydrate the user (there would also be a system to add minerals to the water to give the user some nutrients)

You'd have something like the vacuums that follow you around but larger; providing electricity and other things. You'd want the armor itself to be as quiet as possible. SWAT would need to be able to stop at gas stations to keep it going if they had multiple calls. Diesel is better if the fuel tank gets hit; it takes longer for a fire to start.

>hydrogen has a higher energy out put per kilo than fossil fuels
Technically yes, but it has an appallingly low energy dentistry and is usually stored in heavy high-pressure tanks. Hence, in practice it's almost always heavier than other fuels.

>and if you needed to refuel, go to the nearest water source,the armor would come with a small electrolysis set
Powered how?

So what do you want out of this thread? Are you trying to build an exoskeleton or just fapping about it?

If you are trying to build one just like fallout to sell to the military, why do you think you would be able to build it, instead of say someone with more resources?

Have you done any estimates at all on power consumption or even specified the exact technical requirements for such a device?

And how are you gonna power the electrolysis system?

>> add nutrients to water
Oh boy so we're gonna feed all our solidiers with soylent, that's gonna be just great for moral.

Even with a good internal power source I'd still want to be connected to a power cart waiting for hours like SWAT does.

essentially, I created this thread to get an idea of where to start, I needed criticisms and suggestions so I decided to come here, I'm seriously considering trying to make this a reality, but I needed to know if it would be possible in the first place, and yes I know that soylent wouldn't be great for morale but that would be able to keep the user alive if somehow they were separated from any nearby forces and had to make due on their own for a while

the electrolysis system would probably have a small solar panel considering you'd want to be light, but then again, it would take weeks at that rate to even get enough fuel to run the suit for a few hours at most

>the electrolysis system would probably have a small solar panel considering you'd want to be light,
I'm done. You clearly haven't even done the slightest research into even the most basic issues here.

It will always come down to power supply. You fix that issue, you fix a lot of world issues.
And also this

and even though im not in the position now to do it, since I'm hoping to work for DARPA or the DoD, I'd be in a better position then to make this a real thing, and for me to get any kind of estimates, I needed to decide on what the armor would use to strengthen the user

if you read further, i said i realized that would take weeks and wasnt viable

i realized that before i even made the thread, that and power supply are the huge issues

ive spent weeks looking into the basics, the power issue is the greatest challenge

Hydrogen makes metals weak. Electrocuted by pee or traumatic blood leaks. Fire risks. Ummm... pneumatic like they use for freeing people from crashed cars sounds good.

that's more so what I was thinking, it's lightweight and is faster than hydraulic cylinders

>> tether
So now some deranged weeb can take a swing at the tether with a wall hanger katana turning said suit into a useless hunk of metal. It's also a trip hazard and greatly limits mobility which you sort of need for swat.

>> keep user alive if separated from nearby forces
And how often does that happen? If you really want useful suggestions interview the people who would actually use it, in real life, not on the internet

Speaking of requirements, one need that comes up from potential users is the ability to get the fuck out of said suit very rapidly when it breaks. Being trapped inside a burning suit is a horrifying way to die

The only jobs at DARPA and the DOD are administrative ones. Both hire profs at universities or private companies to do that sort of work. If you aren't a major defense company you are gonna have a difficult time. If you don't have any background on doing PHd level work on exoskeletons you are SOL.

Oops, the Jaws of Life are hydraulic.

So, you want a robot to use a solar panel to run an electrolysis machine to produce hydrogen to use for fuel? Do you not understand the many things fundamentally wrong with idea?

i was talking about the research and development, places like the aberdeen proving grounds, and the suit would have a low pressure hydraulic system to release the suit from around the user, similar to how the frames are in game, if needed, there could be an emergency system to release all of the air at once in the valves, blowing the caps out, releasing the user.

yes i understand the problems, but im not sure what else to do for fuel concerns, how do you say we could power the suit?

damn, well do you know much about these kinds of things?

Petrol generator.
Anything else is just going to bring a new set of problems with it.

that's honestly looking like the best option, but it might not produce enough energy to power the suit in entirety, how big do you think the generator needs to be to power something like this

OP here, what do you guys think about betavoltaic batteries?

Start with a remote diesel generator for slow starting fires and a non-flammable hydraulic fluid. Avoid a lot of development deaths and equipment destruction; this also cuts down on development delays recovering from these setbacks.

thanks for the suggestion user.

It is more lightweight, but the positional bandwidth(speed) is worse. Pneumatic cylinders can't even reach the required bandwidth for walking. Pneumatic muscles have large hysteresis problems. The efficiency is bad too.

So the thing is pneumatics and hydraulics are just transmission systems. They are just a way to get mechanical power from one place to another. And a very inefficient on at that and because of thermodynamics the efficiency can't get much better either. However, there are no such limits on electromagnetic motors. There are no reasons we can't have a 99.999% efficient electric motor. The only issue is torque density.

>> low pressure hydraulics system to escape
Sweet so now if you get a leak in your hydraulics you're totally fucked!

Excellent! Let's put a bunch of horribly radioactive isotope on something that's gonna get shot at! Oh and betavoltaics have fuck low power densities which means you need a fuck lot of isotope!

this is OP, the betavoltaic batteries wouldnt work out too well considering low power output

>how big do you think the generator needs to be to power something like this
Big enough, then a bit more.
Work out your power demand first, then size the supply.

>what do you guys think about betavoltaic batteries?
That depends, how do you feel about dieing painfully from radiation poisoning?

ok, literally, i realized that betavoltaic batteries wouldnt work before you even replied, and what do you suggest as an escape?
> electromagnetic motors
that would reduce power needs but is there any way to solve the torque density issue, also, aren't they somewhat slow?

>> aberdeen proving grounds
By the time they are working on exoskeleton tech, it's practically done. They don't work on low TRL stuff.

>> replacement for betavoltaics
Don't use so much power in the first place. Also it's not like an exoskeleton needs to run for more than a day without refueling.

>> electric motors slow
The problem is that they are fast with low torque. The power density of brushless motors is incredible. Speed reducers help with the torque density problem. There is a lot of work that can be done in the field of actuators.

.> practically done
seriously? can you show me where I could find info on this

> practically done

go with pneumatic muscles and a really small gas turbine for power. Turbine's compressor can be used to feed pneumatic system.

>video games
shiggy diggy doo