Let's make a Power Armour.

[Roseweave]

You know, I think it'd be pretty easy to do some kind of RIDER type outfit.

I mean, it won't be uber, but basically, all you need to do is make it armoured, with some kevlar and what not, and throw in some gadgets that'd make it useful in a fight. Then, you can take on THREE Drunkards at once! And be a justice hero.

I was thinking of having a capacitor system similiar to a camera flash connected to a steel forward toe on a boot - that releases a large electrical burst on contact(or when you say RIDER KICK). If you kicked someone even softly with that, it'd smart, and probably spark and smoke. Since you'd be using it as your FINISHER, you could drain a whole load of the battery in one guy. Trying to find such a battery that you could very quickly UNLEASH THE FURY WITH might be troublesome.

You could add other cool **** like Wolverine claws or some kind of variable hand weapon like in Bubblegum Crisis(but a lot cruder).

I'm wondered how you could actually make it "Powered armour" though in the sense that it helps drive your movements. You'd have to make this very limited though, as it would strain quite a bit. I think maybe just using electrical current and various gimmicks to add strength to your attacks might be the best idea; and of course having hard knuckles and toes.

What other stuff could you feasibly add to an affordable powersuit made with simple modern day tech?

 

[Severed Bread]

Seems a little... I dunno, overly ambitious.

Sure, armour is do-able. It'll be expensive as all hell, but you can armour up a guy head to toe in Kevlar if need be. Flexibility would be an issue at each of the joints... As for electrical based attacking, that again while it seems do-able may be trickier than it seems. That's before getting onto the sticky issue of how to make it "powered".

I think ultimately, we'd have to be looking at this from a millitary perspective. That's the only way you'd find funding for the R&D never mind the final prototype's construction.

1) What Battlefield Role would this weapon fill?
That would seem to be close quarters fighting, probably for special/black ops teams like the SAS. Problem is, powered armour doesn't lend itself to stealth. Sure, you could kill a man by punching him through a wall in power armour, but if you're the best of the best with honours in a hostile situation, a knife in the ribs is a surer way than any, and it's quieter.

2) How Expensive would it be?
IMHO, massively. A country is willing to spend a stupid amount on its defence budget... I know F22's aren't cheap. Heck, isn't there now a US Naval Vessel with a multi-billion dollar Mag-Rail? So sure, stupid expense, may not be as much of a biggie... However...

3) What BENEFIT would it offer?
F22's can target and destroy hostiles over the curvature of the Earth. Mag Rails, if ever perfected, made into man portable devices, would alter the face of War utterly. What good would powered armour do? It's more expensive than Kevlar and a Rifle, harder to maintain, primarily used at close quarters, not as certain a kill as a rifle...

I just don't see powered armour ever being a concievable millitary project, not until we're dealing with Space-Based War, or on hostile potentially hazardous to human-life worlds in which armoured spacesuits/haz suits may be useful. Among human to human war, it seems unlikely.

The other path of course, is the crackpot inventor / billionaire playboy / both. For something as simple as a gun, it needs regular maintenance, constant care, and when all's said and done it's a pretty simple mechanism, soldiers get good at it through practice, through drilling. But if you're dealing with a prototype, there is no drill. You can maintain as best you can, but if something goes wrong, solving it may take an entire team of experts.

Finally, there's the Australian Outlaw who's name I forget...sorry... Who dressed in pots and pans as armour. It worked pretty well, but he was shot dead by the police. And really, that's the crux of the vigilante issue. If one wanted to make a one-off suit, assuming you were engineering whizz enough to do it and maintain it, you could never hide it. It wouldn't be something you could walk around it, solve a crime, then go off into the night. You'd need to be deployed where you were most needed, which would require a massive support network. Failing that, you'd need the support of a local police force, which brings it more into the realm of SWAT teams, which are all pretty well covered by what I mentioned in Millitary application.

I dunno...

I'm sorry if I seem harsh, or like I'm shitting on your sunshine. Honestly, going through all that I feel pretty **** too... I LOVE the idea of powered armour, of suiting up, of the whole Henshin Heroics stuff. But it's all very sci-fi sadly, and I doubt we'll ever see working powered armour, except as a gimmick at technology expos for example. Sorry... :disappoin

 

[Roseweave]

Kevlar is not that expensive. Obviously, it'll probably end up being the main cost since there's so much of it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bullet-Proof-Ve...yZ102537QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Multiply that by about 4 and you're covered. So $1000. Given how little the dollar's worth, that's not all that much.

The electronics for RIDER KICK and RIDER PUNCH themselves will cost very little. Some thick rubber wiring (VERY thick unless you want to shock yourself); a battery located perhaps on a belt, a couple of capictors robbed from cheap cameras, and a wire connected up to a metal plate. I doubt this set up would cost more than $100. It's just an elaborate DIY stungun.

http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...trt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=32&fsoo=2

Stunguns are not expensive. You could buy a bunch and rip out the electronics, and there you go, your kick now has the power of 4 stunguns in your kick, which would probably be fairly nasty even if 1 is fairly weak on it's own.

The actual armour "Plating" and metal bits maybe about $200-300 or so. The plating would mostly be for show - but it would also be yet another layer to penetrate, so it would be adding to your overall level of protection. Just get some cheap pieces of metal and spraypaint them the colour of your choice. Dent them back into place whne done. Will look awesome and steampunk.

So, about $1400, putting it, really, in the hobbyist's domains. And if you were buying that much Kevlar, you'd probably get some kind of discount, heh. Or you could find another material that might work better for the arms. But Kevlar is good stuff.

 

[DarkWolf]

The armor part of it is completely feasible, even with current tech. Although, it'll be even better once we start seeing new materials with the advent of nano technology. :thumbs:

Making it powered to assist movement, however, is still in its infancy, even on the military level. Not to mention when it does become mainstream it'd be just a tad out of the average nerd's budget methinks... heh.

A cool-looking non-powered suit would be good enough IMO.

That rider-kick system idea is brilliant and simple, but I can't imagine what kind of battery (in a compact enough size) could give you enough juice to have much effect. They need to start making Lithium ion batteries bigger! hehe... :sweat:

Gotta watch those amps though. Too high and you'll kill someone. Wait... isn't that the idea? Forget I said anything! :laugh:

 

[Roseweave]

The armor part of it is completely feasible, even with current tech. Although, it'll be even better once we start seeing new materials with the advent of nano technology. :thumbs:

Making it powered to assist movement, however, is still in its infancy, even on the military level. Not to mention when it does become mainstream it'd be just a tad out of the average nerd's budget methinks... heh.

A cool-looking non-powered suit would be good enough IMO.

That rider-kick system idea is brilliant and simple, but I can't imagine what kind of battery (in a compact enough size) could give you enough juice to have much effect. They need to start making Lithium ion batteries bigger! hehe... :sweat:

Gotta watch those amps though. Too high and you'll kill someone. Wait... isn't that the idea? Forget I said anything! :laugh:

It can still be a power suit if it's still "powering" certain gadgets or things you do - like adding a quick electric shock to your kicks and punches, and a large discharge(heh heh) for your RIDER KICK. Also, adding a small electric shock on contact with your punchs kicks and chops would make the other person think they're taking more damage than they actually are, due to spasming. It would FEEL like you're hitting them harder, to them.

You'd just need 4 of whatever batteries the 4 stunguns use. Though looking at some of the ones on eBay, maybe 2 or 3 might be safer than 4.