Power Armor (8) Entering the real world.

So after all the fictional power suits I've looked over, what is going on as far as development of real-life suits like this? Well for one, Although not fully powered, Atmospheric Diving Suits are getting to be more and moe like power armor all the time. They are used for very deep water dives, and enable dieves in frigid polar waters for longer periods. One of the major benefits is that since they are fully pressurized, the diver does not have any of the problems with decompression normally encountered with stanadrd wetsuits and Scuba gear.

The US Army and DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) have been working on various powered exoskeletons to aid soldiers in the field. Another project is the Future Warrior system. As well as the Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton , or BLEEX. With this stuff, we'd be ready to re-enact Starship Troopers as soon as the bugs get here.

One last one, was pointed out to me by a friend online (Thanks, Sam!).Due to the declining birthrate and "graying" of the population in Japan, taking care of the elderly is becoming a growing problem. The HAL or Hyper Assistive Limb, is a way that researchers think may help the aged to be able to be more self-sufficient.

Power Armor (7) odds and ends

A few more instances of powered suits of one sort or another are the Power Loader from the movie Aliens . This is a very utlitarian suit, used to load and unload cargo from larger vehicles. Much like a forklift is used in warehousing today.

Small and sleek, the Hardsuits from Bubblegum Crisis are pretty fanciful. They are definately stylish and cool looking though. they are *very* streamlined power suits that each have special attributes: Sylia has enhanced thrusters, Priss has heavier weapons, etc. Started as an OVA series, and spun off to many different things, side storeies, prequels, sequels etc.

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Gasaraki is a later series directed by the same guy, Ryosuke Takahashi , that directed AT Votoms (among other things). it concerns 2 different weapons contractors that make "Tactical Armors" . Again, like Votoms, these are in effect legged tanks. The Ishtar Metal Fake II looks especially tanklike in its "head" design. These are more true to the power armor designation than the Armored Troopers of Votoms. The wearer enters through the back, and "see" via a VR helmet and external cameras. This allows a strong design featuring no windows. Similar to the SAFS (Super Armor Fighting Suits) from Maschinen Krieger (see also below). Gasaraki is a bit slow-moving, and has lots of drama. But a more realsitic mecha show would be hard to find. As realistic as the Tactical Armors are, there is also a strange mystical element to the storyline , which honestly seems a bit out of place in my opinion. Overall, a very good series with some amazing and cool mecha (not just the TAs either. The command APC is great!).

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Armored Trooper Votoms . What can be said? This is a personal favorite of mine, and one of the early "Real Robot" shows that were inspired by the success of Mobile Suit Gundam . If Gundam brought the cartoony Super Robots of the 1970s to a more realistic level, Votoms one-upped Gundam by a large margin. A darker and more gritty story, with even more ambiguous "sides" fighting each other. The primary weapon is a small armored suit called an Armored Trooper or AT. These are basically small, upright tanks for all intents and purposes. They too were manufactured by different factions and in varying configurations for different conditions/terrains. There is even a space-use backpack thruster set for teh "main" AT in the series, the Scopedog, called the "Round Mover" due to it's use in 3D space movement.

The ATs are not strictly "worn" in the normal powered armor sense. The pilot sits in the "chest" and does in fact "drive" the AT. The general size and untility of the At (and my fellings towards this series!) made me decide to let this one slide. A great series, with a couple spinoffs. That is sadly Out of print on DVD in North America at this time.

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The series Exo Squad was an animated TV show that I enjoyed quite a bit while it was on. The basic story included NeoSapiens, space battles, and of course the Exo, or E-Frame. the E-Frame is a form of powered armor, and was mde in several different types for different battle conditions:stealth, flight, heavy weapon, aquatic, etc.

Exo Squad was even made in to a surprisingly good (and varied) video game for the Sega Genesis/MegaDrive . The controls definately take some getting used to, and continuity with the TV show is debatable.

A pretty cool show, despite it being aimed at kids, and being one of the "toy shows" that really existed to sell plastic things to children. Sadly not available on DVD as of yet.

Power Armor (3)

Mangaka Masamune Shirow is most well known in the US as the guy who made the comic that was turned in to the movie Ghost in the Shell . However, in his manga Appleseed , he featured some interesting power suits. he referes to them as Landmates . One of the notable things about them is the master/slave arm setup. The wearer has "normal-sized" arms that protrude through the belly area of most of the suits. These are the "master" arms, and the larger, fully robotic "slave" arms mimic the movement sof the master arms.

Power Armor (2)

Inspired in part by Starship Troopers (the book), a graphic designer in Japan named Kow Yokoyama began designing a series of scratchbuilt and kitbashed models and dioramas for Hobby Japan magazine. It was referred to as "SF3D Original" in its early days, it was later changed to "Maschinen Krieger" In the series, which has continued in one form or another to this day, he too featured a futuristic war fought in powered battle suits. Many of the designs eventually became model kits .

Powered Armor Roundup!

Ok. In this update I will attempt to give a little info about Powered Armor.
For the purposes of this site, I will go by the loose definition of powered armor as: any kind of armor/protective suit that amplifies the users abilities (strength, etc.) and is "worn" not "piloted".

One of the first references to power armor was in the novel Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein, published in 1959. Much has been said about the book and Heinlein's personal politics. I won't be going it to that, just speaking on the armor concept.

He posited a future of warfare between the people of Earth and insectlike aliens. The war was largely fought by "Mobile Infantry" , equipped with powered armor suits. Larger, heavier suits were also used. The book was the (very loose) basis for a live-action movie. It was also the basis for both a short anime OVA series , as well as a longer North American-produced 3d CGI series known as Roughnecks: Starship Trooper Chronicles. The CG series is combat-heavy, but much closer to the book than the live-action movie. The animated version, I have not seen. (But if you have a source for it, let me know!)