Mecha and the army I think go hand and hand! Carlos Owens has spent $15,000 on building a mecha that so far can move its arms and body. Keep in mind he is not some high pay Berkeley scientist with some big backing of student researchers! But none the less is on his way to making one that can walk no matter how shaky it is. In the long run to increase or improve a persons work performance from 50 to 200 % with exoskeleton that just straps to the body, still dose not take care of all the other things that a soldier goes up agents on the battlefield. “Carlos Owens says it’s just a prototype, he says, and future models could protect the wearer from chemical and biological attack. Mechas would move smoothly, like people.” I think he is right! It’s the tank of the future with only one soldier needed to run it. Able to go long rang with no more stress on the soldier than if was driving a car. It could take on a small army from long rang like a tank can, or go close up like a platoon of soldiers do. It would take a lot more hits from IED unlike the DARPA legs. The DARPA legs could end up getting in the way when they run out of power! A mecha would be able to run long amounts of time between refueling. With U.S. Casualties at 3849 in Iraq that number could have been cut in half with only 1925 casualties and even less loss to the U.S. as far as money goes. That means that 1925 soldiers would still be going home to their family! A scientist by the name of Yoshiyuki Sankai of the Tsukuba University has an exoskeleton by the name of HAL. There is also a small robot by the name of Plen that can walk and skate with out any type of balancing device. If Carlos Owens had the money and backing to combine the two types of technology he would have his full rang of movement or as Guckert writes. “I must say that his machine is years behind current exoskeleton developments, particularly in the areas of human-machine interface to control software, reduced power supply, safety, stability, agility, size and weight,” Well Guckert, that would fix all of your concerns with Carlos Owens Mecha! To Carlos Owens I hope you make history with your mecha!
