Corvis (temp bot name) rough ideas.

[Bacon Wizard]

Two reasons joey,

One is that kevlar is great against an impact since the fibres don't break and it acts like a safety-net, containing the impact. But anything that might force its way between the fibres, such as a highly pointed object can get through.

Sheer-thickening fluid made with silica, solves this. I suspect tiberious wouldn't get through.. BUT, you don't need penetration to do damage: The armour underneath could still be cracked or bent by tiberious and damage done to the internals or overall structure. I am not sure whether I'd prefer to be punctured in one spot, actually!

More conventional materials yes, but I'm looking for weight save at all opportunities.


The second reason for using it, would be that I'm thinking in terms of having the armour plates (each of which is small, and many of them layered-up) attached to the spaceframe with some slower-acting non-newtonian foam bushes and springs. Shock absorption, basically. I am not totally convinced on that one, yet...

With regard to weaponry, I plan to try the crossbow style actuator first because it has the likelihood of storing a huge amount of force for little weight using carbon fibre.

I have a more reliable plan as backup, but which is far heavier. I feel that it is too easy to overestimate how much weight benefit I gain for walking, since the walker is complex and therefore heavy anyhow, and it has to drag that extra weight around making it even less efficient yet again.

It may be that what I end-up with is dictated by cost as much as anything of course. That's the most likely picture.