Federacion Research - Infantry Exoskeleton System

[spaero2011]

OOC: So, you've probably been wondering where I've been this past week. Okay, maybe I just have a high opinion of myself. In any case, I've been off on Spring Break, and I'm still trying to figure out how and where to reinsert myself into the RP. Here's a little fun from Iberia to keep y'all interested until I figure out how to get restarted again. /OOC

Official Announcement - Mandato de Operaciones Especiales de la Federacion Iberiana

Doctor Jerome Sanchez, PhD - Ministerio del Defenso

General Hernan Guerra - Jefe del Fuerzo del Mandato de Operaciones Especiales

Project BLUE HELMET

On this date, 15MAR2009, Project BLUE HELMET is declared operationally ready and redesignated as the S.117 Infantry Exoskeleton System. The S.117 consists of the following components:

Exoskeleton Components

1. Frame: The frame of the exoskeleton is composed of aircraft-grade aluminum along the major structural beams (Shins, thighs, spinal segments, upper and lower arms) supported by carbon-fiber struts along non-load-bearing axes.

2. Kinetic enhancement: Using electric motors and hydraulic actuators at major joints, the S.117 augments the strength and speed of the user by a factor of thirty (30) percent.

3. Power Supply: The S.117 is powered by a bank of capacitors incorporated into the dorsal armor of the system. These capacitors can be recharged by connecting with an external power supply, and can also be partially recharged by a regenerative shock absorber system incorporated into the lower arms and upper and lower legs of the exoskeleton.

4. Motor Input: The S.117 takes its input from pressure sensors in the moving segments of the exoskeleton.

Armor Components

1. Undersuit: The undersuit of the S.117 is a three-layer sandwich of Kevlar, Nomex, and another layer of Kevlar, and can be worn by the user outside of the exoskeleton as a combat-area uniform.

2. Large Panels: Large panels of armor cover the head, shoulders (These segments cover the upper arms), lower arms, chest, upper back (This segment incorporates the electrical capacitors), groin, outer thighs, calves, and upper feet. These panels consist of a 1/4" layer of ceramic armor covered by two layers of hardened Kevlar.

3. Helmet: The helmet of the S.117 encases the head of the user and is similar in appearance to the sort of helmet used by moto-cross motorcyclists. It contains several features, which will be explained in a subsequent section; its primary construction is of hardened Kevlar covering a structural ceramic frame. The full-face visor is composed of impact-resistant polycarbonate with a variable tint depending upon the environment.

Helmet Systems

1. Heads-Up Display: The HUD, controllable by an eye-tracking system, shows tactical information collected by sensors within the exoskeleton and transmitted over the Federacion BattleNet, including friendly positions, known enemy positions, available fire and air support, and tactical comm channels open. With properly retrofitted weapons, the HUD also shows a targeting reticle slaved to the weapon, as well as an ammunition count.

2. Communications: The S.117 incorporates the latest-generation (OOC: 2009) SATCOM encrypted radios, as well as line-of-sight infrared laser tactical communications, with a maximum of sixteen (16) available channels per unit. This encryption utilizes frequency-skipping and other classified technologies. (OOC: Unbreakable by 2009 tech, probably breakable by 2012 or later tech)

3. Infrared: The S.117 incorporates infrared vision in a monocle overlay of the HUD, allowing for night vision capabilities.

4. Helmet Lights: The helmet carries an integral LED flashlight and an integral infrared flashlight.

5. Identification: The helmet communications gear includes an IFF transponder, as well as infrared-visible markings for unit and individual identification.

Miscellaneous

1. Temperature Regulation / Hydration: The S.117 incorporates two and a half (2.5) liters of water storage capacity along the lower back, available for drinking and temperature regulation.

2. Camouflage: The S.117 comes with a factory matte-black finish, but can be outfitted with a variety of camouflage patterns to fit mission requirements.

3. Storage: The S.117 has storage capacity equivalent to the standard load-bearing equipment of an infantry soldier in the Federacion military.

4. Specification: Fully loaded, the S.117 weighs approximately 350 kilograms. This accounts for a 110kg user, 70kg in ammunition, water, and other gear, 100kg in structural components, and 70kg in armor components. The average infantry soldier will be able to sustain 30kph running and lift approximately 300kg deadweight.

By order of the Minister of Defense, the 1st Peacekeeper Section is hereby commissioned, consisting of eight (8) S.117 units and support personnel. This unit is placed under the direct command of the Force Chief of the Special Operations Command, and is to have highest priority for airlift and bombardment support.

Signed this 15th day of March, 2009, at Valencia,

Jerome Sanchez, PhD

Minister of Defense of the Federacion Iberiana

[Tahsir]

OOC: !!!!!!! Horray! Not a giant steel battlewalker suit!

[LeVentNoir]

OOC: You mean to say the average man gets to run at Olympic sprinting speeds in this thing?

[JerreyRough]

GTI has thought of designs of those and tested some but deemed them "over costly", and a "pushing" blast will still affect the person inside.

Never the less, we have questions. If they are injured, especially in hard-to-reach areas, then how are tehy treated? What is the cost of this? Have there been any public-announcable test's of this (if not, a private email sending through a protected landline would surfice)?

OOC Ninja EDIT: forgot a "?" mark, and some grammar.

Edited March 15, 2009 by JerreyRough

[Tahsir]

OOC: You mean to say the average man gets to run at Olympic sprinting speeds in this thing?

OOC: you're complaining about 18 mph in a suit that helps make heavy loads*edit: Feel lighter*? Sprinters go 28 mph..

Edited March 15, 2009 by Tahsir Re

[LeVentNoir]

OOC: you're complaining about 18 mph in a suit that helps make heavy loads*edit: Feel lighter*? Sprinters go 28 mph..

OOC: Ok, a normal person can manage 100m in about 12 seconds. Thats 500m a min, or 30km/h. Now, this thing lets them run like this with 240kg of burden. I don't mind the mechanical advantage, thats fine (It uses hydraulics / actuators to lift loads, cool), but this will not make you run faster.

BTW, for refernce, olympic is 100m in 10s, or 600m a min, or 36km/h. Your 28mph sprinter would be running the 100m in 8.03s.

Edited March 15, 2009 by LeVentNoir

[Tahsir]

OOC: Ok, a normal person can manage 100m in about 12 seconds. Thats 500m a min, or 30km/h. Now, this thing lets them run like this with 240kg of burden. I don't mind the mechanical advantage, thats fine (It uses hydraulics / actuators to lift loads, cool), but this will not make you run faster.

BTW, for refernce, olympic is 100m in 10s, or 600m a min, or 36km/h. Your 28mph sprinter would be running the 100m in 8.03s.

4. Specification: Fully loaded, the S.117 weighs approximately 350 kilograms. This accounts for a 110kg user, 70kg in ammunition, water, and other gear, 100kg in structural components, and 70kg in armor components. The average infantry soldier will be able to sustain 30kph running and lift approximately 300kg deadweight

OOC: According to what you just said, and I bolded the important parts, it doesn't make them faster at all. It just makes the heavy load feel like a light load, through better weight distribution and control, which is what exoskeletons do.

So....what was the complaint about speed again?

[Silhouette]

OOC: For everyones information, an oympic sprinter doesn't reach top speed until about 60 metres down the track, so while he average speed may be about 30kph, the top speed is significantly greater.

[Tahsir]

OOC: For everyones information, an oympic sprinter doesn't reach top speed until about 60 metres down the track, so while he average speed may be about 30kph, the top speed is significantly greater.

OOC: that's why I put that 28mph. The longer distance runners get quite high top speeds.

[spaero2011]

OOC: You mean to say the average man gets to run at Olympic sprinting speeds in this thing?

OOC: While engineering is not my strong suit (I'm studying international relations, and so my math has gone kaput), I think it would be reasonable to assume that a muscular enhancement system which produces greater strength would allow for each step to exert a greater force, thus allowing each step to move the user faster. Like I said, the technical details are not my gig.

EDIT (Still OOC): Also, I didn't say the average man would be able to run at that speed, I said the average infantry soldier would. There is a significant difference in starting ability there./OOC

GTI has thought of designs of those and tested some but deemed them "over costly", and a "pushing" blast will still affect the person inside.

Never the less, we have questions. If they are injured, especially in hard-to-reach areas, then how are they treated? What is the cost of this? Have there been any publicly announceable tests of this (if not, a private email sending through a protected land line would suffice)?

Public reply:

Indeed, the S.117 is an exceedingly expensive system, and so the Federacion will only be purchasing the eight aforementioned units and one simplified training variant, along with the spare parts necessary for maintenance. With further research, perhaps the cost of these units might be lowered, but for now their value as a force multiplier is enough to balance their dollar value.

If the exoskeleton is damaged (As you mentioned, they are still vulnerable to electromagnetic pulse and explosive devices, as well as sustained high-caliber gunfire), users will be trained in simple maintenance for battlefield repairs. For catastrophic damage, the user can extract him or herself from the exoskeleton in five seconds (The extraction system is purely mechanical and not vulnerable to EMP), at which point the user becomes a fully equipped infantry soldier.

If the user is somehow injured inside the unit, there is the issue of removing the user from the exoskeleton. The IFF interrogator system of the Federacion has included a special designation for medical units since its creation, so it was a relatively simple matter to incorporate an external extraction control which could only be accessed by a soldier wearing a Medical IFF tag.

While all tests of the system have been conducted under strict military secrecy, certain file footage will be made available to international media sources, and it is my personal belief that the international community will have the opportunity to see the S.117 in operational usage in the near future.

OOC: Please keep asking questions, I know I haven't thought of everything!/OOC

Edited March 15, 2009 by spaero2011

[JerreyRough]

-SNIP-

OOC: Please keep asking questions, I know I haven't thought of everything!/OOC

OOC: Thats the point! Later in a war, if you make & use some more, someone will find a way to start an OOC battle because you didn't unhumanly think of everything.

[Shadowsage]

The Imperium, always interested in additional components for its' own ACS forces, would be interested in purchasing a unit.

[spaero2011]

Unfortunately, due to recent legislation which forbids the Federacion government or its contracted firms from selling military items, technology, or blueprints to foreign governments or organizations, we cannot comply with this request. The National Assembly has taken something of a nationalistic turn after recent elections, and this is only one of the pieces of legislation President Esparrago has had to sign in order to maintain working relations with the legislature.

[LeVentNoir]

OOC: While engineering is not my strong suit (I'm studying international relations, and so my math has gone kaput), I think it would be reasonable to assume that a muscular enhancement system which produces greater strength would allow for each step to exert a greater force, thus allowing each step to move the user faster. Like I said, the technical details are not my gig.

EDIT (Still OOC): Also, I didn't say the average man would be able to run at that speed, I said the average infantry soldier would. There is a significant difference in starting ability there./OOC

IC: We wonder about the claimed top speed. Its not about the force exerted, unless you want your soldiers bounding around like people in low gravity, if you want to increase speed, you increase the frequency of strides, and that sends the muscles into an anaerobic state. Even if they don't have to exert so much force, they still have to contract and relax, and that takes energy.

Next point, how is the suit controlled? If it is responsive motor control, then you will never get to anywhere near running speed. Responsive motor control is about the only thing you can do, unless you have mind reading tech. It means the wearer moves their arm pushing against the inside of the suit, the suit registers this, then activates motors to move the arm. This has a resistance roughly equal to moving in water, less if you have better electronics, but it can never be removed. So, for slow actions, or actions which require strength, this suit is fine, however, you will never get it moving fast, as the suit always moves slower than a human would due to the control system.

Edited March 15, 2009 by LeVentNoir

[JerreyRough]

OOC: Its not about force exerted, unless you want your soldiers bounding around like people in low gravity, it that to increase speed, you increase the frequency of strides, and that sends the muscles into an anaerobic state. Even if they don't have to exert so much force, they still have to contract and relax, and that takes energy.

Next point, how is the suit controlled? If it is responsive motor control, then you will never get to anywhere near running speed. Responsive motor control is about the only thing you can do, unless you have mind reading tech. It means the wearer moves their arm pushing against the inside of the suit, the suit registers this, then activates motors to move the arm. This has a resistance roughly equal to moving in water, less if you have better electronics, but it can never be removed. So, for slow actions, or actions which require strength, this suit is fine, however, you will never get it moving fast, as the suit always moves slower than a human would due to the control system.

OOC: It would be far better if you ask that IC...

[Il Terra Di Agea]

*Private Communique to The Federacion Iberiana*

ADI may have a system for you to use that our scientists in Infantry advancements developed.

It is a rather simple system, and would need some refinements, but the spring systems have shown to allow an average, physically fit, adult male, to run at twenty miles per hour, and allow a vertical jump of up to two meters. It could work very well with your armor system.

If interested, please respond.

As a note though, they would have issues in sand and gravel due to their small "feet", and they also have their issue of making the soldier in question almost a foot taller.

OOC: I love these things

Edited March 15, 2009 by Il Terra Di Agea

[spaero2011]

IC: We wonder about the claimed top speed. Its not about the force exerted, unless you want your soldiers bounding around like people in low gravity, if you want to increase speed, you increase the frequency of strides, and that sends the muscles into an anaerobic state. Even if they don't have to exert so much force, they still have to contract and relax, and that takes energy.

Next point, how is the suit controlled? If it is responsive motor control, then you will never get to anywhere near running speed. Responsive motor control is about the only thing you can do, unless you have mind reading tech. It means the wearer moves their arm pushing against the inside of the suit, the suit registers this, then activates motors to move the arm. This has a resistance roughly equal to moving in water, less if you have better electronics, but it can never be removed. So, for slow actions, or actions which require strength, this suit is fine, however, you will never get it moving fast, as the suit always moves slower than a human would due to the control system.

OOC: Like I said, I'm not an engineer, this isn't gonna be perfectly functional out of the box. The best solution I can think of off the top of my head is to have the motors engage only when the computer controlling the suit senses increased demand (So for most things it's free-swinging), along with programming which would help to anticipate user actions (So if a user's starting to run, the program can engage the motors needed to run before the input is actually detected). If you don't think this would fly, I can lower the top speed so it doesn't enhance speed, but the user would still be capable of a run equivalent to unassisted. /OOC

OOC: It would be far better if you ask that IC...

OOC: No, it really wouldn't. The rest of that convo has been OOC, so suddenly introducing it IC wouldn't make sense. It's a non sequitur. /OOC

*Private Communique to The Federacion Iberiana*

ADI may have a system for you to use that our scientists in Infantry advancements developed.

It is a rather simple system, and would need some refinements, but the spring systems have shown to allow an average, physically fit, adult male, to run at twenty miles per hour, and allow a vertical jump of up to two meters. It could work very well with your armor system.

If interested, please respond.

As a note though, they would have issues in sand and gravel due to their small "feet", and they also have their issue of making the soldier in question almost a foot taller.

The Ministry of Defense would indeed be interested in procuring some examples of this technology for future incorporation into the S.117; perhaps two or three sets would be enough for our technicians to reverse-engineer them.

The issue of desert warfare would indeed preclude the use of these springs, but Federacion tactical doctrine calls for a helicopter insertion for the S.117 as close to the target as possible, so it is not a great issue.

-------------------------------------------------

News Release Regarding the 1st Peacekeeper Section

General Hernan Guerra, Force Chief of the Special Operations Command and unit commander of the 1st Peacekeeper Section, released the unit's mission statement. This statement, while not available in its entirety to the public, was generally described as including:

• Desert light assault
  
• Urban light assault
  
• Police - Riot Response
  
• Police - Event Security
  

While this list has been described as "maddeningly vague" by certain individuals in the media, it offers several avenues for reasoned speculation as to how the new unit will be used by General Guerra.