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Darpa Literally Reinvented the Wheel for Army Combat Vehicles

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Re: Darpa Literally Reinvented the Wheel for Army Combat Vehicles

#111

Post by msravi »

godelmachine wrote: post #99
haloux wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

20 year olds vary. As a 20 year old in the military, I was elbows deep in the B-61 Mod 10 replacing radioisotopic thermoelectric generators. Concession: id be damned if I told you that we didn’t goose the new guy bending over the explosives from time to time.

I Googled for "B-61 Mod 10 replacing radioisotopic thermoelectric generators" and I got this → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B61_nuclear_bomb and upon further searching, this → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_generator I need to ask if thermoelectric generator was a part of the B61 nuclear bomb? Please explain.

You forgot "radioisotopic":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_ge...

Re: Darpa Literally Reinvented the Wheel for Army Combat Vehicles

#112

Post by basicplus2 »

msravi wrote: post #111
godelmachine wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I Googled for "B-61 Mod 10 replacing radioisotopic thermoelectric generators" and I got this → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B61_nuclear_bomb and upon further searching, this → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_generator I need to ask if thermoelectric generator was a part of the B61 nuclear bomb? Please explain.

You forgot "radioisotopic": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_ge...

i wonder if this would be a good use of nuclear waste..

Re: Darpa Literally Reinvented the Wheel for Army Combat Vehicles

#113

Post by godelmachine »

msravi wrote: post #111
godelmachine wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I Googled for "B-61 Mod 10 replacing radioisotopic thermoelectric generators" and I got this → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B61_nuclear_bomb and upon further searching, this → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_generator I need to ask if thermoelectric generator was a part of the B61 nuclear bomb? Please explain.

You forgot "radioisotopic": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_ge...

You got me.

I was confused as to how many PnC of search strings I had to create. Thanks for that :)

Re: Darpa Literally Reinvented the Wheel for Army Combat Vehicles

#114

Post by mac01021 »

donquichotte wrote: post #110
killjoywashere wrote: post #82

As a military officer, I pray these never make it past Test and Evaluation. They took essentially one part and turned it into 1000 parts. Anyone who has seen what 20 year old Marines do with these machines, let alone what happens in war, will appreciate that this is a fantastically horrible idea in a war zone. I need high reliability, not high zoot. Let NASA have high zoot.

As a guy who rode a motorcycle from Central Europe through Central Asia to Mongolia, the last part largely off-road, I wholeheartedly agree. Simplicity is key. As a traveler, if your "wheel 4.0" has a software bug or breaks down in the middle of the desert, it is inconvenient enough. I can only imagine the consequences this would have in a war scenario.

I'm interested in your motorcycle trip!

  -  How did you choose this route/destination out of the thousands of possibilities?
  -  Was there any specific goal beyond spending a bunch of time on a bike and seeing a big chunk of the world?
  -  Was your time almost entirely spend riding, or did you spend a lot of time in the places where you stopped?
  -  Camping? Hotels?  Staying at friends' houses?

Re: Darpa Literally Reinvented the Wheel for Army Combat Vehicles

#115

Post by webbrahmin »

killjoywashere wrote: post #82

As a military officer, I pray these never make it past Test and Evaluation. They took essentially one part and turned it into 1000 parts. Anyone who has seen what 20 year old Marines do with these machines, let alone what happens in war, will appreciate that this is a fantastically horrible idea in a war zone. I need high reliability, not high zoot. Let NASA have high zoot.

These were my thoughts also. During WW II German tanks were technologically superior to Russian tanks. However Russian tanks were easy to repair in the field and that was one of the reasons why Russian armour prevailed over German armour.

Re: Darpa Literally Reinvented the Wheel for Army Combat Vehicles

#116

Post by arka2147483647 »

ENGNR wrote: post #93
killjoywashere wrote: post #82

As a military officer, I pray these never make it past Test and Evaluation. They took essentially one part and turned it into 1000 parts. Anyone who has seen what 20 year old Marines do with these machines, let alone what happens in war, will appreciate that this is a fantastically horrible idea in a war zone. I need high reliability, not high zoot. Let NASA have high zoot.

What if the failure mode was it just being a regular wheel again? I suppose it's competing against letting the air out of the tyre so it might still be worse

You cant guarantee such a failure mode. That thing has to be full of little gears, actuators and electronics to make it work. Any of those break; and it freeses, stays as is or falls apart.

Re: Darpa Literally Reinvented the Wheel for Army Combat Vehicles

#117

Post by avip »

killjoywashere wrote: post #82

As a military officer, I pray these never make it past Test and Evaluation. They took essentially one part and turned it into 1000 parts. Anyone who has seen what 20 year old Marines do with these machines, let alone what happens in war, will appreciate that this is a fantastically horrible idea in a war zone. I need high reliability, not high zoot. Let NASA have high zoot.

That concept was historically referred in IDF as "The best part in a machine is the one that does not exist". It's also extremely applicable to SW.

Re: Darpa Literally Reinvented the Wheel for Army Combat Vehicles

#118

Post by mhandley »

killjoywashere wrote: post #82

As a military officer, I pray these never make it past Test and Evaluation. They took essentially one part and turned it into 1000 parts. Anyone who has seen what 20 year old Marines do with these machines, let alone what happens in war, will appreciate that this is a fantastically horrible idea in a war zone. I need high reliability, not high zoot. Let NASA have high zoot.

You could of course just carry a regular spare wheel or two. If your fancy trackwheel fails, unbolt it, and fit the regular spare wheel. You're still mobile, just without the ability to switch to track mode.

Re: Darpa Literally Reinvented the Wheel for Army Combat Vehicles

#119

Post by lstodd »

killjoywashere wrote: post #82

As a military officer, I pray these never make it past Test and Evaluation. They took essentially one part and turned it into 1000 parts. Anyone who has seen what 20 year old Marines do with these machines, let alone what happens in war, will appreciate that this is a fantastically horrible idea in a war zone. I need high reliability, not high zoot. Let NASA have high zoot.

Yeah, just imagine frozen mud inside this contraption... and a blowtorch will just ruin it more throrougly.

Re: Darpa Literally Reinvented the Wheel for Army Combat Vehicles

#120

Post by rimliu »

philliphaydon wrote: post #86
Nition wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same principle applies even to non-military things like home appliances, yet we always seem to end up with less reliability and more zoot.

Reminds me of the book. The inmates are running the asylum.

I still can understand the dislike HN has for this wonderful book. But given generally anti-user stance maybe I do understand it a little.

Edit: "anti-user" may be to harsh. Let's say "developers first, users second".

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