In the grand tradition of “Ran’s weirdo questions”…
After watching a silly little Hong Kong martial arts/sci-fi/T&A movie last night ("I will not be distracted by your all-female sex orgy…we must kung-fu fight!"), I was left wondering…what kind of small arms, if any, would be best suited for attacking or defending against a mechanical opponent (something like this)?
My first WAG (emphasis on “W”) would be something like a pistol based around a .50 BMG round, for sheer armor-piercing ability, but that guess is somewhat tempered by the fact that a) you’d just be poking holes in a fairly solid target with the hope of hitting something critical b) it’d probably take a LOT of time, effort, and expense to be able to manage that much accuracy, and c) a 1-1/2’,15-odd pound, single shot pistol chambered around a machine gun round really doesn’t seem like a practical weapon to carry around as a sidearm in combat, even in a situation as exotic as this one. (Though it would have the advantage in that you could use it to bash in your own skull to avoid capture.)
The robot that you show looks like it’s basically all exposed joints and machinery. A handful of sand or emery dust should reduce it to scrap, although maybe not fast enough to keep it from ripping you in half. A beanbag weapon filled with sand and epoxy would be even better.
I agree with the taser or EMP weapon, although any robot designed for combat would likely be shielded against electromagnetic weapons.
Note that the T-800 must be made of extremely light weight alloys seeing as when covered with human flesh, it has to be detected using dogs and not less subtle means such as “This normal looking dude is leaving six inch deep footprints in the ground.” That implies a certain lack of armor. The T-800 isn’t likely to be much tougher than a Ryobi hedge trimmer.
The big difference between a robot and a human is that you won’t have the effect of shock taking down the robot when it gets hit. Unaffected components should still function unless you hit a major control center. So you want a weapon that provides a lot of volume. I’m thinking submachine gun, shotgun, or flame thrower.
If you’re allowed slightly futuristic weapons, I’d suggest explosive flechettes.
It looks like the robot pictured is pneumatically or hydraulically powered. That would be a bad choice as a shotgun blast would almost invariably sever several lines, rendering it immobile. A robot will also need a semblance of a nervous system to control its limbs – that would also be vulnerable to pellet-based weapons unless heavily shielded.
I thought of that, but a good rule of thumb for a weapon is that it shouldn’t be as dangerous to you as it is to your opponent. There are not too many corrosive acids that aren’t even more dangerous to flesh than they are to metal. Fire a supersoaker full of sulfuric acid at a robot on a windy day and you’ll spend your last few moments on Earth wishing that the robot would get around to killing you already.
And acid would be pretty slow, so even if you got a good shot off, the robot would have time to rip your arms off before melting.
It was indeed a Family Guy reference…however, the movie I saw, Robotrix, wasn’t a whole lot “better.” (Though it didn’t have a lesbian orgy, I’m sad to say. )
And…thanks for the info, so far, all! With any luck, I won’t ever have to use it. (But, y’know, Semper Paratus.)
I’m going for a bucket of warm {for increased viscosity} treacle mixed with sand.
That, or an insoluble logic problem: “Hey, Sparky! All Cretans are liars! I am a Cretan!” “But if all Cretans lie…and you are a Cretan… your first statement may not be true…therefore not all Cretans may lie…therefore your last statement may not be true either…this does not compute…I am…experiencing…conflict…in my…processing unit…” BZZZT! BANG!
It would be good to try to get something into the joints to try to seize them - maybe a shotgun that fires lead capsules (so the inside of the barrel isn’t abraded) filled with gritty abrasive granules (tungsten carbide maybe) in a variety of sizes.
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