Making the Ultimate Suit of Body Armor

[Toptomcat]

One theme that is consistantly repeated on the Web sites of many body-armor is that no vest or suit is 100% bulletproof. Let's participate in a little thought expiriment to design a suit that is as nearly proof against small arms and, to a lesser degree, other weaponry as is humanly possible.
My first instinct is to take the Ursus Mk VII (http://projecttroy.com.nexx.com/website/suithistory3.htm), replace all cloth used in the suit with Kelvar, add extra layers of Kelvar, and add Level IV ceramic ballistics plating.
Anyone have any ideas to improve on this concept?

[Wild Catmage]

Yeah, combine it with this (http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/03/03_exo.shtml) idea so you can move more easily in it.

The combined idea is very sci-fi and out of range of most people's purchasing power. But in 20 years, who knows...

EDIT - I agree with the thoughts on the technology not being restricted, except by price. And the point on criminals being able to use something cheaper and more easily available.

The device includes a power unit and a backpack-like frame used to carry a large load.

"The legs of an aluminum skeleton hang from Homayoon Kazerooni's backpack, its feet bolted to his boots. The lanky metal framework is part of an experimental robot, powered by a chain saw engine, that rides piggyback on Kazerooni, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He's trying to walk with the contraption, which weighs as much as a grown man. As long as the engine is on, the robot walks with him, and he doesn't even feel the extra weight." - Science News Online (http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20010630/bob8.asp)

A new engine is being developed that will allow the exoskeleton to run for 24 hours. Initially it will burn petrol or butane, but eventually aviation fuel will be used.

In 6 months, the load carrying capacity will almost double, and the control system will become faster. In a few years, maybe running and jumping will be possible.

Did I hear something about a MECH-BOT (http://www.microsoft.com/games/mechwarrior4/) :)

[Arkangel]

Well the first thing to do would be to forget about the suits this guy has designed. I don't know if you've seen the tv programme, but it's worth it, just for comical value. Quite apart from being a general fruitcake, his design showed some pretty major failings in it's given tasks.

That's not to knock what he's achieved in making a protective device, but you wouldn't want to do any fighting in it, any more than you'd want to chase bears.

Why? ZERO mobility.

Picture the scene - after a couple of weeks of trying, they've finally managed to spot a grizzly, three hundred yards across a grassy plain. So his team suit him up double quick, point him in the right direction and off he trundles, until....SPLAT, face down in the grass. So they pick him up again, and SPLAT face down in the grass again, and again and again. Meanwhile the bear's sat down, opened a can of beer and is laughing it's ass off at the show. After half an hour of this, the bear has wandered off, he's exhausted and can't move, and they drag him out of the suit, humiliated.

The same would apply to you. I don't care how tough it is, if you can't move around in something you're fucked, whether it's an abrams or an Ursus. I don't know what environments you're considering using this in, but any tactical situation would be disastrous. I'd just set up a couple of tripwires, then when you're on your face I'd stroll over with a can of gasoline and have myself a nice lil' pot roast.

I'm sure the suit has some applications - mine clearance maybe, or distracting the pit bulls in a crack raid. But don't ever forget that without mobility you're a dead man walking.

(Agreed on the exoskeleton though WC, but the mobility/flexibility issues still applies)

[Cyclo_Knight]

There are a few problems with the exoskeletons they developed at Berkely. Firstly They can only function for a limited time on their battery power, It would be pretty lame to be frozen in place, or facedown on the battlefield with dead batteries. I think your enemies would laugh so hard they'd piss themselves before they put you out of your humiliation. :p

Another obvious problem is that the power and computer are in a backpack the size of Danny DeVito! Massive minaturization is required before it would become useful for a personal (combat) exoskeleton. On top of looking really stupid, that backpack would make a mighty fine target for your enemy. Even a minor hit would completely immobilize you, and an amazing bullet-proof armor suit is totally useless if your stuck!

One more problem is the fact that the algorithms are tailored to level walking, or on a slight incline. The ability to crawl, jump, or even run is still years away. Massive advancements in computer miniturization are needed before the massive computations required can be performed at the speed of battle. In addition the bateries need to be slightly smaller than my ego. ;)

**EDIT**
Catmage...I doubt that this technology will be very restricted in the future, if at all. The only technology which is restricted is that which threatens military superiority, or poses a possible danger to the public. Any application of this technology on a similar scale has little practiality for criminal use.

What do you envision? Perps running from the cops in a new modified Exo-skeleton? Why would someone use a $80,000 exoskeleton to do what a $3,000 Ford pickup or motorcycle can do much faster and easier?!

Obviously if the technology is applied on an extremely large scale, extreme damage could be done. However the technological difference between assisted-movement and a giant fucking MECH-BOT is so considerable, it's like comparing a paper-airplane to a Predator UAV! :rolleyes:
**END EDIT**

[Arkangel]

Afaik those exoskeletons use power from a small internal combustion engine - the sort you have in a strimmer or lawn vacuum.

[Flake2m]

Well advancements in fuel cell technology mean that the power pack needed to for such a gaget is only a few years away from being small enough to fit in a school bag. Even if you solved the power supply problem you'd still need to solve these problems; perspiration, how the hell would would you go to the toilet easily!?!, improving mobility,
sand & grit in the suit and miniturisation.
It wouldn't be that hard to miniturise the circuitry, prototype model tend to be more bulky because the systems are still being debugged and tested.

But other then that the armored suit isn't much different from a suit of armor that knights used to wear in the medieval times. Just replace the sword with a rifle and paint the suit in camoflage and you have a modern day Knight.

[Jacks Complete]

Perhaps needless to say, the whole thing is a bit mad. The research is being paid for by the US DoD, and they have been working on these things for years and years, and getting almost nowhere. In the time it has taken them to develop a bulky prototype, we have seen Honda and others build very capable two-legged robots that can run, jump and climb stairs... and then halve its size!

Of course, power assisted suits are the fat-boy soldiers dream! No more forced marches! 8 foot barbed wire fence? No problem. Double brick wall in the way, punch a hole...

I think we will eventually see things like the Guyver, but whether or not we bother putting someone inside them is a different matter.