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Project Grizzly
theGEEK writes "A friend came across this article on Suck yesterday. I actually know this guy... and his Anti-Bear Suit is actually quite impressive. Troy is a very interesting, if somewhat dramatic guy-so much so the National Film Board of Canada made a movie about him, and his project.
You'll never believe your eyes when you see him repeatedly get hit by a truck at at 50 KPH or when he gets beaten by bikers wielding axes and baseball bats." So, if anyone wants to get me a Christmas present, I'll take one of these.
DrunkBikerWeb: Maximum number of concurrent biker-beatings server is able to sustain while still serving web pages.
SleepyTruckerWeb: Maximum number of hits from a three-tonne truck travelling at 50 kilometres an hour while still serving web pages.
FallingTreeWeb: Maximum number of collisions with a 136 kilgram (300 lb.) tree from a height of 9 metres (30 ft.) while still serving web pages.
The CBC made a video about him and it's funny in a very accidental way. It's bizarre and I must say, Monsieur Troy is a bit... what's the word... insane, but it's worth the four bucks to watch it.
He doesn't ever get attacked by a bear (sorry to ruin the surprise) but the rest of it makes it worth it.
Yes, they do grab. It's not a full-fisted grab, but it is enough to pull harder than one can possibly imagined. I've seen bears pull branches off trees, and that was a much smaller black bear. Remember that the den is a VERY confined space. If the bear starts an attack in there, the guy's limbs will be pushed and pulled in all different directions.
I've seen this guys experiments. As impressive as they are, I am not convinced. If the guy was willing to attach himself to an inanimate object, then attach his arm to a truck, and had the truck pull the arm into some unnatural position without breaking it, then he might begin to convince me.
Imagine this situation. The guy is laying on his chest, with his arm on at about a 90 degree angle with the hand pointing towards his feet and the palms pointing upwards (a very natural position for someone laying on their chest). Then the bear puts its weight over the guy's shoulder or anywhere near the upper arm, grabs the hand, then pulls it upwards. Can you imagine the amount of torque that would place on the elbow and shoulder?
This whole bear suit deal reminds me of an experiment that was done with white sharks some years back. They were trying to develop this "shark proof" suit made from a very tuff metal mesh. They had successfully tested against smaller sharks, and had tested in the lab against penetration by a sharp blade driven at a force equivalent to a great white's jaws. So they put it on a test dummy, put some pieces of very bloody meat in there for bait, then threw it near a great white. The suit remained intact, yet the dummy was torn to bits by the ferocity of the attack.
Yes you're right, I didn't read the whole article before (don't need to go into the name calling by the way). I was relying on what I saw on National Geographic (Or was it the Discovery Channel?). I clearly remember him mentioning going into the den, and I remember him mentioning that he didn't want to use any tranquilizer in order not to contaminate the samples.
But even in this case. So far, from all the high-impact tests that I've seen, I haven't seen a single test against high torque joint manipulation on the suit. Yes, the suit may be restricted to the natural range of motion, but how strong are these range limiters? Can they support the full power and weight of a charging grizzly on a lever as long as a leg? And what about torsional forces, such as taking a leg that is bent 90 degrees at the knee, then spinning it outwards? That is still within the "natural range of motion".
I saw this one on National Geographic. The guy basically wants to go into a grizzly den, and take some blood samples while the bear is hibernating.
:)
The two main problems I see with this are.
1 - He has no mobility whatsoever in that suit. He can hardly walk, and forget about standing up after falling down. If the bear moves while he is in there, he will be trapped. Even if the bear doesn't move, there is a very good chance that he will be trapped.
2 - The suit may resist a bear's punch and claws, but the guy is still vunerable at the joints. If the bear grabs his arm, and pulls it around his back or up and over his head, there is one broken arm right there. Same thing can happen to his legs. I wouldn't want a grizzly playing lever with my leg, or putting its whole weight over my bent arm, no matter what I'm wearing or how invincible I feel.
Yet I wouldn't mind one of those the next time I go skiing. Tree? What tree?
I saw that documentary a few years ago. You wouldn't beleive how much this guy is due for a long stay in a mental institute.
His so-called "research" has been "recognised" by the IgNobel institute as "research that should not have been undertaken and should never be conducted again". See
http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/ig_nobel/
for info on IgNobel, and
http://www.improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html
for a link directly to the winning entries of last year, including "Project Grizzly".
Dont take his "research" too seriously: his last suit (Ursus Mark VI) was so immobile that he couldn't even climb a small hill, as the hip joints would not allow his legs enough vertical movements. This forced him to abandon his research for that year (that's actually how the National Film Board's documentary ends...).
Ahh, for the days when my music sucked in an inspiredly-stupid way. Nowadays it's just mediocre. :)
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
Quine "quine?
Narrator: Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup-- wait, wrong series...
[Narrator leaves]
Yogi: Hey, Booboo, I see a picnic basket! Let's have lunch!
Booboo: I don't know, Yogi, what if the Knight Sabers catch us?
Yogi: Not to worry, Booboo! I am a bear! I can maul them easily!
[Yogi reaches into a basket. Suddenly, his arm is shot off.]
Priss: Eat death, evil!
[Priss and Sylia swoop down from the sky, guns blazing. Yogi dies.]
Booboo: Nooooooooooo! CURSE YOU, KNIGHT SABERS!
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
Quine "quine?
If you think about it, Troy's an amazing specimen. Here's a fellow that's obviously a little touched, but smart as hell, living in the woods, selling scrap metal, and building the most sophisticated armor systems on the planet. The guy has built, regardless of his motive, some amazing stuff, and he at least has an appreciation of his "eccentricity", and he understands why some think it's funny. He's a little bitter about the $$$, but if you go bust the way he has, that's got to leave a mark.
The world needs more Troys out there.
- -Josh Turiel
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
Amazon.com has it here.
Jon
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
1 - He has no mobility whatsoever in that suit. He can hardly walk, and forget about standing up after falling down. If the bear moves while he is in there, he will be trapped.
:)
If you read the article, you'd know he has no intention of entering the bear's den.
If the bear grabs his arm, and pulls it around his back or up and over his head, there is one broken arm right there.
Okay, I'll give you this one, because you haven't seen the suit in action. But if you had, his limbs are restricted to their natural range of motion. Don't you think that the force of being hit by a truck at 30m.p.h. would've broken something, or the 300lb. log, or perhaps the 150 ft. escarpment? If you see this in action, you'd understand. I mean, I watched Penn (or is it Teller? It was the big guy of the two) unwind on him *full tilt* with a baseball bat, that suit is so damn bulky, he doesn't even *flinch.* You'd think he was hitting him with a foam bat. Troy's my hero.
because if we did, this guy would be patrolling the streets at night, in his mighty suit of armor, protecting innocent civilians against the evils of... er... whatever supervillians happened to be around. Or something.
Of course, without a super-reactive neural-linked set of motors in that armor to give him super-strength, he'd be reduced to standing there chortling in a super-hero manner as they wasted all of their ammunition/strength on him. Then he'd end up vainly yelling at them to stop as they beat a hasty retreat.
>clunk!clunk!whew!CRASH!
And we'd call him "The Indestructable (but not wholly effective) Man!"
I know a lot of people are snickering, having seen the film. But, at least show the man's dedication some respect, and read the article.
He touches on some really good stuff there, and the potential for the new suit he's working on, the G-Man, is pretty awesome. 90% mobility, 120lbs!! As Troy says, it's the gear of a fully dressed fireman. Consider the SWAT/RIOT applications? The earthquake disaster recovery usage - where you don't have to worry about dying in a collapsed building, but you can still climb a crumbling stair case... The military apps, as some have said, approach Starship Troopers... Yeah, at $300K a piece it's pricey, but it's cheaper than a tank, and with some power-assist it might do just as much damage.
Then there's the blurb about the suit enabling him to get a sample of Grisly blood during semi-hibernation, for use in NASA research into astronaut hibernation for extended, deep-space flights.
At first glance at the vid this may seem goofy, but there's real potential there.
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
>If I say it's got a Class 10 armor on it, which is probably four times the strength of any armor out there, that's because we've tested it in sections.
Why would anyone think they could get away with selling Class 10 armor for 1.2 million ca (obviously that is a typo and they mean cp. Weird Canadians, why can't they use gp like everyone else). Sheesh anyone with a good old Player's Handbook knows that even a plain old cloak will get you a Class 9. Heck, you could get cheap old chain mail and get a whole Class 5 and that might cost 10000 cp (100 gp, but those Canuks?!). I personally would want some decent Plate Mail for a wonderful class 3 (and at only 30000 cp, a comparative steal).
Is this thing some sort of artifact? Am I missing something?
Arrogance is Confidence which lacks integrity. -- me
Think of the great uses:
Mommy can I have one for XMass.
-cpd
What's all the heavy armor for? I can't think of a bear that doesn't roll over laughing when he sees this thing coming...
the pun is mightier than the sword
But what happens when the bears get one of these suits? The larger weight and superior strength of the bear will enable it to prevail still.
It's just another escalating arms race. Peace Now!
No Suits! No Suits! No Suits!
Follow the NFB link in the story. They should have all the ordering information there. ;)
Not online though, so you may have to actually pick up a phone or write a letter
--sugarman--
So this baby has a natural AC of -10. With a good Dex (say, 16), enough Strength to move this baby around, and say, a body shield, you're walking around with a -14 AC without magic adjustment. Fear the Barbarian wearing that thing!
(Disclaimer: YES, I know he wasn't talking about D&D AC.)
"There is no surer way to ruin a good discussion than to contaminate it with the facts."
This Bear Suit sounds like it's an awkward approach to the problem it was designed to solve (sustain a Grizzly's attack), but it sounds like it has fantastic applications. Put a cop in that suit, and off he goes into a terrorist-laden building. Make this suit airtight, and you've got a Battletech-like elemental suit.
I bet this suit will be useful down the line. His creator will be barely remembered, only perhaps as a footnote, as the guy who tried so very hard, but didn't quite succeed in the end. They'll look back on the wacko shaving with a Bowie, and smile, thinking the only application he saw was to tackle bears.
I wish him luck. He may be insane, but the most remarkable men are.
"There is no surer way to ruin a good discussion than to contaminate it with the facts."
I've actually been involved with the IgNobel people for several years now, and Marc Abrahams - the heart and soul of the Awards - genuinely respects him. Troy is leaps and bounds more scientifically respectable than the inventor of the plastic lawn flamingo or some guy who puts Barney dolls in formaldehyde (both of whom have received awards).
What Marc and the others were stunned at was the fact that Troy tests all of this stuff on himself. He doesn't much around with testing equipment; rather, he measures the real-world implications of the armor.
I, for one, think that there is something to all this. He's not someone to be snickered at and dismissed, even if he has won an IgNobel.
Yes...but can he sustain being hit by a log, which is dropped from a truck which is driven by a bear? The big questions still remains. For God's sake...WHY???