Magnetic boots and walking in space : is this variant of the idea scientifically accurate?

In My Humble Opinion
1

It has occurred to me that the basic “magnetic boots” of Star Trek fame would not work very well. The reason is that a person’s upper torso is still in microgravity, and there is no air to flail against or gravity to help your inner ear maintain balance.

However, what if the space suit had a electrically driven exoskeleton interconnecting all your major limbs. There would be a stiff frame surrounding every limb, and electric or hydraulic motors at all of the joints. Most notably, the frame would extend to the space suit’s boots.

So, when your “feet” touch a ferrous surface the electromagnetic boosts stick to, the magnets engage to provide a point of attachment. Automatically, complex computer driven algorithms would adjust the electric motors in the exoskeleton, moving your body to an “upright” position and acting to restrict your otherwise flailing upper limbs and upper torso “as if” you were walking normally in gravity.

One nasty problem is that your inner ear would still report that you are in microgravity, and would not be able to help you balance, so computers in your suit would basically be doing all of the work, and this might be difficult to get used to. In principle, someone could surgically install an implant, similar to a modern day cochlear implant, that would electrically stimulate the nerves in the inner ear and provide fake orientations signals, such that your body “feels” like the surface you are currently standing over is in the down direction. IMUs and various sensors in the suit would generate the orientation data.

The electromagnets in the boots would be able to change in strength incredibly rapidly, and the amount of force delivered would be dependent on various limb mechanics, in order for it to “feel” like your feet are lifting normally off a surface. In theory, you’d be able to walk using instincts honed over millenia.

If you jump, you would be capable of enormous vertical height, as the only reason you would come down at all is if reaction thrusters in your suit shove you down. For fuel conservation reasons, these thrusters would fire only sparingly, which means that you would fall extremely slowly.

Is this idea scientifically accurate?

A special note to Stranger on the Train : I am fully aware that the engineering challenges behind this idea are enormous. A fully articulated exoskeleton that must work reliably in space, a medically unnecessary surgical implant, the incredibly complex task of programming the software needed to control the motors in the suit. These challenges are so vast that this idea may never be used in favor of other methods, such as teleoperated robotics. The idea also does little to nothing to fight bone loss in microgravity.

With that said, if you handwave away the engineering details, does this idea violate basic principles of physics or is it theoretically possible?

2

The idea seems entirely feasible, with only a few minor advances in cybernetics.

But… I think part of your premise is faulty. One can maneuver, a bit stiffly, using “magnetic boots” to hold oneself to a surface in zero gravity.

The trick is to pull your foot up, exactly vertically, from the surface. If you do this, the vectors all balance – and so do you. Your walk will be slow and ungainly, but it will be a workable walk.

You can test this in practice with Velcro.

So…your idea is practicable, but I don’t think it is absolutely necessary.

A much better use of an exoskeleton would be as a lifting machine, as in “Aliens.” A one-man wearable forklift could be really nice in a large warehouse.

(I have doubts about Powered Armor of the “Starship Troopers” or Iron Man variety. By the time you get that good, you might just as well leave the human out and build a war robot.)

3

Air is not needed for arm movements to aid balance. And without any gravity, why would flailing and inner ear balance really be a factor? It wouldn’t be like walking, despite being connected to the “ground” by your feet.

4

On the old Skylab, I understand that they had a sort of gridwork on the “floor”, and the astronauts wore shoes with “mushrooms” on the base (the metal “mushrooms” would appear to be growing downward from the soles).

They “locked” the mushrooms into the spaces between the grid. To move, you shifted your foot sideways a bit so that the “underside” of the mushroom was no longer locking you in place on the grid, and simply lifted – no need to lift against magnetic force, and no complicated magnetic force cycling method needed. You had the advantages of magnetic boots without actually having to use magnets.
But Trinopus is right about the magnetic boots – you don’t need as complex a mechanism as you suggest.
One other interesting thing about the Skylab astronauts – they found that they were getting a good workout for their abdominal muscles. Ever time the sat down, they had to pull themjsewlves into a seating position, rather than collapsing into it with the aid of gravity. It was an unexpected workout. I expect that, whether people used magnetic boots, Velcro, or Mushroom Shoes (or maybe even the OP’s soecial magnetic boots), mthey’ll end up using muscles they didn’t expect to use, because, although the motions look like the same ones we use under gravity, it will require you to use muscles that you don’;t, on earth.

5

Walking on very slick ice is a lot like that - you have to tense up and walk very stiffly so your legs don’t just fly out from under you. I think you’re right - walking with magnetic boots would require muscle training, but would not be impossible.

6

Good point, mangetout. Walking on slick ice (especially when it’s smooth and has no patches of pavement or whatever) definitely works different muscles because of the stiff walk. I’ve particularly noticed the adductors and piriformis muscles working harder on ice.

7

The movie 2001: A Space Odyssey depicts a rather remarkable commitment to maintaining upright locomotion that seems rather pointless to me. Head first or semi-head first would appear to be much more practical.

8

I agree with Trinopus on this one. It’s feasible, but probably unnecessary.

In Star Trek: First Contact, when Picard, Worf, and Redshirt go out on the hull of the Enterprise, Picard asks Worf specifically about his zero G training. To operate in such an environment, you would need practice and training to learn how to move and how best to use the boots. Once you had a handle on that, it would just be a matter of don’t-do-something-stupid.