Steven Crooks wrote:
> Reliability would be the major issue for such a vehicle,
> since its supposed to go in harms way.
From what I've seen from the video and pictures (still haven't found
anything that describes how it's built) and based on almost 10 years of
watching track systems succeed and fail at 1:6 scale (where we
definitely pound the hell out of them) I think their light-weight track
system has a fatal weakness ... sharp spikes embedded in the ground.
Since the vehicle is lightweight and the tracks appear to be made of
separate treads loosely coupled together (presumably by the tensioned
cables) I think that they would fail catastrophically if they attempted
to drive it over steel spikes stuck into the ground (basically a modern
version of the bamboo tiger traps used in SE Asia). Regardless of the
speed, I don't see how those tracks would be able to go over such an
obstacle without one or more spikes finding gaps between the treads,
thereby ripping them apart. We saw exactly those types of problems on
our original bicycle chain tracks and even with the 2060 chain tracks,
when small tree branches/twigs jammed into the gaps between the treads.
Such obstacles are so cheap to deploy (dig hole, plant spike, repeat)
even the lowest-tech enemy will have a way to stop or obstruct the
multi-million dollar remote controlled vehicles. Moreover, it will be
hard to see such obstacles through a remote control video monitor when
the vehicle is traveling above 20 MPH. Even if you see the spikes in
time, the operator will have to stop or move around them, exactly where
the enemy mortars, rockets or even RPGs are dialed in.
If they had simply stolen the "entire" TTS design and used a high-tech
composite belt instead of the tension cables, not only would they have a
track capable of going over such a low-tech obstacle (good luck sticking
a spike through a couple dozen layers of properly chosen synthetics like
kevlar), but it would probably perform better in soft ground and sand as
well. From what I've seen, however, it looks like welding is the H&H
solution for all design problems, so they probably haven't thought about
other approaches.
If any Pentagon types are reading this ... give Steve, Joe and myself
just a couple $100K research grant and I'm sure we can make an obstacle
that stops the H&H vehicle dead in it's tracks. Throw in a couple more
$100K (plus material costs) and we'll build a track that then overcomes
the same obstacle and anything else they want to throw at it.
Frank P.
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