Modern "Heavy" Infantry...

[Ideologue]

But how does today's infantryman stack up to an SLBM?  Not well?  Oh.

[jimmy olsen]

Don't worry, DARPA's working on fixing this problem.

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/iron-man-suit-being-developed-us-army-8C11375650

[Brazen]

I'm never sure if these threads are baiting me

Yeah, it was odd CNN dug that up "Iron Man" story yesterday, nothing's really progressed since the programme was announced back in May.

Around the 80s, soldiers were complaining of the "Christmas tree effect", when new gadgets were dangled off them like baubles. Various international Future Solider programmes have sought to integrate them with standard kit (France's FELIN and Norway's NORMANS are not super high-tech but quite far advanced in their delivery), but the truth is the minute a single ounce is shaved off the overall weight, something new is added.

Exoskeletons like HUL, XOS and Hercule are reaching the stage when they are of practical use, but the truth is different types will be used for a single mission - moving heavy gear, traversing difficult terrain - by one individual then removed. They massively compromise motility and armour.

The US especially is interested in pack robots, automated donkeys that can act as a member of a patrol to carry all the extra gear, while automatically following a lead and avoiding obstacles.

But at the end of the day, talking to soldiers, they say any any new space found in their rucksacks will be filled with food and batteries.

At the blue sky thinking end, Boston Dynamics are an unstoppable force. Meet their latest protégé WildCat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE3fmFTtP9g

[grumbler]

At the blue sky thinking end, Boston Dynamics are an unstoppable force. Meet their latest protégé WildCat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE3fmFTtP9g

Unless the term means something different in the UK, this isn't "blue sky thinking" at all, and, of course, naming something"Wildcat" simply shrieks "lack of originality."  It is very nice engineering, but it is marching down a well-worn path.

[Brazen]

Unless the term means something different in the UK, this isn't "blue sky thinking" at all, and, of course, naming something"Wildcat" simply shrieks "lack of originality."  It is very nice engineering, but it is marching down a well-worn path.

Blue Sky thinking has nothing to do with originality, it means what could we do if we didn't have practicalities like cost and immediate utility to contend with. I think it's pretty bloody blue sky thinking that the military will ever have giant robot cats on the battlefield!

It's an untethered version of the same company's Cheetah robot, which sprints at 28.3mph, faster than Usain Bolt 's 20m split. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty ground-breaking.

If not, here's Big Dog lobbing breeze blocks. Scares the willies out of me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jvLalY6ubc

Or, if you want something practical, LS3 carrying 400lbs of load up a rugged mountain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJZQ3n-iQYE

Boston Dynamics win at robots.

[grumbler]

Blue Sky thinking has nothing to do with originality, it means what could we do if we didn't have practicalities like cost and immediate utility to contend with. I think it's pretty bloody blue sky thinking that the military will ever have giant robot cats on the battlefield!

There is  difference then.  In the US, "gblue sky" thinking is thinking not bounded by what exists, or is planned, or by what resources are currently available.  It is thinking about problems from an original viewpoint.  Making the impractical practical is not "blue sky."

It's an untethered version of the same company's Cheetah robot, which sprints at 28.3mph, faster than Usain Bolt 's 20m split. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty ground-breaking.

If not, here's Big Dog lobbing breeze blocks. Scares the willies out of me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jvLalY6ubc

Or, if you want something practical, LS3 carrying 400lbs of load up a rugged mountain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJZQ3n-iQYE

Boston Dynamics win at robots.

Yes, they have some good engineers, as I said.  Engineering is pretty much the opposite of blue sky thinking in US terms, though.

Blue sky thinking in this context might involve, say, hypothesizing how each existing piece of kit could be useful in movement and then converted somehow to be useful in combat; maybe your rucksack could be turned into an assault rifle.

[garbon]

Yay a discussion what blue sky thinking could mean.

[CountDeMoney]

That's Mr. Blue Sky if you're nasty.

[garbon]

Grumbler on left, B on the right.

B: And look at this cool th...
G: Yo, Imma let you finish but first I want to harp on word choice.

[Grey Fox]

This is an interesting article.

[The Brain]

Grumbler on left, B on the right.

B: And look at this cool th...
G: Yo, Imma let you finish but first I want to harp on word choice.

[grumbler]

B on the right, garbon on the left

B: And look at this cool th...
Garbo [interrupting] You haven't said a word about me yet.

[Iormlund]

The US especially is interested in pack robots, automated donkeys that can act as a member of a patrol to carry all the extra gear, while automatically following a lead and avoiding obstacles.

What is their advantage over, you know, actual donkeys?

[citizen k]

The US especially is interested in pack robots, automated donkeys that can act as a member of a patrol to carry all the extra gear, while automatically following a lead and avoiding obstacles.

What is their advantage over, you know, actual donkeys?

Probably feed and less health or injury issues.

[The Brain]

The US especially is interested in pack robots, automated donkeys that can act as a member of a patrol to carry all the extra gear, while automatically following a lead and avoiding obstacles.

What is their advantage over, you know, actual donkeys?

Donkeys are cheaper which means they don't generate as much pork.