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Gas-Powered Shoes?
Glen Davis writes: "A Russian inventor has created motorized shoes! The shoes weigh 2 pounds apiece, and work by means of foot-long pistons which trigger a plate attached to the shoe's sole. Single strides are up to 13 feet long, and wearers can attain speeds of up to 25 mph! The shoes are gas-powered." (BBC article with pictures here, submitted by Ave.)
I don't drive. Driving sucks. Traffic in the Bay area sucks. I live almost nine miles away from my company's campus and I would love a pair of these to trot along at a nice 25mph along the side of the San Tomas expressway.
These would also come in handy when your boss is chasing you down the hall to hand you some extra work. With these suckers, it's just one big leap and you're half way across the building, out of his path!
I wish there were photos of the shoes. God, I want a pair so bad!
---
seumas.com
1. What is the long-term effect of its use on your joints? After using these things a while I assume you wind up spending your later years in a wheelchair. 2. (At the risk of sounding like a ludite) do we really need gas powered shoes?
When punk rock is outlawed, only outlaws will have punk rock.
heck, I've gone 40mph on my bicycle several times. I don't want to think of what would have happened if I had fallen off, my chain had jammed, there was an unseen stick in the roadway, etc...
But I really am concerned about how one STOPS in these boots, or how one controls the speed. And if a 'normal' person can get up to 25mph, can an olympic runner go faster than that in these boots?
- Spryguy
- Spryguy
There are three kinds of people in this world: those that can count and those that can't
well the pongo stick is why perdita had so many dalmatians.
On a slightly less feasetious note, I do recall seeing a gas powered pogo stick.
This should be moderated up, 2 (funny!)
- Spryguy
- Spryguy
There are three kinds of people in this world: those that can count and those that can't
So, 40 km/h for a human. That's pretty good. So what happens if we make shoes for *other* non-bipedal animals?
:) (I should know - I'm one.)
- The Kentucky Derby is overshadowed by the Yamaha Goodyear Derby 500, where gas-powered horseshoes propel specially trained jockeys to 100 km/h, and banked corners are mandated after one too many dull, wet thuds in turn 1.
- Police dogs don't ride in the K-9 unit anymore, they run along side of it, and chase down criminals in the next borough. You think dogs chased cars before? Just think of a car theif seeing an angry German Shepard closing in on their stolen ride. Is that a brick in your pants, or are you surrendering peacefully?
- Mice in space. No, we don't make shoes for them. Just rig up one of these shoes as a mouse trap, and spring the little bugger into orbit. Confused by happy birds of prey get to pluck their lunch right out of the air.
No sense in limiting this to just shoes, either. Ski boots could give hot-doggers the air they've been looking for. Heck, ski-jump in Saskatchewan. Imagine figure skating with gasoline-assisted jumps... instant replay is required to figure out whether it was a octuple axel, or merely the standard septuple.
I think this just goes to show that engineers should be given good jobs and a decent salary... to keep them out of trouble and coming up with goofy crap like this.
Mr. Ska
Hey, my new fuckin lawn mower (CA), has a SEALED engine. I cannot take it apart and fix it myself. Only the certified Sears guys are allowed (by law) to service it, lest the enduser (me) misadjusts the engine or rigs it for better performance/worse emissions.
They're serious about this stuff.
Maybe I'll just buy a goat, because the engine has started to misbehave, it runs fast-slow-fast-slow for no reason, and to get Sears to look at it? $50 just to crack the case, more if there's work that needs to be done. Bottom line, if you need any serious work on your lawnmower, you're better off buying a new one. What happens to the old one? Landfill.
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
Now we just need another species to go to war with... In the absence of evil giant mutant bugs, I propose attacking Microsoft. They're the next best thing.
Think about the pathetic situation that would happen if one shoe ran out of gas before the other! I wouldn't want to be in that person's shoes.
I wonder how long your knees/ankles would last if these were used regularly? It can't be a smooth ride.
Woah.. starting to sound like a Borg drone.
Add a laser scope to your HUD and
a put on a mechanical hand-piece glove and you're all set!
(If you're short on cash, use a cheap laser
pointer, and hold on to a plier in your hand.)
Good idea! Ironically enough, the Ursus Mark VI failed because of mobility problems. I won't spoil the plot of the amazingly fine movie by telling any more.
I hear he's working on Mark VII right now. I can hardly wait for Project Grizzly II.
If these guys have done their homework, the two boots are interlocked so that if one quits, the other shuts down too. I suppose it would be a shock to have a 12-foot stride suddenly followed by a 3-foot stride because of a fouled sparkplug.
--
Ancient Goth: Someone who overthrew the Roman Empire.
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
That subject line was the first thing that crossed my mind upon reading this too. Collisions in a car at 25mph are going to result in little damage (so long as you are wearing your seltbelt), but stumble at that speed and I don't relish the idea of skidding on my face. Wearing the same protective gear as a rollerblader might work though.
He should find that guy who created the bear suit, I would love to watch him hopping around a Kodiak.
Andrew Borntreger
Andrew Borntreger
Champion of cinematic disasters
Approx 800 bike deaths / year in the US. Compare to 200 deaths / year due to lightning.
Ryan
And they've gone wrong!!! .^
Hmm.. I could do with a bit of cheese now.
^.
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
The other thing that noone discusses is how you are supposed to stop. Every time your foot applies a certain amount of pressure to the shoe, it fires the boosters. I can just see people trying the slalom to a halt.
We have the technology...
Brought to you by CHuCK, who is still stuck somewhere in 1985
Lemure, wtf! Don't you mean Lemur?
Amazingly, when I was 10, I saw a description of exactly this thing in a popular technical magazine (aimed at 10-year-olds, appropriately). The thing was invented by yet another 10-year-old. This was, like, 25 years ago...
--
Industrial space for lease in Flatlandia.
Bringing humanity one step closer to achieving its ideal: Inspector Gadget.
"Sweet creeping zombie Jesus!"
What happens when someone runs into a wall or lamp post at 25MPH? Or worse, hits another pedestrian?
Nothing good, but then bicyclists can go 25MPH too, and can also crash into walls and pedestrians.
Man... I never knew that movie would come back to haunt us in this way. I guess that if there's a screwy idea out there, there's always someone on the planet that's gonna try it. Time to sit back and wait for the Koopa Troopahs.
LouZiffer
LouZiffer
now I just need that laser surgery that improves eyesight beyond 20/20, use that growth hormone that used on the mice, bionic arms, and bionic hearing and I can beat the crap out of the 6 million dollar man.
It's turtles all the way down.
are already working on a super-cooled potato powered version of these shoes. I expect to see the RIAA sue the makers since it will be easier to carry pirated CDs from one house to a friend's house across town. Besides, doesn't Ford have a patent on the piston? I may not be a lawyer, but I smell the liability lawsuits on these shoes four continents away.
I do not have a signature
...and man, would those shoes launch a 10-year-old!
The bbc page claims that:
It's going to be a boring 100m competition then. Even if the runners could achieve their maximum velocity (37km/h, or 10.28 m/s) in just two seconds (the first 10 meters) of acceleration, then the winning time would be somewhere close to 11 seconds.
A more realistic estimate for the maximum speed [calculations]....
This tells us the maximum speed will be somewhere around
You are correct in pointing out, AC, that 23 MPH is not the typical top speed of 100m sprints. 23 MPH is actually the average velocity of 100m sprints. But top speeds aren't 34 MPH as you calculate. Top speeds are actually about 27 MPH.
Here's a little tidbit on the subject from the Mathematical Accociation of America.
In other news, the JCB GT, the 110mph turbocharged mechanical digger has won an award as the craziest invention not yet bought by Microsoft.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Is it just me, or do those look suspiciously like something seen in the Mario Brothers movie? I hope they don't hold a patent on this, things could get really ugly.
Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
This is another example of what happens when you get a bunch of bored engineers in a room.
Have you ever seen a collision where a car hit something head on? Each and every one has a bright red splat where the driver's head hit the windshield. Why don't we mandate helmets for drivers? Helmets would surely save lives in these types of collisions.
Since cars are more dangerous (greater speed) and more deadly (greater number of deaths) they seem to be a natural target for helmet advocates. Yet these people go after bikes. Why? Surely they aren't concerned with safety or they would attack cars too. Hmmmm...
Ryan
You do understand that the rise of gas-powered superheros requires the arrival of supervillians? Face your doom, hero - boy! :)
OliverWillis.Com
An Operative with an Agenda
Now all I need is some gloves of power and I'll rule the world!
HAHAHAHAHA
Actually, I've thought about those for a long time. It's wierd that we don't have those "Aliens" robot lifters already. It wouldn't be hard to make the controls for them. Just put pressure sensors on the inside of a normal glove and shirt-arm, when you move your arm you pressure the sensors that control the motors in the exo-skeleton. More pressure, more speed and strength. We should've had it by now.
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
The glove tracks your hand, it's not exactly what you described, but if you increase the power on the remove part it is.
I wouldn't want to support with my body the force one of these things can produce.
-Ariel
Fair point, but these guys are already taking the train. And as much as I hate the shitty train service we get here in London, it is more 'eco-friendly' than driving.
:)
I'm not suggesting these guys are gonna be 'walking' all the way to work.
henry [ w i r e t r a p . n e t ]
Strong data typing is for those with weak minds.
Strong data typing is for those with weak minds.
Did you know you have foreign readers? ;-}
jalalski across the pond.
.sig available on 'Need To Know' basis only!
Didn't I see this a few years ago in a theater? Think of the possibilities for the military and law enforcement--or uses agains the military or law enforcement. I could just see a bunch of drug dealers getting their hands^h^h^h^h^hfeet on these!
science is a religion
Even worse, what if the Throtle jammed? You could be running for miles with these things.
Now i have images of people being forcably propelled up a busy shopping street while screaming for help.
Syllable : It's an Operating System
So, uh, what's the point? Are there applications for this other than trendy executive toy? I guess I could see moving faster being a benefit in an emergency response type situation but on the same hand the kind of bounding that the boots provide would be really dangerous around a large bad thing (like a fire).
Maybe if they changed the fuel the boots could be used as an alternative to a car, but since they use gas (and how!) there isn't as much appeal. Am I missing something?
So I was thinking, now that I have this alternator, how about I add a couple shoelights to them so people can see me at night? Not being one to be outdone, I used flourescent lights.. I'm environmentally friendly, afterall. Gotta add a ballast for that though. We could save on weight by running the wire up the side of the pants leg and back down the other, though I can't say I like the idea of 450v going by my precious jewels. But, in the name of science, I did it anyway. They work great too.
So I have these peltier-cooled flourescent gas-powered walking boots. Doing all this required that I supercharge it to about 10psi and use a higher octane fuel. I got a great deal on peltiers though from Melcor, they're offering me volume discounts now. I painted them black 'cuz black looks cool. There's wires all around it, but that's the "in" thing now, so I'm not too worried. I added some fuses to the outside for easy replacement, as I've found the flourescent lights can overload the alternator and short when they first turn on. Should add a capacitor and a power inverter.
You know, since I've got this nifty power source, I decided to make it wireless. Why not power up the shoes and make them walk to me in the morning? Forget the stupid dog! That'll require a bigger starter engine though 'cuz of all the electronics... Done.
I also decided to add a computer heads-up display. We're using over 3000w of power right now, so I decided to go with a transmeta. Besides, heat production being what it is, a pentium would be too much. And I have to mount it on my chest now. I also added a belt-keyboard and mouse .. plus USB ports.
Infrared would be good for tracking down lusers, so I've also integrated that into the HUD display. I don't know why people keep running away from me when I'm wearing my shoes (what's so bad about them?!) but now I can track them down. Hey, I'm getting a transmission on my wireless downlink....
*cackle* We are the borg...
Am I the only one who finds it ironic that they are using a "foot-long piston" to power a "flat plate"? That what a shoe is already!
--
Linux MAPI Server!
http://www.openone.com/software/MailOne/
(Exchange Migration HOWTO coming soon)
Flubber!
It would take a tremendous amount of bouncing to generate something like what you suggest... but if you could there would be a major thing to learn from it - what is at the center of the earth?
I don't mean is it carmel or truffel, but liquid or solid? Eventhough there was "Journey to the Center of Earth" that didn't seem to help much. What has helped are major earthquakes on one side of the earth that can be measured on the other side in specific places, measure the time delay (and note any lack of sites to detect the quake) and ponder if the center of the earth is absorbing quakes or not...
Wheeeee
Then, maybe you could get 30 feet to the jump. Might only be able to carry about 10 minutes worth of gas, but what the heck!?
Hey, maybe you could coordinate the propeller pitch to apply more upward pull on your neck and back in order to help counteract those harsh bounces as the shoes push off.
Yeah, a helmet is just the accessory for these...
-Jordan Henderson
--
Ancient Goth: Someone who overthrew the Roman Empire.
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
I don't care much about the actual topic you're mumbling about, but horrible arguments irritate me.
Yes, car crashes result in a greater number of deaths, but that says nothing about the relative morality rates. Until you know how many deaths there are per car crash, taking into account the possibility for multiple passengers in cars, you cannot even begin to make an accurate statement about which is deadlier.
Also, head-on collisions do not always result in the drivers head leaving a "bright red splat" on the windshield. If the driver is wearing a seatbelt and driving a car with airbags, they'll usually be bruised but intact. Motorcycles and bicycles lack the stability, mass, and enclosure of a car, and so head-on collisions usually result in the driver being flung over the handlebars, hence the need for a helmet.
We don't mandate helmet laws for cars because cars already have mandated safety equipment: seat belts, airbags, impact tests, safety glass, et al. Motorcycles, bicycles, skateboards, and rollerblades don't have these safety measures, and so helments are necessary.
Helmet advocates are obviously concerned with safety. Your fallacious logic can be equated with the statement "People fighting hunger aren't giving me food, and I'm hungry, so therefore they're not really interested in feeding people." I'm sure there's a fancy Latin name for this type of logical error, but the best English phrase for it is "bullshit." If you suspect alterior motives for their apparently altrustic desire to save lives, name them.
If you don't want to wear a helment for aesthetic, political, or spiritual reasons, fine. Just don't attempt to justify it because something else people do is dangerous as well.
-- I can't think of anything witty to put here. Sorry.
It's funny!
Information wants to be free -- but informants want to be paid.
13 feet stride? Um, my strides are about 4 feet in length. 13 feet stride is the kind of thing needed only by Dennis Rodman and such.
hehe. I can just see some poor sap take a big step and hit a tree.
On the serious side I see other issues with the particality of these shoes. First off: why use gasoline? Surely there are other forms of energy that would be safer and cheaper. As long as you are going think creatively you might as well do it in every aspect. Also, who is going to want to fill up at a gas station when their shoes run out of gas? Who is going to want to smell like car exhaust just to walk or run? These shoes seem like they would be much better with certain improvements.
Everytime you look at porn a devil gets their horns.
Nintendo made the Power Glove years ago.
...are you *sure* you want one?
this is a sig.
I don't think he'll need many gallons, especially since he (hopefully) doesn't weigh as much as a full blown vehicle.
What concerns me is what the effect would be if a piston fired when your weight was not over the foot that was firing. It seems quite likely that your leg would be shot up with a great force, as the firing boot would be expecting to have the weight of your entire body over it. Damage to leg muscles and the hamstring tendon seems possible. Maybe there would be some sensor to determine the force being applied to the sole of the boot and adjust the boost accordingly?
Have you seen Exerlopers?
The original design of these things allowed for 30 foot strides(once you got going), and speeds that were considered too much of a liability for the company to sell. No gasoline, pistons, or even moving parts, just good old fasioned efficient engineering.
Mythological Beast
Wake up - the future is arriving faster than you think.
On the other hand, it says quite clearly that they're only supposed to be used for short periods of time (25 minutes was the gas limit) which hopfully will mean that people won't replace their bicycle with these shoes.
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
AFAICT you're supposed to run, not walk, with these things...
--
Industrial space for lease in Flatlandia.
Step #1: Stairs are too hard to climb all the time.
Step #2: Build escalators and elevators to make life easier.
Step #3: Getting too fat because I'm no longer climbing stairs.
Step #4: Build stairmaster to exercise.
Step #5: Walking is too tiring.
Step #6: Build cars.
Step #7: Getting too fat because I'm no longer walking.
Step #8: Build treadmill to exercise.
Step #9: Still getting fat because of my computer (I don't want to leave the house).
Step #10: Start jogging every morning for a half hour.
Step #11: Too lazy to jog for a half hour.
Step #12: Build gas powered shoes to jog same distance, in a shorter period of time.
Step #13: Still getting fat because of laziness.
Step #14: Diet pills...
See where this is going?
Why is it that people always hear what I say, and not what I mean?
Go Go Gadget Legs!!!
This would clearly be fun. Can you imagine some petrol-head outfitting his shoes with little turbochargers and nitrous-oxide injection? As soon as you make it a sport, people will take it to extremes.
-pf
Make affiliate bucks
You're missing the obvious fact that bicycles are still on the ground (most of the time) and have steering mechanisms.
...or are you thinking that air-control (as seen in Unreal Tournament) is real?
Refrag
I have a website. It's about Macs.
The first thought that went through my mind when I saw this picture was "what a great way to have the lower part of your legs completely torn off from the rest of your body".
---
seumas.com
Platform game hero(in)es all have superhuman jumping ability. This will only add to the immersion of new games' plots. (I'm writing a Contra clone called Against.)
Will I retire or break 10K?
but wasn't there some American tinkerer a few years back who developed a set of spring-powered "legs" you wore like a weird body-brace that let you run up to 30 m.p.h. and jump a six-foot standstill vertical? I forget where I saw it, but despite the ungainly pose, it looked like more fun than the Big Wheel. Now, gas-powered shoes you can keep, but if someone knows if any info on the spring-legs is (hopefully on the 'net), let me in on it.
Windows XP SP2 told me to install third-party software that prevents viruses and protects stability... I chose Ubuntu
Funny thing is, most of these guys can't ride - check out the rear tire, usually about 2" of unscrubbed rubber on either side.
Might as well be riding a Harley (fate worse then death)
Nick
-- "It's a sad day for American capitalism when a man can't fly a midget on a kite over Central Park" - Jim Moran
I wonder how this is gonna affect the patent on my diesel powered pogo-stick.
The whores get mad when the sluts give it away for free.
Go, go Gadget legs!
The heart has reasons that reason does not understand. - Jacques Bènigne Bossuet
Now i have images of people being forcably propelled up a busy shopping street while screaming for help.
They won't need to run like mad. Simply jump in place till you can turn off ignition.
control issues aside, it sounds kinda like a fun toy. and it should be a boon to the arthroscopy industry.
Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
Hmmm, I think the SpringWalker looks like more fun (and safer).
* As is generally the case, my opinions do not reflect those of my employer.
AFAIK "gas" is a liquid and not a gas.
http://www.magma.ca/~ocbc/nigel.html
... suggests that specifically designedheadbands could provide a practical alternative to full helmets," it says. "With some imaginative designing, the headband might well be developed as a new fashion accessory."
has an article from NZ. And there's this:
Motorists get head start in drive for road safety
From the Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 22nd September 1998
By ROBERT WAINWRIGHT, Transport Writer
First it was motorbike riders, cyclists and skateboarders - now motorists and their passengers are being encouraged to wear helmets. The move comes in the wake of a new study which claims that headwear can dramatically reduce brain injuries in road accidents.
A report by the Federal Office of Road Safety claims that "bicycle-style" helmets would be as effective as airbags and better than seat belts, reducing the severity of accidents by 50 per cent and saving the life of one in five head-injury victims. The report, released yesterday with the backing of the Department of Transport and Regional Development, even suggested that protective headbands could be designed as a fashion accessory.
It presents findings from a two-year study on head and brain injuries conducted jointly by the accident research units at the University of Adelaide and Monash University, which said head injuries were costing the economy more than $1.5 billion a year. The universities concluded that helmets would provide more protection than safety options such as interior padding, side-impact airbags and advanced seat belt designs. Full helmet protection would lessen the severity of more than 60 per cent of brain injuries, compared with a bicycle-style helmet (50 per cent) and better interior vehicle padding (30 per cent).
A spokesman for the Office of Road Safety said the idea was being put forward only as a voluntary measure, and there were no plans to make it compulsory. "Car occupants are already better protected than cyclists or motorcyclists," the spokesman said. "But this research shows that safety could be improved quite a lot by using simple, low-cost protection. We are publishing these results so that the community can make an informed choice." Professor Jack McLean, from the University of Adelaide, said studies of head injuries found that specially designed headbands could offer a practical alternative to full helmets. "The proposed headbands would apply padding to the front and sides of the head, where most impacts occur," Professor McLean said. "They would be lighter, cooler and less bulky than a conventional helmet."
Ms Pam Leicester, a behavioural scientist from the NRMA's Road Safety Department, said the idea had merit, but it would not be easy to persuade motorists to wear helmets. The report, which concluded that a helmet would have avoided one in five fatal accidents, will be given to Australian helmet designers and manufacturers.
"A detailed analysis of head impact patterns
A clear case for a patents suit, it seems...
{meep meep!} I'm having this "acme jet boot" moment.... As worn by Wile e Coyote Watch out for that unexpected cliff or railway tunnel! {/meep meep!} M.
I'm sure this is going to sound stupid until you think about it. Remember playing playform scroller games? Like Super Mario Bros. The play control in the 'Mario' games was decent -- you could do things like adjust your trajectory in the middle of a jump or fall, but remember all those other games where it was impossible to move while not on the ground? Where if you jump forward, the direction buttons do nothing until you're back on the ground?
Without a way to adjust your destination, mid-flight, wouldn't these things be incredibly dangerous? This would be somewhat like running on ice, or losing the brakes on your car while driving.
Sure it's a cool idea, but is it practical?
Does this remind anyone else of one of the Wallace and Gromit adventures?
I've lost alot of faith in BBCs ability to report news. In the past few weeks we've had two reports linked from Slashdot from the BBC that were just pure crap:
Microsoft moving to BC -- Apparently this story came from someone in the BC gov't (not the minister) talking to someone not in Redmond, and not associated with Microsoft about bussiness in BC. Yet the BBC reported it as Microsoft moving to BC.
Hackers hack the space shuttle -- another BBC story. I don't remember anyone claiming that they did this, and the space shuttle is on a closed network, and NASA uses a pretty strong software development process that almost ensures a system that has a low probability of hacking. I believe a story on their development process was on slashdot recently.
This is probably the BBC trying to get more hits on their website so they can get more ad money. And the BBC does like to play hoaxes on the public. I remember hearing of a story in the 70s when they reported (as an April Fool's joke) that the new library in some city in England was built upside down. They pull other hoaxes as well, that's just the one I remember right now.
And besides this falls into one of those wacky inventions. It probably be as popular as those wacky inventions you see in all those black and white news movies. You know the self buttkicking machines, the face guard that rolls down like a shade to protect against grapefruit spray, and all the rest. And where did all these silly inventions go?
Software Engineer & Writer of Military Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog: petermwright.com Twitter: WrightPeterM
this has got to be a wind up...
single strides of 13 feet
i mean, that would hurt just a little don't you think.
The whole concept is just stupid, and so many people have been duped into believing it, even at the BBC.
------------------
Hasn't he ever heard of the Pongo stick!!
I'm holding out for a decent pair of seven-league boots...
-- Bah weep grah nah weep nini bong
In my country (Holland) you have to wear a helmet on a motorcycle too, even the light ones > 49.9 cc. But you can avoid it driving a three of four wheeled motorcycle. You don't need a motor drivers licence for them either, just a card driverslicence is enough, because they are considered as convertibles or open cars. :)
I guess this product is gonna cause confusing here for the lawmakers, as soon as I put on my future pair.
Regards,
Just don't go after any roadrunners with them.
[1]ACME= A Company that Makes Everything
Christopher A. Bohn
cb
Oooh! What does this button do!?
at http://www.ugatu.ac.ru/ shows other work too..
a levitating fighter plane (either that or those Russian pilots are real gooda low level flying).
:-)
Unless your inside leg measurement is over 8 foot, that's gotta hurt!
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
Geez, what happens if you throw a rod or blow a piston? It'd take your entire leg off. Also, if any of you have ever used the gas powered engines on model cars and airplanes and the such, you know those little suckers get really really hot. That diagram looks like that motor is barely an inch or two away from the leg, can we say OUCH!. One more thing and then I'll get off of my soapbox. How do you crank it up? I don't see a pullcord, or similar device anywhere.
He also said he would continue to refine his product.
"We aren't standing in one place," he said.
ROFL...
Suck it bang it rape it fuck it fuck you fuck me EAT SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Energy that has to travel up through your legs to set your body in motion.
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
If it was the normal forces of a normal step over a longer distance you would not be able to jump higher, just take longer steps (faster).
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
I believe the technical term for the opponents of such a force is: "0wn3d".
Gas powered footwear?
Think about the problems of
Really busted knees.
Now try to follow me here. If you accelerate upwards during a normal step (and you pretty much have to), you are pushing with a force greater than gravity. If you sustain this greater-than-gravity acceleration over a longer distance, you'll accelerate to a higher speed and achieve a greater altitude during the step. Double the distance, you'll go about double the height and 1.4 times the speed. Quadruple the distance, you get 4x the height and 2x the speed. This is all without increasing the forces involved (F=ma, E=Fd, v=sqrt(2E/m)).
This is all first-semester physics. Haven't you studied it yet, or didn't you understand it well enough to apply it to problems that weren't on the tests?
--
Ancient Goth: Someone who overthrew the Roman Empire.
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
While your explanation is quite sound, it still does not answer the main gist of my argument, that the piston is powered by a combustion. It's not a question of evenly pumping in air in a pneumatic piston, it's a small explosion. Does this sound like an even accelleration to you?
Also, consider that even quite normal forces can easily damage your body if they are applied repeatedly and mechanically.
Attacking me personally was quite unneccesary, specially since the fault was not with me or my argument. Energy is not automatically distributed in a system upon entering it, it must travel through it by use of forces, much as you state in your own post. I was not confusing anything, I was waiting for you to understand what I meant.
What I'm saying is that the energy from the combustion is quickly transferred to the leg via the piston and quite violently "shoots" you off the ground. What I'd like from you now, is an explanation as to why you think this is not true. How is the combustion transferred so evenly to the leg?
Lets consider the combustion an ideal one. I never liked thermodynamics much but let's take a look.
p*V=n*R*T, this is the law of an ideal gas. The cylinder has an inside area of A and the piston's distance from the bottom of the cylinder is h. This gives us the force on the piston by the gas in the cylinder as F=p*A, where p=pressure (N/m^2). If we insert this into the formula, we get F*V/A=n*R*T => F*h=n*R*T => F=n*R*T/h. So, if we consider the time it takes for the fuel to combust much shorter than the time it takes for the piston to complete its cycle (not unreasonable) we get that the force on the body is inversely proportional to the length the piston has ejected. This means that we do indeed not have a uniform force working on the leg throughout the step but indeed that the force weakens. Note that h>0 (since the piston never reaches the bottom of the cylinder).
Let's assume that the energy transferrance is 100% (not possible, there is a theoretical limit, but I don't care, because all my calculations so far are very idealised). Let the piston work over the length l, between x and x0. This give us the energy W=n*R*T*ln(x/x0). We see now also that the energy only increases logarithmically with the height of the cylinder. To make me jump straight up half a meter (a little less than two feet, and this is not counting where I am when the pistons are at rest before combustion) we need an energy of W=m*g*0.5 Nm. Together with our earlier formula we get n*R*T*ln(x/x0)=m*g*0.5. We assume that the piston is 1 foot long (in the article), that is 0.3m. We have n*R*T=m*g*0.5/ln(x/x0). We now assume that the expansion in the piston is isoterm (that the temperature doesn't change during the expansion). This might not be entirely right, but what the heck, I just want some rough numbers to work with here (or rather, prove that I know physics). This means that F*h=m*g*0.5/ln(x/x0). Lets examine F when h=x0, at the pistons lowest point. F=m*g*0.5/ln(x/x0)/x0. Let's say that x0=0.05m (5 cm), m=70kg and g=10m/s^2. F=70*10*0.5/ln(0.3/0.05)/0.05=12.5kN. This gives the same person an accelleration of 179m/s^2, which is about 18G.
Considering that the combustion not is instantaneous, that the expansion is not isotermic, that energy transfer is not 100% and so on and so forth, I have proved very little else than that I do know physics and that this is tricky stuff.
I apologize for any mistakes above, since I had to go through the calculation and change variables a few times.
The main point of the calculation above was to prove that the force is not uniformly applied during the extension of the piston, that I think, at least is certain.
The physics involved above is certainly not first semester physics.
Hmm. Well. Seems you struck a soft spot there. :) Maybe I overdid it a bit...
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
How much gas refills do these shoes require per... hmmm say... kilometer
If you read the BBC article, they give you enough to figure that out...roughly. The shoes allow a speed of 25 miles per hour. They say that the fuel last for "about 25 minutes".
That gives a range of about 10.5 miles. Not all that good, actually. (Or a little over 17 Kilometers.)
I suspect it would take a lot of practice... But I also suspect that once you got the hang of it, you could do pretty well.
The cake is a pie
That's funny! Well I think that settles the market question...
To be nit-picky, energy equals the integral of the dot-product of f and ds over the path s. If you don't have any motion, you don't have any energy transmitted. Excessive forces (even nominally static forces) exerted on a body can over-stress parts of it and cause damage, but a small force acting over a large distance will not cause overstress. Consider the amount of energy you acquire when you accelerate to highway speeds in a car. While the kinetic energy imparted is many times what you could attain by running, the acceleration is only a fraction of a G. The stresses on the body are less than you experience by standing up.
Ask the designers. If it were my design, I'd either have a low compression ratio to keep the peak forces down to a reasonable multiple of the average, or perhap separate the combustion chamber from the expansion piston and use a controllable valve between them to modulate the expansion. The Russians have been working on this concept for something like 20 years; they're bound to have figured out a few tricks. I have no such prejudice against thermodynamics, so I'll be happy to expand on your numbers a bit. Actually, the isentropic adiabatic expansion of an ideal gas is described by the equation P*v^k = constant, where k is the ratio of the specific heats of the gas (the constant-pressure specific heat divided by the constant-volume specific heat). For typical combustion gases, k is between 1.27 and 1.3. Suppose I have a 2:1 expansion ratio (you assumed 6:1) and I want to average 2 G's of push over the 30 cm travel of the piston. Assuming k = 1.3 and v1 = 2*v0, P1 = P0 * 0.406. The average pressure over the travel is the integral from v0 to 2*v0 of C*v^(-1.3)*dv quantity divided by the delta volume (=v0) where C = P0*v0^(-1.3). Trying to simplify this without the benefit of being able to draw equations...(integral(v0 to 2*v0 of (Cv^(-1.3)dv))) / v0
= (-10/3 C [(2v0)^(-0.3) - v0^(-0.3)]) / v0
= 0.626 C v0^(-0.3) / v0 {now expand C}
= 0.626 P0 v0^(1.3) v0^(-0.3) / v0 {combine and cancel v0 terms)
= 0.626 P0
So the peak thrust is only about 1/0.626 = 1.6 times the average thrust. For a 2-G average thrust, the peak would be a mere 3.2 G's. This would allow you to leap 60 cm in the air (1.2 times your figure) with a peak load of about 1/6 of what you calculated. If you were willing to take a 4.8 G peak acceleration, you could jump 90 cm. Being able to add energy equal to a 90 cm leap with every step would make running very, very easy. A 2:1 expansion ratio would make for a very inefficient engine, but efficiency does not appear to be the goal of the effort.
In short, I think you need to work on your analysis a little bit. My degree is not in physics, plus I'm very rusty after not using this stuff for years, and I am still running rings around you. I suggest you go brush up on some of the basics.
--
Ancient Goth: Someone who overthrew the Roman Empire.
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
What I'm wondering about is that if the pistons fire every time you land, how are you supposed to stop?!?
I doubt, therefore I may be.
The Dead Life is an oxymoron! Oh hell, lets get our gas powered shoes and just go jump around. (MOSH PIT!)
P*v^k
In your post you explain k. But what is P and v. I can't find your equation in my thermodynamics book, but I'm assuming you didn't pull it out of thin air and that it is applicable. I'm actually interested to know what it is.
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
we had a beowulf cluster of these? We could stay in the HOV lane on I270 all the way to work.
Thats All I Have To Say!
Am I the only one thinking go go gadget shoes here or what.
Where am I going and why am I in this handbasket?
Heh.. Wow and I thought that walking around alot was a good way to beat having to pay 2$ a gallon at the Pump. I gotta gas power my shoes... *wonders how many miles to a gallon he can get with these things"
--------========+++Dont Feed The Lab Techs+++========--------
--Ask a silly person, get a silly answer.
>I already have a chuckle at the 'execs' on the commuter trains in the morning who wear rollerblades, and use those motor scooter things.
Wow, I wish we had that sort of thing here. I'd applaud them. A few months ago I actually saw two consecutive cars carrying more than one lone occupant (admittedly it was the weekend rather than a weekday, so family trips were more comman and commuting to work less so, but anyway, it's not something you see everyday here...)
Where was I - yeah, living here, every moron and his dog takes a car to get to work and back each day (one moron per car), and each day we choke on the smog. Then those same morons (successfully) petition the council to ban skating in parts of the city, and sneer at and stigmitise public transport as the "looser cruiser" that only people too poor to own a car would use.
Salute those guys on their blades. The execs here are a far lesser breed.
This sounds like it should be in the next Bond film...
Excellent. The nation that still can't build a decent clock/radio is now moving to the next logical step past their duct-tape space station. I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot about this innovation in the future.
We must respect evil, and we must make evil respect us.
>>
What worries me is that they probably put a lot of extra pressure on joints, specially the knees, that they where not constructed for. Olympic sprinters train their muscles to take the added hits and jolts of running at 23mph.
I'm sure the springs absorb much of the shock of landing.
From the description, you make another step whenever your foot touches ground again. Are you supposed to land face first to stop?
Army ants strap on large mechanical shoes and jump across rivers? So much for humans being the only advanced race out there?
Isn't think kind of thing from Pinky and the Brain? Are you pondering the same thing I am pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but this time you strap on the left motorized boot, and I will play Dr. Claw.
Is that a crime to use two different cartoon jokes in one post?
Norris/Palin 2012
Fact: We deserve leaders who can kick your ass and field dress your carcass.
And only a 10-year-old would find it interesting.
Gives a whole new meaning to "jumpstarting"...
Some things may be "common sense", but common sense is only valid for the areas where we have enough experience to have it trained to be correct. Outside those areas there's no substitute for checking the facts and doing the numbers. The other thing is, "Common sense ain't so common." -- Roy Rogers.
Not bad for fourteen. Take physics and calculus and chemistry when you get the chance, you'll find that a whole lot of things that used to be mysteries suddenly go together like pieces of a puzzle. There's a lot of stuff out there that needs to be looked at by people in a position of knowledge and with fresh viewpoints, and you may very well be someone to find an important insight that everyone else has missed. "If I have achieved so much, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants." Go climb up onto the shoulders of Newton and Laplace and Leibniz and Kelvin and Avogadro, and tell the world what you see.One more little thing while I'm pontificating. There are a lot of people out there who are pushing agendas, and they depend on the ignorance of the public (especially in science) to get people to believe them. Watch out for these people. The truth is their worst enemy.
--
Ancient Goth: Someone who overthrew the Roman Empire.
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
We aren't standing still. We're improving the product
A rather thick pun if I do say so myself...
Eh...
This is great! I already have a chuckle at the 'execs' on the commuter trains in the morning who wear rollerblades, and use those motor scooter things. Now I get to watch them bounding down the platform too! Yay!
I'm thinking tripwire here...
henry [ w i r e t r a p . n e t ]
I didn't claim any authority, and if it seemed like it, that was surely not my intention. My first post, from which all this stems, merely points out that I thought that perhaps the shoes could be damaging to the legs if used for a long time (which I also pointed out was not intended).
Your example only illustrates what I said. You yourself say that energy is transmitted into the brick and also from the brick into the ground, by friction. Energy is transmitted. But also, in some sense, the energy is constant. The kinetik energy of the brick does not increase.
If I use terms that seem unfamiliar to you, or even wrong, please consider that I am Swedish and that there is a certain language barrier here.
Well, as much as I've enjoyed our discussion maybe we can put it to rest. You can have the last word if you wish. :) /Daniel
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
It seems to me that this is a great idea, but what if there is a mis-fire? I don't think I want to have something capable of lifting my weight go off at the wrong time, or with excessive force.
It would be very nice to see a photo or diagram.
--Mike--
Do you really think you can defeat me and my plans to take over the world with my army of giant, super-intelligent, green-glow-in-the-dark, insulin-producing, human-ear-backed, mutant mice?
I, along with Microsoft's Legion of Evil Monkeys will crush you, Linux-boy!
MuuaHaaaaHahahahaahahaahaha..hahe..ah.he..ahem.
Hehhehehehe =:-) That is a really funny idea =:-)
---
Play Six Pack Man. I
can you imagine kicking someone with these ? not only the piston but the added wieght would be nice too
Maybe this concept is somehow improved, but ISTR hearing about the identical concept 5 or 10 years ago.
--
Life's a bitch but somebody's gotta do it.
Bad Boys, Bad Boys,
watcha gonna do?
watcha gonna do,
when they leap for you!
If it's Win98 you could just put the Ctrl, Alt and Delete keys on the sole of one shoe and re-"boot" every 26 feet.
carlos
--
As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
In addition to fun, games and the potential for a new olympic sport. We have significant military, law enforcement, agricultural, environmental protection, and rescue opportunities for this one.
Ask, and it shall be given (to) you; Seek, and ye shall find; Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one
This invention has been in the pipeline for a long time; I remember reading about gas-powered boots many years ago. But it's not surprising that cheap microcontrollers and actuators are finally making them a reality.
--
Ancient Goth: Someone who overthrew the Roman Empire.
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
If petrol-powered boots can eventually find their way into the markets of commercial and everyday use, perhaps it would be time for Roman Kunikov and his crew of aeronautical-engineers to consider alternatives to using petrol, such as using solar energy or even electrical energy. I would presume that solar power boots would overall be cheaper and more safer for the environment... Plus, I wouldn't want to be waiting in line to filler-up on my new, shiny Nike Sky Boots for $2.50 a tenth-gallon...
Sweet!, that's the missing link to my Daikatana mission pack. Watch out you little toads you have more to contend with than that gas powered glove!
And the fact that this is foodwear would only be one of the reasons...
Say no to software patents.
These shoes would make it easy to "walk a mile in their shoes."
Would be over so fast.
Stupid? YES! By all means, it was un-endingly stupid. One of those random outbursts you know. My mission has succeeded, you have been trolled, and now you're day is a little worse off :) Now shalt the wrath of the moderators engulf us all!
I was thinking something similar, myself. Can you imagine infantry outfitted with these things? It would do wonders for city fighting -- jumping up to rooftops, surprise attacks from around corners, massive rapid deployment of ground troops. Tim
Holy Roman Empire, Batman!
--Fesh
--Fesh
Kill -9 'em all, let root@localhost sort 'em out.
I've got a bridge in New York to sell you as well as a wormhole generator.
"There is no shot you can take that I cannot simply deny." - Ertai, wizard goalie
What happens when someone runs into a wall or lamp post at 25MPH? Or worse, hits another pedestrian?
Al Bundy would love those ;-)
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
"We aren't standing still. We're improving the product."
-- Professor Roman Kunikov
Is this professor for real? :^D
www.poak.net
"More beans, Mr. Taggart??"
I would assume that they are solid state. I always wonder why people feel the need to throw an OS into equipment that works fine solid state as well... A little basic knowledge tells you that unless the software is really helping the system to work, solid state is a better way to go, faster, more efficient, less prone to breakdown.
Eh...
But it's good to see (that some) Russians are as misguided as westerners.
I can see doing this along the lines of "because it's there", but seriously, for capitalists posibilities, it hasn't got a *leg* to stand on.
-- www.globaltics.net
Political discussion for a new world
It sounds like something I'd like to try (but probably only the once :)
One question though - how do you stop? The BBC article says the pistons are triggered by the foot hitting the ground, so presumably once you have started you have to wait until the things run out of fuel.
(This brings up another interesting question: What happens if your left foot runs out of fuel before your right foot? This would probably make for some painful accidents).
Combine these shoes with the Ursus Mark VI armoured suit, arrive in your personal helicopter... from Slashdot, I can get the tech I need to become a superhero! Now all I need are some nifty superhero-style weapons!
--
Xenu loves you!
I'm not allowed to ride my motorcycle at 25mph without a helmet, and there's a reason for that. There's no protection in case of a crash.
Should something like this come into popularity, would we need to enforce a helmet rule? Hitting something at 25mph can be pretty deadly, and I can already see people in a hurry having accidents.
- In Capitalist America, law violates YOU!
I'd love to see that some sport competition! How about, say, motorized soccer?
I'm wondering how long it will take for this idea to be incorporated into that DARPA powered armor project. These are definitely better than the kangaroo suit for increasing infantry movement.
So far I've gotten all my Karma from telling people they are wrong... :)
Well shit. You got me. You with the $1500 prize!! If it weren't for the fact that I don't care, i'd have called you an ass. Oh wait...
How do we stop?
- Phil in Fandango
The world record time for the 100m is about 10sec, which works out to 36km/h, but this is an average speed from a standing start. I don't know how long it takes to reach maximum speed, but when the runner crosses the finish line, he's moving a helluva lot faster than 37km/h. ISTR the fastest human land speed being >=64km/h.
Russian scientists are thinking of some really impressive ways to get headlines these days..
Mess up a landing even slightly and find your right leg propelled in a direction the bones don't want to go.. Even if you did learn to nail the landing everytime, the impacts would be totally jarring. Think jumping off a second story roof with every step.. Ouch.
A gas powered pogo stick would be as useful and safe, and someone did that ages ago.. I'll take a helicopter thanks..
Heinlein in spinning in his grave right now.
;) are making Starship Troopers a reality!! In fact, with the Bear Suit and a personal jet-pack a'la Fall Guy (you know the one), all you really need are Aliens style weapons and a bunch of tactical nukes, and we can go to war with another species!
Those damn Commies (once a Commie, always a Commie)
Bugs Mr. Rico! Zillions of 'em!!
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
If so, I can see the headlines now... ;)
" 5'10" Computer Geek makes a 360 degree slam
dunk on Shaq"
I can wish, can't I
The facts expressed here belong to all, the opinions to me. The distinction between fact and opinion is yours to decide.
Why use petrol powered shoes? Take a look at this page to see something that probably won't get you to 25mph, but will certainly let you jump a fair bit. You won't run out of petrol either ;)
;)
http://www.kangoo-worldsite.com/home.htm
On TV once, I saw some *immense* boots somebody made - they were based on a "dead big achilles tendon" princple. Lots of springs, lots and lots of jumping. I can't find any links about that mind.
Pterol might be cool, but I reckon the Kangaroo boots are better
Do you have any better hostages?
>people who can LEAST afford to replace their
>cars to be "gross polluters"
So it's the *POOR* people who own those 12mpg Excursions and Surburbans and Land Rovers that out weigh/size my own car by a factor of at least three!!! Silly me; I thought it was rich yuppies buying those monsterocities.
Funny thing... I happen to *LIKE* having clean, breathable air...
I wouldn't mind at all having <20mpg vehicles off the road. Or at least get rid of the "gas guzzler" tax exemption for them, and make them submit to all the safety and efficency requirements of normal cars. And bump the threshold for a *car* to be considered a "gas guzzler" up to 20mpg as well.
Come on people... we all knew beforehand that California has some of the toughest emissions laws around. Yet we choose to live here anyway. If you want to drive a beat up old junker that spews tons of smog every time you start it up, well, you knew beforehand that that's frowned upon in this state. (seems like there's a cultural exemption for old Volkswagons tho)
john
Resistance is NOT futile!!!
Haiku:
I am not a drone.
Remove the collective if
Imagine all the people...
<Sorry, couldn't resist...>
www.eFax.com are spammers
At first glance this article reminded me of a gag gift my grandfather used to have.
It was a gas powered cigarette lighter. It was actually a regular lighter, with a plastic tube that you were supposed to stick down your pants. Gas powered...
I just had this vision of plastic tubes extending up from a pair of Nikes... No thanks, my sneakers smell bad enough as it is.
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
The next question is, what does this enable? If average people can run at 25 MPH with these boots on (and presumably carrying a load), it looks like they could handle a suit of composite armor. All of a sudden the powered-armor-clad Mobile Infantry of Starship Troopers doesn't look so far-fetched.
--
Ancient Goth: Someone who overthrew the Roman Empire.
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
- What if he wants to climb stairs down ?
- Won't he just be thrown in the air ?
- How is precision stepping handled ?
(a typical French expression in this case is "Adorable mais si on danse?" - "Lovely, but what about dancing?")Especially if you happen to be out of gas in a country that is known for its penuries...
--
Trolling using another account since 2005.
And I used to enjoy walking through the park!
Attention all planets of the Solar Federation! We have assumed control! - Neil Peart
Professor Kunikov believes that,as well as being fun, the shoes could be used by rescue services to reach quickly areas inaccessible to vehicles with wheels.
Yep. Same strategy as army ants use to cross rivers.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
:)Fudboy
I guess I'm just a Fudboy, looking for that real Transmeta...
:)Fudboy
I guess I'm only a Fudboy, looking for that real Transmeta