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AT-ATs Coming to a Forest Near You
Audent writes "Not strictly speaking anything any of us should classify as work related, or even open source, but holy shitbags! I want one of these.
Plustech, a subsidiary of tractor maker John Deere, has built a six-legged walking logging machine that just has to be the prototype for an AT-AT walker. Imagine parking this puppy at the mall!"
It does look like a giant mechanical ant though. From the videos, it looks SLOW and LOUD.
Still, I want one.
All movements for social change begin as missions, evolve into businesses, and end up as rackets.
I noticed that in one of the videos is walks with three legs at a time, keeping a tripod, and in the other it moves one leg at a time. Is there a specific reason for this? Perhaps something to do with the terrain?
Watch out, or I'll have the penguins eat you.
Oh...and, I'm liquid talent
the harvester advances forward and backward, sideways and diagonally. It can also turn in place and step over obstacles
Good. Maybe then those pesky forest rebels will have a harder time wrapping thier grappling hooks around me when I'm out logging.
,
faeryman
...a little bullet-proof glass, some armor & weapons...the little bitch is made for close-quarter urban demolition zone warfare.
I'm not really a web designer, I just play one on the Internet.
I imagine someone's already working on a hack to make this bad-boy dance the funky chicken. It'd be cool to watch a bunch of them dancing in sequence...
Code, Hardware, stuff like that.
BTW, I feel the use of language in the main article is a bit innappropriate.
What the fuck are you talking about?
Now all we need is to put the friggin laser (the high powered laser mounted on a jet) and mount it on the friggin 6 legged logging machine.
rm -rf sig
Cool -- Nice to see the underpinnings of BattleMechs are coming along nicely. I'll be flying my Phoenix Hawk LAM any century now!
you should read everything on the internet as if it had "but I'm probably talking out of my ass" appended to it.
In the movies it lifts its feet like a cat. This is the cool ass machine of the year.
Yeah, that would rock, until I see an old lady with a cart full of soda cans pass me at full speed on the mall's perimeter road. ~sob~
If this company wants to make a go of this, they're going to have to make a military version. I don't know about you, but if I saw one of these things comming at me, I'd run for the hills!
There is no spoon or sig.
Because of course the world certainly needs newer, bigger, and better ways to cut down even more trees.
If they could harvest efficiently with this puppy without clear-cutting or requiring tractor-trailer-capable roads, it could actually be ecologically beneficial.
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
We must be careful with our Star Wars nomenclature. Both in tactical operation area (um, the woods), size, and appearance, this wood-cutting thingy most closely resembles an AT-ST, not an AT-AT. I think this may invalidate the numerous rebel grappling-hook jokes I see popping up. Unless that rope they used to trip 1 or 2 of the walkers in Return of the Jedi were grappling hooks....
I give it 2 years before it makes it into the military.
Does anyone else think this looks like one of Dr. Seuss' worst nightmares?
Somewhere, a Lorax is crying...
Trooper: Sir, small green AT-ATs approaching!
... Its that loud "lawn-mower" sound... Kind of like a trash-compacter...
Rebel Officer: Damn! Are you sure?
Trooper: Yes, can't you hear it?
Rebel Officer: Oh yes... Whats the ETA?
Trooper: Well, given their current rate of speed, I would say 2... no make that 3 weeks.
Rebel Officer: Good work Trooper - We had best begin to pack up the base and move out by no later than... noon tomorrow.
Trooper: Roger roger.
my religion lies somewhere between buddhism and super monkey ball - pamphlet?
would probabbly look a lot like the "tank" in [Ghost in the Shell]. which would make sense, IMO, because the manuverability would be *so* superior to track-driven tanks.
well, with a couple decades of engineering work to make it move faster and more adaptable, anyway.
at the mean time, i want to see a consumer version for *real* off-roading. and the crane thing can be used to grab hot women out of their convertables while dozing around downtown LA.
My life in the land of the rising sun.
a properly managed forest is a renewable resource
Have you ever seen a logging operation in action? Didn't think so. The fact is that the tractors that are used tear up a good sized swath and compact the soil making it harder for the forest to re-assert itself. This six-legged beastie is a great idea if they can make it competetive with current logging vehicles as it will reduce the ecological impact that logging has and that's a good thing. It's not like all research put into logging tech is bad; for example the use of log skidders (bulldozers pushing logs from where they've been cut to where they're put on the truck) has been greatly reduced by stringing up huge cables at the top of the hill being logged. Logs are attached to said cable and are carried downhill to log landings to be put on waiting trucks. This results in less damage done to the log so less needs to be logged and fewer necessary roads and less use of skidders meaning lower environmental impact and quicker restoration of the forest.
HAIL ANTS!!!!
This thing needs pneumatic claws so it can grip the sides of mountains and buildings. Walking a cliff face or wall vertically or horizontally would be a requirement for any kind of urban deployment of this technology
Also, it should look more like an actual giant armored space ant.
turret with high powered water/foam/fire cannon would be a nice option. Perhaps with harpoon/grappling hook gun with high test line on gear reduced winch. That way it would be able to swing from building to building and fight fires, mothra or those angels from evangelion.
"Let him go, Ralph. He knows what he's doing." --Otto Mann (simpsons)
I think we've found the perfect replacement for those boring Mars rover designs. I'd like to see this think hobbling around the red planet taking mass spec measurements of things.
And when the Martians come to investigate the lander, it'll be alien stompin' time! Ka-krash!
The angel in the oatmeal.
My ten-year-old is in love with it. Oh, cool! will it ever be seen at state fairs in the NW?
I wonder if we can convince Deere to have one at the state fair in Iowa.
Woohoo!
Awesome! Now I'll never be bothered by speed bumps, I can just step over them!
Oh wait...
Slashdot is like Playboy: I read it for the articles
I want to see one scurry, and I do mean scurry, around the woods carrying a tree. Then the lumber companies might be interested.
That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
I cannot view the videos, since I run Linux...
Dude! Get MPlayer or Xine. There are others, but those two seem to be pretty well done.
Great... yet another mechanism to destroy the Pacific Northwest's (formerly) vast forests, after "buying" them from the corrupt US Forest Service.
Considering that these things burn some kind of fuel, and that they harvest wood which can also be used as a fuel (or turned into methyl alcohol to create fuel), what do you suppose the ratio of fuel spent to fuel harvested is for these puppies?
I'd bet it leans heavily to one side, specifically the spent one.
(sniff sniff) "Sir! I think your car stepped in something on the way to work this morning."
Table-ized A.I.
I'm so glad I saw this article here before I ran into one while hiking and found myself wishing I had brought a change of underwear. Not only that, but I'd probably never, ever again eat those funny mushrooms.
Thanks Slashdot!
Everything in the Universe sucks: It's the law!
First think I thought of when I saw it was to mount guns on it. Maybe a 20mm gun or a .50 cal minigun (neither being in a fixed mount). Would be quite useful for military applications, and wouldn't surprise me if it was already being developed with some in mind. Refine the technology enough and you will have some really nice battle platforms for ground operations. maybe we can make it look and act like a scorpion too :)
Have you ever even been around any construction/industrial equipment or machinery in your life? That thing is not loud by any means. In fact, until I watched the videos, the impression I was getting from all the loud comments was that this thing sounded like a jet engine or something (kinda like my comp sounds, heh). This thing is suprisingly quiet. I mean, if you listen closely as it walks, you can even hear the chains on its feet dangle and clank as the feet pads move. Sure, it isn't museum quiet, but your typically lawn mower is probably louder than this thing. I'll agree that it isn't all that fast, but I think the speed is almost just right for walking through forests, you don't wanna run into trees going too fast now.
Is wrap the legs of these things with cables a few times, and *CRASH* the walkers come tumbling down... Come on, haven't they ever seen Empire Strikes Back?
Whoever stated that signature sizes should be limited to one hundred and twenty characters can just go ahead and kiss my
You're obviously not clued in on how the logging industry works. These advancements will in NO WAY WHATSOEVER reduce logging. It will, however, increase profit, but don't think for a second that logging companies are going to log any less of their "purchased" parcels of land.
if you think the logging machine is cool, check out the Spiderplow http://www.spiderplow.com
/left independently, plus about a dozen controls for the fiber burying blade.
:)
I worked on a crew that used one of these, installing fiber optic cable down the median of an interstate. The frickin' thing can go through the legs of highway signs, climb off of an 18-wheeler trailer SIDEWAYS, and stand on 1 leg while it's ripping.
The controls seem to be a little more involved than the logger, though. It's got a panel of about 30 two-way levers to control all of the motions. each leg can extend/retract, swivel forward/back, raise/lower, rotate each wheel right
Spiderplow = more bandwidth.
John Deere Forester = toilet paper.
It's ovious which one is the high-tech toy for the nerds
I think I need a new sig here.
Those legs are way too vulnerable.
Imagine rope or netting looped around a couple. I doubt they have much power for moving, simply strength for holding up. Think of your own legs when someone tied your shoelaces together. A puny little shoelace and you couldn't break it with your legs! One of the few things I believed in whatever Star Wars episode that was (New Hope?).
The legs need armor, but trying to armor them individually and completely would add way too much weight and bulk.
Consider a tank -- all that armor on the sides and some on the top. Battleships armored the individual turrets, but almost all the rest was on the sides and under the deck. Individual compartments were not armored. Not even magazines had their own armor, they were simply buried as deep as possible within the armor.
Infuriate left and right
Most environmental groups either worry about the effect of logging on local wildlife, or the rampant destruction of trees in south america.
The fact that a cool-ass tree-cutter comes along really doesn't bother them too much. Its more of the parking lot thats gonna replace the tree they hate more.
| - | - |
Actually, logging roads have turned out to be very beneficial for fire fighting here in the West. Turns out that fire crews would have a much more difficult times getting to the remote (and as is the case here in Denver, not so remote) burns. Not only do logging roads help get the equipment to the burn site, but they also provide a good fire break.
Just goes to show that nothing comes free in this world.
...*blink* You object to the use of language? I suppose you'd rather see the author attempt to make his point with gestures and inarticulate grunts.
SIERRA TANGO FOXTROT UNIFORM
Or that pumping oil from the ground takes MORE energy than we get out of the oil?
Hello Mr "I can't think back any further then my ass."
How is THIS one for you.
Energy gone into producing oil:
Dinosaurs born, big ass trees grew, dinosaurs ate trees, died, turned to oil. We pump oil out, burn.
Now then, you have entropy going all to hell throughout there, you have the energy used up by the trees, by the dinosaurs, by the dinosaurs EATING the trees, and so forth. Energy IS used and spread about, there is NEVER A NET GAIN IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF SHIT THE UNIVERSE HAS TO PLAY AROUND WITH.
Just because YOUR sorry ass did not have to sweat to make something work does not mean that somebody (or something) else did not use up the energy!
Need help treating your acne? Come here!
I watched the videos, and I can't imagine this thing hauling logs around and keeping balanced. What would this actually be used for in a logging operation?
Brant
Actually, if used wisely (which as always is a big if), something like this could be quite good for helping to stop deforestation. No roads need to be cut into the forest, and no clearcutting; instead a couple of guys with these could pick out a tree here, a tree there, and still leave the forest basically intact. It's like plucking a few hairs from your head here and there, vesus shaving one spot.
Oh, and the question is not "tree" supply. It's forests. A forest is more than just a bunch of trees, ya know.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
Go to the John Deere home site http://www.deere.com/en_US/deerecom/johndeere_worl dwide/index.html - no mention of "PlusTech" at all.
If you look closely at the photo's of the machine and the video you'll notice they look 'artificial' -- a little too clean and crisp compared with the background. Also, if you're going to video your state-of-the-art vehicle wouldn't you get a better location for your camera than back behind a boat-load of trees and bushes?
Funny how the web site is unfinished (i.e. the boaring elements to fake up havn't been done -- but the fun graphics have).
Well executed mind-you, but someone should tell the guys (or gals) who did this that it's "April 1" they should have been shooting for, not "August 1"
Rich people are eccentric. Poor people are strange. Me, I'd be happy with odd.
I want to see them make one that can go as fast as a Zoid.
With weapons to match.
MrCreosote Meow!Thump!Meow!Thump!Meow!Thump! "You're right! There isn't enough room to swing a cat in here!"
NekoBus
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
the actual pictures make me think Terminator, one of these coming out of the foggy woods, on a hunting day....hilarity is bound to ensue :)
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
What the hell are you talking about? there are a half-dozen viewers for linux. I just watched it minutes ago on gtv.
pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
If anybody has read anything about the history of the Battletech universe, WorkMechs, the predecessors to BattleMechs, were developed in the 21st century. Only 900 years until total Mechwarrior happiness!
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
Look, in Tasmania the forestry industry is pretty fucked for lots of reasons. Yet "they" still come out with the same crap that you've just spouted. Chain logging may reduce the impact on the soil due to wheeled and tracked vehicles. However, it also means that the idiots can also log some of the steepest slopes, that is those that they would have never been able to log before. They (the logging companies) don't give a rats ass about the ecological implications of what they are doing, they are simply trying to subdue the public (and Government in many cases) long enough for them to screw us all over. I only feel a bit churned up over this because in Tasmania we have 400 year old 70+ metre tall Eucalyptus Regnums (the tallest hardwoods in the world) being sold for chips at just over AU$1000 a pop - it makes me sick
I'm sold, do they have any color other then Deer Green?
I just about dropped my Jedi training ball when I read that!
Infuriate left and right
IT'S A GIANT COOTIE!
Seriously, remember the game "Cootie" when you were kids? (Those of you who aren't kids anymore anyway.)
He looked at me and said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send your fingerprints off to Washington."
These walking machines are great for reducing damage while logging by reducing the need for road building and reducing the tracks they make on the ground.
All present walking machines share one big problem though, they are inefficient. This one needs a big diesel to generate constant hydraulic pressure, most of which is used just to keep it standing. Hardly any is left to propel the machine forward.
Animals typically use almost no energy to stand, and get most of their locomotion energy back through tendons etc.
Another problem is that bugs fall a lot. The six legged gait is not particularly stable at speed. Fast bugs switch from six to four leg gait when they speed up, and even two leg gait for sprints.
So this machine is stuck with the dead-slow one-at-a-time gait or the tippy six leg tripod gait, which is still pretty slow, and it has to have a big ass engine because of the inherent inefficiency.
I guess JD figures all of the above are worth it to silence the whining Greenies who cry over every tree. I'd say this year's fires are a pretty good argument in that direction. I expect to see a bunch of these things running up and down in the next few years, thinning the over grown bush.
Hope this works out for JD, as in a few years these things will hit the used equipment market. Then we can hot rod 'em!
Why doesn't the government pull the money out and then we can all go straight to growing hemp for all our pulp needs?
And you could use the zero THC varieties, so don't go crazy with the "evil weed" bullshit, ok?
If you're going to try to randomly repeat what smart people once said, at least try to get it right.
Remember the tuna sandwich rule: When you eat a tuna sandwich, you profit in energy. If this wasn't true, people would die of starvation eating tuna sandwiches.
-- The act of censorship is always worse than whatever is being censored. Always.
In some areas it might make sense to consider draft horses and sledges and drag the trees to the nearest road. They're probably cheaper to operate and less impact on the terrain. Certain types of soft terrain or areas where you may not build roads are examples. If the cutting is done when the ground is frozen, movement is easier. Adding modern materials or design (tracks?) to the sledge could reduce the number of draft horses used.
Six legged walking machines definitely have a hi-tech coolness, but are a young technology. Four legged walking machines have been refined by us for thousands of years for the specific task of dragging heavy things.
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
With regard of Yesterday's news a better title might have been:
Talibans: AT-ATs are Coming to a cave Near *!You!*
echo '[q]sa[ln0=aln80~Psnlbx]16isb572CCB9AE9DB03273snlbxq' |dc
It's like the paragraph tag. Your browser shouldn't complain if you close a paragraph you never officially opened (like this one).
Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.
Encouraging canibalism among trees is a good thing? :-)
My other first post is car post.
I always wanted to be... a LUMBERJACK!
Leaping from tree to tree, as they float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia! The larch! The redwood! The mighty Scotch pine! With me
best girl by me side, as we sing, sing sing!
Oh, I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK, I sleep all night and I work all day.
(He's a lumberjack and he's OK, he sleeps all night and he works all day.)
I cut down trees, I eat my lunch, I go to the lava'try, On Wednesdays I go shopping, and have buttered scones for tea.
(He cuts down trees, he eats his lunch, he goes to the lava'try, On Wednesdays he goes shopping, and has buttered scones for tea.)
I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK, I sleep all night and I work all day
I cut down trees, I skip and jump, I like to press wildflow'rs, I put on women's clothing, and hang around in bars.
(He cuts down trees, he skips and jumps, he likes to press wildflow'rs, He puts on women's clothing... and hangs around in BARS?!?!)
I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK,
I sleep all night and I work all day
I cut down trees, I wear high heels, suspenders and a bra I wish I'd been a girlie, just like my dear Pappa!
(He cuts down trees, he wears high heels... suspenders and a BRA?!?!)
Oh I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK, I sleep all night and I work all day Yes I'm a lumberjack and I'm O-K... I sleep all night and I work all day!
Someone could easily disable it by flying an aircraft with wire around its legs!
Ciryon
Instantly when seeing the vehicle I noticed it was the same that made the news here years back. Glad to see it's making progress.
Can't wait to have the "civilian" version: never mind parking problems - just step over 'em!
Finland, Finland, Finland; the place I want to be
freezing, drunken, paid and prized for innovative anarchy
I think, therefore thoughts exist. Ego is just an impression.
I realize that the purpose of this device is to lessen the impact of vehicles on the forest, which is great, but is anyone else freaked out by its resemblance to the rapid forest destroying machines in Dr. Seuss's "The Lorax"? Maybe Hollywood can make a live action version now.
Syntax error: loose != lose, affect != effect, then!=than
...the cutter mechanism on the end of it's boom. That is REALLY cool. I saw a show on TLC (I think it was Modern Marvels or something) that showed how this cutting head works. It grabs onto a tree trunk, cuts it off, rolls the length of the trunk stripping off the branches, and then rolls back over the trunk cutting it into pre-determined lengths. It estimates these lengths by determinig the tree's length by using the tree's diameter and stored "tree data" based on tree type. Seeing this thing in action leaves your eyes glued to the TV and your jaw glued to the floor!!!
My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
Nothing perambulates like a Deere...
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
The Hills? NONONONONO! That's where they are most effective. You need to run to the flat wide open spaces. That way you could out run and out manouver it on your trusty tricycle.
There is nothing so silly as other peoples traditions, and nothing so sacred as our own.
If the walkers in Star Wars were equipped with close weapons, they would have a) been able to dispatch the Ewoks/rebels that cast the nets or set the triplines and b) been able to destroy the entaglement device. In Mech Warrior, close quarter armements would have been able to hit mechs that were below the range of the main weapons, eliminating the "save zone"
A real-world waling weapons platform would be able to use a rapid-fire projectile weapon to the same effect. Small belly-mounted turrets would be able to fill this niche.
science is a religion
Like any Slashdot readers go hiking. That means actually going outside and being with Nature!
Modern tank main guns, when used in the anti-armour role, don't use an explosive projectile. Instead, they fire a dart of dense metal (like tungsten or depleted uranium) at very high velocities. The pure kinetic energy drives the penetrator through the armour, and the sudden pressure rise within the fighting compartment superheats the air inside, killing the crew and (usually) cooking off any ammo inside the turret in a secondary explosion.
The muzzle velocity of these projectiles ranges from 1400 m/s to 1800 m/s.
Typical engagement ranges in open country extend from 5000m at the very outside, down to about 1000m Ranges in close country are correspondingly closer.
That means in the best possible case (a 5000m engagement in open country) you will have roughly 3 seconds to realize you have been fired upon, attempt evasive action, and get the vehicle clear of the space that will be occupied by the penetrator.
At more typical ranges, you have 1 second to accomplish same.
Not going to happen. Sorry.
DG
Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
There's two more disadvantages to consider - gun platform stability, and ground pressure.
A legged vehicle is probably pretty stable while stationary, but what happens if you fire a 125mm main gun while walking, with legs up in the air?
The other consideration is ground pressure. Tanks weigh between 40 and 70 tons. They spread all that weight over the large surface area of the tracks, and get the ground pressure down to a more reasonable level. What happens if you move from the high-surface-area tracks to 6 low-surface-area legs, especially in muddy or soft terrain?
Kinda embarrassing to get your AT-AT stuck in the mud....
DG
Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
I think you missinterpret. I think that the paragraph tag is an opening tag which should use a closing tag with a slash, but most browsers will not complain if you never close it.
I've noticed that my browser does not complain when I close paragraphs that I never explicitly opened (like this one).
Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.
That's one of the coolest machines I've seen in a while. The videos show two gaits: Going down the hill, it moves one leg at a time -- walking. On flat land, it moves three legs at a time, always keeping a tripod on the ground -- trotting. I wonder if it has any other gaits? Galloping would be something to see...
Mike van Lammeren
It will challenge your head, your brain, and your mind.
excerpt:
Protection -- According to the Army report, 8 Abrams crews reported being hit by fire from the Iraqi T-72 , but there was no damage. Later reports claimed that 100-mm rounds fired by T-55 tanks simply glanced off. 125-mm rounds from the T-72 dented the M1A1's armor, but did not penetrate. Of the over 1,950 M1s and M1A1 tanks in the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations (KTO), only four suffered catastrophic damage and four were damaged but repairable, the Army report stated. Later analysis revealed that of the four that caught fire, three were hit erroneously by US AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. No crewmen were injured because the bustle doors and blow- off panels worked as designed to vent the explosions upward.
please note that US army post a more serious threat to itself than any enemy shells, due to the advances in armor technology
2) a tracked tank makes an easy (easier) target because you have *zero* lateral movement. a tank's position can be predicted with reasonable accuracy and simplicity. add side-back movement, however, aiming becomes much more of a pain in the ass. that's why you run zig-zag to lessen your chance of being hit by bullets (if you are a lowly infantry unit).
3) one other reason for legs is the ability (i am not sure on this as per the current state of technology, but hopefully this is something they would strive for) -- sudden and fast acceleration. the time for you (as a person) to run, stop, hop sideways, etc is minimal compared to if you wan to do similar things with the best of tanks. hence making the dodges (if you are concerned about those still) possible.
i firmly believe that legged battle vehicles will be the future; i could be wrong, of course. but in my view there are simply too many benefits to pass up by sticking with current sort of technology.
My life in the land of the rising sun.
Perhaps he knows of some way for the editors to write besides using language. :)
TV Show Host: You can't use that kind of language on TV!
Beavis: We use language?
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
Dean Ing wrote a short story called "Malf" in which he describes a legged vehicle designed for logging. One of the walkers gets stolen by a Mafia-linked guy who uses it to rob a bank (!) and the good guys have to chase it down with another walker.
The story isn't online anywhere, but it can be found here.
To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
There is already a bioengineered solution to this problem- it's called an elephant.
________________________________________ History Must Not Fall Into The Wrong Hands ___________________________________
Keep in mind that I'm a retired tank troop commander, so I sorta know what I'm talking about.
1) Modern armour can stop APFSDS rounds
Under the right circumstances, yes, but consider what the "right circumstances" are.
Firstly, any data from the Gulf war vs American tanks is data that describes second or third line equipment vs state of the art equipment. In case you didn't know, the digits in the designation of Soviet-era equipment represent the year it was first identified by NATO - so a T55 was first encountered in *1955* and a T-72 in *1972*
Related to this is that the Soviets never sold their top-line equipment to client states. They kept the good stuff for themselves, and sold derated stuff to customers.
Secondly, the price of all that armour protection is a great deal of mass. While the exact composition of the M1's armour is still top secret, it is known to have at least one layer of depleted uranium in it (the same stuff used in the penetrator) It also has a bunch of ceramics to defend against HEAT warheads, and an anti-spall layer to help the crew.
On a legged vehicle, you have to not only move this mass forward, you have to LIFT it too.
On a tracked vehicle, the tank rolls over its tracks much like a train. There is suprisingly little friction there - ask anyone who ever made the mistake of trying to change both tracks at once, and had the tank roll away from them.
The idea of 65 tons JUMPING straight up in the air is just ludicrous. Work out how much energy that would take! And then work out the ground pressure when it lands, and figure out how far it'll be driven into the soil.
2) Tanks are very much more manouverable than you seem to realize. They can spin in place at very high speeds, and then squirt out in unexpected directions. The first time you actually see a tank in motion, it'll scare the crap out of you. These are not giant lumbering monsters, they are 65 ton sportscars.
3) Even if you somehow manage to find a power source that could drive a legged vehicle, even if you can solve the ground pressure problem, you still have to deal with the fact that you're still completely dependant on crew reaction time to recognise you're being shot at, assess the incoming tradjectory, and then make an appropriate evasive action. The incoming round is supersonic, so no help there. Radar and other active sensors give away your position, so that's no good. You're down to the Mark I eyeball picking up the muzzle blast... and at an average of 1 second from firing to impact, you'd have a better chance at dodging a bullet.
Not gonna happen.
DG
Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book