For decades, there has been a common thread in what we think the battlegrounds of the future will look like; giant, man-carrying robot suits. These titanic behemoths – otherwise known as mechs - have become a kind of shorthand for the future of war. Human-piloted robots first appeared in Japanese anime, but soon migrated to the UK through the likes of the TV series Robotech. Hollywood films like Aliens, Avatar and Pacific Rim have imagined them as well.

But, how viable are these designs? Could we ever see human beings piloting a walking robot?

Jordan Weisman of Harebrained Schemes first created the mech-themed BattleTech games in the 1980s. Unlike previous examples of mechs, he took a relatively grounded approach when first conceiving his “BattleMechs”. Jordan envisioned mechs built from a steel frame surrounded by electrically charged artificial muscles that would move the joints, together with a gyroscope stabiliser and on-board power plant.

The basic idea behind Jordan’s mechs is reasonably sound. The artificial muscles he imagined are a lot like electroactive polymers. “These electrical bundles, which would expand or contract, based upon the electricity being provided to them, were the muscles of our mechs,” says Weisman. “Fast forward 30 years, and that same material is now being used in the development of prosthetic limbs.”