“I am Iron Man”. And how close are we to making it sound real?
Well, getting straight to the point, what an Iron man suit (the basic one) consists of :
- The exoskeleton
- AI and a Google glass like screen
- Thrusters
- Weapons: Repulsors and smart missiles
- A power source
The exoskeleton
Iron man’s exoskeleton is most likely made out of a nickel-titanium alloy called Nitinol. Nitinol is light enough to not weigh Iron Man down as he’s flying around in the sky, and it can be reformed after sustaining damaged.
Nitinol, for those doubting it’s existence, is a real metal (Nickel titanium — Wikipedia) and is highly flexible, stable light weight and strong, which can recover after sustaining damage.
As for the design of the suit, far more complex designs exist today, so it would be easier to design it, considering advancements in 3D printing and design processes. And we are quite close to it, with a flexible and brilliantly designed 3D printed Iron man suit already been made.
(PS- Don’t try this at home, it’s worth a lot!)
AI and the screen
That’s a hell lot of stuff going on! To handle all of this, intelligent sensors and cameras need to be fitted behind the screen which can detect one’s emotions and voice, track his movements, his eye movements and his heart rate. The detection thing, thanks to the technology of present times, is very much up to the mark of Tony Stark’s suit.
But to process the data, an intelligent AI is required. The AI of today is smart enough to handle most of this data, thanks to Machine Learning. And we would probably have such an AI within a decade, which can give some tough competition to J.A.R.V.I.S.
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The screen used is much similar to that used in Google glasses, so creating that wouldn’t be much of a problem, which can display all of the stats. (Google Glass — Wikipedia)
Also, the give and take of the data between the suit and AI must be instant and error free, which can be done by setting up a private network and following the best practices of networking systems of the present times.
Lastly, the receiving signal channel must be properly connected to thrusters, weapons and the power supply through internal wirings, so that they can be controlled accordingly.
Thrusters
Those thrusters at the bottom end of the suit are one of the most important of all elements, which provides vertical and horizontal lift, as per as the orientation and are intelligently designed, thus giving propulsion to Iron Man.
Why intelligently, so that when our Tony’s is off on a drinking spree, he doesn’t crash hard on the ground! And that would require some expensive sensors and data processing. (Sorry for the workload Jarvis)
The main problem comes with these thrusters is their activation and deactivation. They have to be activated by mind control by the suit bearer, a technology which would take a decade or two to be as efficient as shown in the movie. Though it’s been extensively worked upon as you can see here- Scientists Have Invented a Mind-Reading Machine That Visualises Your Thoughts. The alternatives for now- Voice control and Facial detection.
Thrusters make use of rocket science and flight dynamics to provide the lift which the suit needs to stay afloat. They burn the fuel, “spit” the energy out, and get pushed in opposite direction (simple physics, a’int it?). What here we are concerned with is what should be the fuel, AKA, the power source.
Weapons
Repulsors- The Repulsors are units connected to the power source, to get it’s energy and it can be used as a flight source as well as a weapon. Its primary function is propulsion. The repulsor style of energy is created by taking excess electrons and turning them into muons (Muon — Wikipedia), which can penetrate deep into atomic matter, are then feed to the hands and chest piece of any iron man suit.
The suit then can generate the powerful blasts by generating plasma through electric current and firing the plasma and muons, by utilizing their electromagnetic properties.
The plasma generated from the repulsors can be used as thrust similar to certain space rocket engines. When used for propulsion, multiple repulsors are able to attain flight through correct and maintained flight stabilization. Research is underway to improve the efficiency and decrease the size of repulsors.
Smart missiles- Intelligent missiles, which can detect enemies, lock their aim on them, and then follow them till there is a huge bang! Such missiles are already present in the next-gen fighter planes, with aim, lock and follow.
The main problem comes with these weapons is also their activation and deactivation. They have to be activated by mind control by the suit bearer, a technology which would take a decade or two to be as efficient as shown in the movie. Alternatives for now, again the same- Voice control and Facial detection.
Power Source
Perhaps the most important part of the suit, because simply, the technology for it doesn’t exists as of today and would take atleast 2 decades to come into prominence. Our options-
Rocket fuel- Despite being of high efficiency, it can’t meet all of the suit’s demands. And being inflammable adds it to the ‘No’ list.
Solar energy- Low efficiency and reduced mobilization due to the high weight of solar panels, it seems to be the least preferred source of energy. The only things in it’s favour- clean and safe.
Arc reactor- The MIT guys have done it! Wait, the arc reactor created by the MIT team is much bigger than the size of the suit itself. Can’t even fit in the Hulkbuster. Not to worry, improvements on it has already begun and it’s optimized form is not far fetched. Though reducing it to the size of one in the movie is a tough task. Moreover, it can’t be self sustained, i.e., we would need another small power source to keep the reactor going (A small, modular, efficient fusion plant).
Miniature nuclear reactors- Currently our best bet, these reactors already exist, though only for military purposes. Fusion, for obvious reasons of being clean and abundant, is preferable over fission (Small modular reactor — Wikipedia).
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Wireless energy transmission- Wireless transmission of energy from one point to another is being researched upon extensively, though here the energy means humongous amounts of energy, which makes it quite far fetched. One real example of this are the wireless charging systems developed by Apple (Here’s everything we know about Apple’s AirPower), which transfer electricity through wireless media, though their range is still quite low, with research ongoing.
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Theoretical physics- Warp drives (Warp drive — Wikipedia), black holes (Black hole — Wikipedia), dark energy (Dark energy — Wikipedia) and all such exotic things could one day power the Iron Man of tomorrow.
The suit, to be precise, is almost 60–70% already in existence. We just need to connect the dots. It might be, though, a few decades (2–3 to be precise) before it comes into full fledged existence. And it surely will, because modern warfare is going to be all about hybrids and machines.
But what matters the most is who will be the suite bearer once it’s ready, and can he handle all of this by himself? Or, what if the suit overpowers him? Until then, “YOU KNOW, IT’S MOMENTS LIKE THESE WHEN I REALIZE WHAT A SUPERHERO I AM !”.
Footnotes
[1] Microsoft Uses Machine Learning To ‘Read’ Your Face, Determine Your Emotional State | HotHardware
[2] Very small modular nuclear fission reactors for military and space | NextBigFuture.com
