How much electricity...

[Robin]

How much electrical power (in watts, kilowatts or megawatts) do you think a robot like Astroboy would require?

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Well If you are talking 100,000 HP, that is 75 Mega Watts.
However, if you want to think in terms of human muscle power, a man can generate about 1/4 HP, which is about 170 Watts. That's for locomotion only, now add the computer power required.

[Robin]

Well If you are talking 100,000 HP, that is 75 Mega Watts.
However, if you want to think in terms of human muscle power, a man can generate about 1/4 HP, which is about 170 Watts. That's for locomotion only, now add the computer power required.

You forgot something... how much power would his rocket legs require???

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

I think the 100,000 HP was the total output of his atomic power pack. So it had to run all of his systems. Tezuka wasn't clear about the rockets/jets. In some stories he needed rocket/jet fuel, in others it seemed they were powered only by his "energy" whatever the source was. I would think it impossible for him to fly under his own power from the surface of the earth to orbit (which he did in a few stories), that would require a huge rocket! (At least the size of the mercury Redstone, which was actually a larger version of the V2).

[Robin]

I am trying to figure out if any modern power source could run astroboy... I know we don't have any nuclear reactors small enough... IDK what else could power him... Can't use batteries... he would drain em in seconds...

[AstroBlaster1998]

Well if they do the valdium batterys and etc. We will one day get better power.

[fafner]

There are portable nuclear batteries. However, I am not exactly sure that a reasonable size would produce 75.000 MW .

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

To put this in prospective, the most powerful diesel locomotive ever built was just under 7000 HP (4.92 Mega Watts) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_DDA40X (The most powerful locomotives of any kind were electric powered from an overhead high voltage line, they did NOT produce their own power and had a tractive force of about 10,000 HP.)

So unless you've got "Mr. Fusion" there is NO WAY you are going to generate that kind of power from any known fuel or battery for more than a few seconds. Tezuka wasn't an engineer, but he had a clue about that. At the time he created Atom, the only thing remotely powerful enough would be Atomic Energy (the Japanese found out FIRST HAND about that being on the receiving end of it:sick

Nuclear Fusion power, if it is EVER developed would be the answer, but I don't know if a fusion power plant would ever be scaled down small enough to fit in a robot or a car. A COLD fusion device (such as Farnsworth's Fuser which once showed some promise) might be the answer.

Roddenberry had the same problem with finding a power source energetic enough to propel a starship through the light barrier (Einstein be damned!), and thought of matter-antimatter annihilation as a power source, but the size of the Warp Core required would be huge.

An even MORE powerful source of energy was postulated in the Stargate show, and also was mentioned in the Incredibles ... Zero Point Vacuum Energy. This is only pure science fiction at the moment, though the idea does seem valid in some theories about the universe.

I made use of both the cold fusion and ZPM ideas in my fan fiction.

Now as far as a sentient robot that could be mistaken for a person with some advanced abilities (in eyesight, hearing, mental abilities, agility and strength over a human) I think that IS possible. But not to the extent of being able to bench press Locomotives and fly at Mach speeds (probably not flight at all). IOW, Hymie or Data might be possible today or within a few years. Let's take baby steps here folks.......

[Robin]

Are there any chemists among us? Question if so...

or if you think your smart and can figure it out...