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Submitted via IRC for SoyCow4408
Kalashnikov Concern, a Russian manufacturer known for the AK-47 assault rifle, is thinking pretty big these days when it comes to new defense machines. The company unveiled a concept for a bipedal battle robot this week and all I can think about are the two-legged AT-STs from Star Wars.
The Kalashnikov creation seems to be solidly in the concept realm right now. It looks like its main job is to just stand there and look cool.
It has a couple of grabby arms and hands reminiscent of the Power Loader suit from Aliens and a large cabin at the top where presumably a human driver would sit to control the machine. It looks a bit top-heavy and not quite as lithe as an AT-ST.
Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/kalashnikov-battle-robot-concept-looks-like-a-star-wars-at-st/
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by Arik on Monday August 27 2018, @01:45AM (7 children)
This thing looks like an ultralight "battlemech." Too small to call it that without scarequotes. Neat concept but I bet they haven't worked out the problems with the suspension yet.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 27 2018, @01:54AM (1 child)
Didn't the movie Avatar feature something like that?
(Score: 2) by Arik on Monday August 27 2018, @02:27AM
Starship troopers had a similar concept in the PAPA suit, but the scale was different. In a PAPA suit, the operators leg would extend partway into the leg of the machine, for instance, so operating it was something like walking on stilts. Heinlein might not have been the first to mention such a concept but to my knowledge he was the first to go into many words on it. That was in 1959. There have been many variations on the theme since.
The full Battlemech style exoskeleton is much larger, and the 'pilot' sits in a cockpit and operates the limbs remotely.
The AMP suits in the movie Avatar are more like tiny mechs than oversized PAPA suits IIRC, and I'd say the same of this Kalashnikov.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday August 27 2018, @02:57AM
Fling a box of ball bearings under those feet, and it'll fall over.
Then, just smash the windows and you can
eat the juicykill the operator.(Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Monday August 27 2018, @03:00AM (2 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2, Funny) by oldeschool on Monday August 27 2018, @04:03AM (1 child)
ED-209 the future of law enforcement.
Not good with stairs.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday August 27 2018, @08:16AM
Yeah, if it says that you have five seconds to comply, you better try to reach the next stairs in that time.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by driverless on Monday August 27 2018, @02:44PM
It's the AK-209. You'd better learn the Russian for "you have thirty seconds to comply" pretty quick.