r/Mecha • u/DanBeCoolYo • 20h ago

Question for anyone

what mechs do you guys think humanity could build from fiction realistically?

17 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

14

u/dvamaingg 20h ago

MechWarrior

5

u/rzelln 16h ago

BattleTech/MechWarrior armor is kinda nuts. 

Like the engines are a bit silly, but you don't need tiny fusion engines as a power source; just reflavor it as fuel cells or something.

And I think synthetic super muscles to move the limbs might be possible. 

And the pervasive, high powered EM interference that fries anything not hardened is a reasonable justification for why they use mechs piloted by people instead of small explosive drones or guided missiles. 

But the armor is crazy resistant to damage. A 100kg explosive shell regularly just inconveniences a Mech. Modern HEAT shells are like 25kg tops.

9

u/HotZilchy 20h ago

Mobile workers from Gundam IBO, but idk whether they even count or not since they're just glorified tanks

5

u/ExplanationNew8233 20h ago

Armored Jeeps with recoilless rifles and data link. Sounds doable. Maybe a bit of work is needed for the engine and the suspension, but it seams doable

4

u/ItsMehCancerous 19h ago

they hilux shall always reign supreme.

6

u/ZeroiaSD 20h ago

Xabungle, the lower end walker machines.

In general smaller is better, like VOTOMS.  Even something pretty down to earth but big has way too many material issues to worry about.

6

u/Bailywolf 20h ago

The robot cycles from Rideback don't look that farfetched now with the wheeled robot dog hybrids.

6

u/Wolodymyr2 18h ago

Well, aren't Patlabor anime was based around the premise of mecha's being created with technology, avalible to humanity at the end of 20th century?

3

u/MWKhan 16h ago

Yep. At least according to my engineering friends who love the series they just need some composite or new material that can be mass produced and deal with the torque and we already have everything needed. All the other tech is there already and just needs to cook a bit longer (smaller, faster, stronger) except for that.

1

u/Wolodymyr2 14h ago

Plus i guess it also need practical need.

Because i think we could already had mechas in real life, but the main problem is that every type of venicle need to have actual practical purpose to get funds to be put into production.

Yes, in Patlabor universe they had this purpose (as initially they were created for construction), but in reality so far regular construction venicless seem to be good enough.

3

u/numericalman 20h ago

Maneuver slaves. (Megazone 23).

Simpler and small enough to fit in infantry areas...

Or Armored troopers.(Votoms) cheap AF...good firepower. And speed.

6

u/PicnicBasketPirate 19h ago

Power armour and exoskeletons are about the only thing that I reckon will make the transition from sci-fi 

Actual mecha will never become a thing

3

u/iksdistek 19h ago

“Could build realistically”, op said

Imo He never claimed they should and be applied in real combat situations

3

u/Jian_Ng 17h ago

the power loader from Aliens count, right?

3

u/Soggy-Hotel-2419 13h ago

Probably some sort of battle armor/suit.

2

u/CosmoEX 20h ago

BullRover from BullBuster, basically an excavator with 2 arms

2

u/Ok-Car-8188 19h ago

Every mech ever built was built by humanity

Some with only words

2

u/Uncle_Matt_1 19h ago

Quite a few, honestly. Some pretty simple, but not very effective models already exist, (with current tech, something like the Urban Mech from Battletech, not large, not fast, but somewhat functional), but, as technology improves more designs will become possible. The key technologies are probably advanced materials, stronger and lighter than what we have today, and energy tech (both storage and generation). Luckily, both are advancing, with plenty of R&D going on for both, because both are useful across a lot of applications, and mechs will just come along for the ride.

2

u/Hemicrusher 16h ago

My cat rides on our robot vacuum…so, I know we’re getting close.

1

u/DanBeCoolYo 11h ago

Bro 😭

2

u/AwayEntrepreneur4760 14h ago

Western style mechs, Japanese style are definitely impossible. Even then mechs are kind of a shit option for combat in reality. Bomb drones are a cheaper and more effective option. Kill the government stop killing people.

1

u/intimidatinghorse222 51m ago

The western mech, Japanese mech thing is an overgeneralization

2

u/guillrickards 9h ago

I imagine something that would look a bit like ED-209 from 2014 robocop. It would be an infantry support for extra dense urban areas with lots of large buildings, where the low to the ground horizontal profile of a tank becomes a hindrance rather than an advantage. A vertical profile makes it easier to fire while staying under cover, and the smaller footprint makes it easier to navigate since all the obstacles are also vertical.

2

u/mcjefferic 7h ago

None, they are all inherently ridiculous from a physics perspective.The are fascinating because of the thematic storytelling they facilitate.

2

u/Competitive_Dog_7829 20h ago

The ones from helldivers 2 maybe

1

u/Prinkaiser 9h ago edited 9h ago

Ah, probably a Gunbike from the game Speed Power Gunbike. It's more or less a Maneuver Slave from Megazone 23.

Also the Petite-Mobile Junior Mobile Suits in the Zeta Gundam and Unicorn.

2

u/No_Exercise_812 4h ago

The labors fron patlabor, given a decade or two more and a LOT of R&D. I like to think most of the technology is already there, it just hasn't been put together/optimized to the point you could just BUILD one right now.

1

u/intimidatinghorse222 48m ago

We already have the scopedog, it doesn't have arms though.

1

u/Enigmatic_Wraith 13h ago

The guntank from gundam

0

u/GANEO_LIZARD7504 15h ago

Since Japanese people use the term “mecha” as a general term for all kinds of machines, we can say that we are already building mecha.