Steampunk Cybernetics. For Real.

Aug 20, 2007 22:43

More detailed link:

http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/08/21/robotic_arm/index.html

"At a certain point, the weight of the batteries required to provide the energy to operate the arm for a reasonable period becomes a problem, and it was this poor ( Read more... )

medical, rocket, fuel, peroxide, prosthetic, tech, exoskeleton, geeky, engineering

Leave a comment

Comments 2

anonymous August 21 2007, 04:15:26 UTC
H2O2 is hella volatile. I would not want to be near a refueling tank of it, much less store it in my house, if it's not extremely diluted. The steam powered arm is neat, but the risk of spontaneous fires and explosions, not so much.

IIRC, the Kriegsmarine was experimenting with peroxide-powered U-boats, but it didn't really work out. I suppose that the distinct possibility that leaks and such would result in the crew becoming bottle blonds could only have appealed to them.

--josh

Reply

tevarin August 21 2007, 04:53:42 UTC
Yeah, it is nastily volatile, unstable stuff at high concentrations. I'm not sure whether the arm would need rocket-fuel levels of concentration, but it might.

Peroxide-powered submarines sound like a good idea, since the reaction produces steam for power plus oxygen for breathing. I wonder if the Germans found it too expensive, or too unsafe? I think peroxide is/was used for torpedo propulsion too.

I guess you could make a bipropellant engine (or even an air-breathing methanol fuel cell) safer than a peroxide engine, but you might not get the necessary power density.

Reply


Leave a comment

Up