Is an Iron-Man suit physically possible?

[DAL59]

Just now, Slam_Jones said:

It just can't (yet...?) actually fly with the weight an average human... but we might get there eventually.

Anything can fly with MOAR BOOSTERS!

1 minute ago, Slam_Jones said:

It just can't (yet...?) actually fly with the weight an average human.

They ran out of funds to build a suit powerful enough to lift. It would, for some unknowable reason, cost 125,000 dollars!!!  

Even though its physically possible...

[NSEP]

Even if there somehow was a magical propulsion method like what Metal Boy uses, i highly doubt he would fly safe on his own. Having the thrusters on the fragile parts of the body is a dumb idea. And although you need 4000newtons to break bone (not including the exoskeleton he might have) and 3000newtons to get of the ground and fly like he does, his arms and legs will without a doubt move everywhere in every direction and look funny. Thats why people put jetpack thrusters on their back and not on their arms, chest or feet.

[DAL59]

2 hours ago, NSEP said:

Even if there somehow was a magical propulsion method like what Metal Boy uses, i highly doubt he would fly safe on his own. Having the thrusters on the fragile parts of the body is a dumb idea. And although you need 4000newtons to break bone (not including the exoskeleton he might have) and 3000newtons to get of the ground and fly like he does, his arms and legs will without a doubt move everywhere in every direction and look funny. Thats why people put jetpack thrusters on their back and not on their arms, chest or feet.

6 thrusters on on his back.  The hand ones provide stability.  

[NSEP]

15 minutes ago, DAL59 said:

6 thrusters on on his back.  The hand ones provide stability.  

He also has thrusters on his feet right?

[sevenperforce]

2 hours ago, DAL59 said:

6 thrusters on on his back.  The hand ones provide stability.  

 

2 hours ago, NSEP said:

He also has thrusters on his feet right?

Yeah, the thrusters on his feet provide the primary impulse for flight; the ones on his hands are more like verniers.

Remember, however, that the suit also has hundreds of actuated control surfaces. Presumably, JARVIS (or whatever other onboard supercomputer he has) moves the control surfaces and enhances his suit's rigidity as needed. The legs of the exoskeleton are most likely locked in place during boost flight so that the impulse is transferred properly to the entire suit. 

[DAL59]

6 hours ago, NSEP said:

He also has thrusters on his feet right?

 

3 hours ago, sevenperforce said:

 

Yeah, the thrusters on his feet provide the primary impulse for flight; the ones on his hands are more like verniers.

Remember, however, that the suit also has hundreds of actuated control surfaces. Presumably, JARVIS (or whatever other onboard supercomputer he has) moves the control surfaces and enhances his suit's rigidity as needed. The legs of the exoskeleton are most likely locked in place during boost flight so that the impulse is transferred properly to the entire suit. 

In the original suit.  The one they are doing is based of another version from a later movie, where most of the thrust comes from the back.  

6 hours ago, NSEP said:

He also has thrusters on his feet right?

Not in the Hacksmith version.  The feet are the worst place due to balance.  

[sevenperforce]

33 minutes ago, DAL59 said:

In the original suit.  The one they are doing is based of another version from a later movie, where most of the thrust comes from the back.  

Not in the Hacksmith version.  The feet are the worst place due to balance.  

Clearly I should have read earlier pages of the thread.

[MatterBeam]

Power:

Catalyzed microfusion. Some weird science allows for fusion to happen at very low rates using very little input energy. I'm guessing muon-catalyzed fusion, or antimatter ignition. 
The fusion produces charged particles that can be directly run through an MHD generator for electricity, and heat, which is just radiated away (no heat engines). 

Flight: 

Micro plasma jets. The electricity is used to heat up air and expel it. Intakes are probably right next to the thrusters' nozzles, or channeled through gaps in the joints. If the air is heated to a very high temperature, you can produce sufficient thrust using very little intake flow. 

Blasters:

Laser-driven particle accelerators with magnetic nozzle. A short series of laser pulses with different focal points first ionizes the air, then creates a charged gap across which the air is ions are accelerated. Over a short distance, they suffer tremendous accelerations and reach a high velocity. They are funneled by a magnetic nozzle into a specific direction. They then hit the surrounding air and transmit their momentum as a pressure wave. If they reach a high enough velocity, enough of the pressure wave reaches targets at useful distances. The magnetic nozzle might help direct the ions in ways that create a self-focusing shockwave rather than an omni-directional blast.

 

[wumpus]

On 12/15/2017 at 1:17 PM, DAL59 said:

Not in the Hacksmith version.  The feet are the worst place due to balance.  

Isn't that the pendulum fallacy?  Also since the brain is wired to balance via the feet, I'd expect the wetware to work best balancing on the feet.

[DAL59]

26 minutes ago, wumpus said:

Isn't that the pendulum fallacy

Well, it certainly feels easier, even if it mathematically is the same.  

I also don't think it means that a helicopter would fly equally well upside down.  

On 7/28/2016 at 2:23 PM, Kryten said:

The suit in the films isn't even big enough to have any proper padding, Stark would end up horribly bruised at best.

Yeah.  A suit is completely possible, but it would be bulkier to allow for padding.  

Overall, completely possible, but with a battery life of 30 seconds.  

[wumpus]

38 minutes ago, DAL59 said:

Overall, completely possible, but with a battery life of 30 seconds.  

They need to handwave a quick line about "solid mercury".  Even that wouldn't make an iron man suit possible, but it would be a nice shout out.

[DerekL1963]

3 hours ago, wumpus said:

Also since the brain is wired to balance via the feet, I'd expect the wetware to work best balancing on the feet.

Ever watched someone try to balance on ice skates or roller skates for the first time?  The wetware assumes high friction contact between the feet and the surface it's standing on.  (Included in that assumption is the assumption that there's a surface involved.)  So, zero friction and no surface...  means you're way outside the wetware design envelope.

[Brofessional]

 

[Rickert-A33]

i don’t think it’s possible, from what material is that suit made of if it’s iron it’s to heavy to flight it’s in the 3.2 and 6.2 binas.

 

On 12/15/2017 at 12:51 PM, NSEP said:

He also has thrusters on his feet right?

yes he does

[DAL59]

10 hours ago, Rickert-A33 said:

suit made of if it’s iron

Its not actually iron.  In fact, in the movie, he keeps pointing that out.  

Edited December 18, 2017 by DAL59

[DAL59]

Hacksmith has resumed the iron man project.

 

...with 6 two foot diameter blades.  Isn't it just a small helicopter at that point?  

[ARS]

I'm personally not concerned about the energy, since the story is already handwaved it by having arc reactor producing infinite energy as the plot demands (well, as in most superhero). The one that really bugs me is the fact tony survived after an arced blaster jump from that cave and survived a crash at terminal velocity with DIY armor (with a box of scraps!). Okay, maybe we can technobabble how arc reactor produces repulsive force, but how the hell we explain inertia canceller with armor made from missile parts? (With a box of scraps!). Or that even when he's being shot out of the sky (by a tank shell no less), even if the armor able to survive such a crash, tony is still mostly bones and flesh anyway, how you dampen inertial effect from such a crash within metal armor? (Though I even more concerned about how the hell that tank gunner able to aim at a small high speed target like tony and managed to score a hit on first shot with tank's main gun)

[DDE]

7 hours ago, ARS said:

tony is still mostly bones and flesh anyway, how you dampen inertial effect from such a crash within metal armor

By being in a movie. People being made of rubber is a frequent trope.

[DAL59]

16 hours ago, ARS said:

I'm personally not concerned about the energy, since the story is already handwaved it by having arc reactor producing infinite energy as the plot demands (well, as in most superhero). The one that really bugs me is the fact tony survived after an arced blaster jump from that cave and survived a crash at terminal velocity with DIY armor (with a box of scraps!). Okay, maybe we can technobabble how arc reactor produces repulsive force, but how the hell we explain inertia canceller with armor made from missile parts? (With a box of scraps!). Or that even when he's being shot out of the sky (by a tank shell no less), even if the armor able to survive such a crash, tony is still mostly bones and flesh anyway, how you dampen inertial effect from such a crash within metal armor? (Though I even more concerned about how the hell that tank gunner able to aim at a small high speed target like tony and managed to score a hit on first shot with tank's main gun)

This is why a larger suit would be more realistic, because you'd want padding.  Also airbags.  

 

[NSEP]

On 18/12/2017 at 11:06 AM, Rickert-A33 said:

it’s in the 3.2 and 6.2 binas.

Wait whats binas?

[YNM]

IMO the closest one will get to Iron Man suit would be jetpacks. Anything else more "advanced" is still too in advance to be viable.

[kerbiloid]

Did somebody estimate the total delta-V requirements of an Iron-(Person) suit?

[DAL59]

10 hours ago, YNM said:

IMO the closest one will get to Iron Man suit would be jetpacks. Anything else more "advanced" is still too in advance to be viable.

We can build a fully functional suit with two caveats:

1. Nobody is going to spent 10 million on that.

2. It will only run for 30 seconds.  

3 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Did somebody estimate the total delta-V requirements of an Iron-(Person) suit?

It only works in an atmosphere.  Electric ducted fans.

[kerbiloid]

8 hours ago, DAL59 said:

It only works in an atmosphere.  Electric ducted fans

This doesn't matter. In any case it has some limited amount of energy (fuel, battery, inert gas or so) which can produce some total amount of speed.

[DAL59]