Ever wonder about if those giant robot we see in movies and carttoon ever be developed for war in the future? can be a practical war machine assuming that they can carry devastating fire power and move with great agility?
I cannot remember the link now, but recently someone in Germany managed to develop a myomer like device. If you remember in the game Battletech or Mechwarrior, myomer refers to a linear type of mechanical muscle that will push or pull depending on the current applied to it.
I don't see giant robots on land to be practical. To maximize armor and protection while offering the least possible target area, you need the least surface area for your weight. Tanks provide that (or to be more precise, self propelled guns like the German Stugs in WWII) but mechs doesn't. At least the humanoid bipedal ones.
If you like some realistic mech action, try the game Chromehounds for the Xbox360. The game doesn't really make a distinction between tank or mech. A "Hound" can be both, simply because you have a choice of propulsion to meet your tactical needs---wheeled, hovercraft, tracks, bipedal forward jointed, bipedal reverse knee jointed, and four legged.
Wheeled for scouts for speed.
Hovercraft for scouts, faster than wheeled but carry less weight. Can move also in water.
Tracks for all around use but lacks the sheer mobility and speed of bipedal.
Bipedal (humanoid type legs) for speed and slope climbing ability.
Bipedal (chicken/raptor leg types) for sniper use, due to their ability to absorb recoil. They have higher weight loadings than humanoid type legs.
Quad legs have the highest ability to absorb recoil, has the highest weight capacity and is used for artillery purposes. However, they are also the slowest of the bunch.
Unlike Mechwarrrior, there is no energy weapons here. Everything is primarily ballistic---missiles, rifles, shotguns, machine guns, cannons and so on.
Some interesting notes. Despite the lower height of the track, I find tracked vehicles easy to hit, due to their width. On the other hand, I find two legged mechs skimpering around rather hard to hit.
I actually think that the more legs you have, the slower you become. If you need speed and four legs, the biological model is that of a dog or cat. Multilegged insect designs are probably too complicated and fragile for their speed.