Speaking of that, I’ve doodled on an insect style walking vehicle where the the final foot position is determined back through the legs by rods making up four-bar linkages, so the foot motion is just a larger version of the path traveled by a point mirrored inside the body of the vehicle, with the power applied to the internal mirror point. The vertical path of the point could be determined by a cam or track, but for the horizontal sweep I thought of using a Peaucellier linkage. By using a lever arm or other mechanism to vary the distance between the fixed pivots of the Peaucellier linkage, the outer path of the foot can move in a straight line front to back when you’re going straight, or it can move in a curve of any radius, allowing you to steer the vehicle.
For a simpler stab at a walker, I thought of improving an armored tracked vehicle by replacing the tracks with a vertical track of something like oleo struts (or shock absorbers), hooked together at the top and in the middle to form a continuous chain, much like a conventional track laid up on it’s side with oleo struts welded to each steel tread. These could either circulate all the way around the vehicle (in which case it might look a bit like a box with hemicylindrical end caps, like a really bad boat) with an outer track driven clockwise and an inner track driven counter-clockwise, or each track could circulate along its own side. The extension of the oleo struts are determined by each having guide wheels running in a track or slot that’s part of the vehicle frame and its track mounting.
The advantage is that it keeps the precision/hardened parts, and the attachment bearings that link the track together, up out of the mud and distant from any IED’s. If a foot get blown off, no big deal. And since the mechanism is oriented vertically instead of horizontally, it also serves as armor for the interior of the vehicle.
Why are sci-fi and fantasy considered the same genre? Hard SF in particular has nothing at all in common with fantasy. A fantasy that takes place in a spaceship is still a fantasy, it ain’t sci-fi. This is what really killed sci-fi in the 80’s; bookstores had a “sci-fi/fantasy” section that was all fantasy and no sci-fi.
The fantasy section should be separated from sci fi and merged with the progressive/Marxist/liberal politics section.
Or just with any college English department reading list.
from the comments at the podcast:
“Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.” — Thedore Dalrymple
You do know that some years ago the SFWA changed its name to the SFFWA?
I disagree that fantasy writers have been more to the left than sf writers. Tons of sf that takes the screws to our unjust capitalist society.
Listening to the podcast now. The cure is annihilation. If not that, they should be given a hundred year timeout in the corner.
SciFi? Social Justice?
This just in. There is an essay linked by Atlantic of someone who hopes to die at age 75 (and why you should too) . . . written by Ezekiel Emanuel.
Deaathhhhh Paaaaannnnellllls!
(stuffs mouth with dorm cafeteria “salad bar” items)
Who looks older?
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/09/why-i-hope-to-die-at-75/379329/
http://perspective.engr.wisc.edu/2012/08/safer-trains-and-automobiles-its-all-in-the-math/
Fooooood Fiiiiighhhht!
Nice linkage article. 🙂
Speaking of that, I’ve doodled on an insect style walking vehicle where the the final foot position is determined back through the legs by rods making up four-bar linkages, so the foot motion is just a larger version of the path traveled by a point mirrored inside the body of the vehicle, with the power applied to the internal mirror point. The vertical path of the point could be determined by a cam or track, but for the horizontal sweep I thought of using a Peaucellier linkage. By using a lever arm or other mechanism to vary the distance between the fixed pivots of the Peaucellier linkage, the outer path of the foot can move in a straight line front to back when you’re going straight, or it can move in a curve of any radius, allowing you to steer the vehicle.
For a simpler stab at a walker, I thought of improving an armored tracked vehicle by replacing the tracks with a vertical track of something like oleo struts (or shock absorbers), hooked together at the top and in the middle to form a continuous chain, much like a conventional track laid up on it’s side with oleo struts welded to each steel tread. These could either circulate all the way around the vehicle (in which case it might look a bit like a box with hemicylindrical end caps, like a really bad boat) with an outer track driven clockwise and an inner track driven counter-clockwise, or each track could circulate along its own side. The extension of the oleo struts are determined by each having guide wheels running in a track or slot that’s part of the vehicle frame and its track mounting.
The advantage is that it keeps the precision/hardened parts, and the attachment bearings that link the track together, up out of the mud and distant from any IED’s. If a foot get blown off, no big deal. And since the mechanism is oriented vertically instead of horizontally, it also serves as armor for the interior of the vehicle.
Why are sci-fi and fantasy considered the same genre? Hard SF in particular has nothing at all in common with fantasy. A fantasy that takes place in a spaceship is still a fantasy, it ain’t sci-fi. This is what really killed sci-fi in the 80’s; bookstores had a “sci-fi/fantasy” section that was all fantasy and no sci-fi.
The fantasy section should be separated from sci fi and merged with the progressive/Marxist/liberal politics section.
Or just with any college English department reading list.
from the comments at the podcast:
“Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.” — Thedore Dalrymple
You do know that some years ago the SFWA changed its name to the SFFWA?
I disagree that fantasy writers have been more to the left than sf writers. Tons of sf that takes the screws to our unjust capitalist society.