Jtdylktuy

Like sharks replace teeth.

The plates can be put on the armor in an overlapping scale pattern, with one plate visible, and another above it, protected by the overlapping scale. If a scale takes a hit it slides off, and the new scale automatically slides down into place. The broken scale can then be gathered and repaired, then put into the replacement slot.

Depending on the size of the scales you could end up with gaps if someone takes multiple hits in the same area, but if they are small enough then the gaps won't be too big.

The same way modern soldiers swap their ceramic plates: the plates are all inserted into kevlar pouches in the kevlar vests the soldiers wear. When they get shot, the soldiers pull the broken plate out of the pouch and put a new one in.

Use a physical, arm mounted, ceramic shield. It can have layers of ceramic plates that are designed to be ejected after taking a hit.

The shield just needs to be thick enough to take the hits needed to get you into attack range. Then you can drop it for greater mobility on your attack.

When not in active combat, the shield can be stored on the back which will make it less cumbersom to carry and protect you from sneak attacks.

Plate powder.

source

Your soldiers carry plate powder. Dry, it weighs very little. If a plate breaks, tear a new fabric pocket off of your roll. It has the right amount of powder in it already. Add water, shake and seal, then lay it flat. The new plate sets up in a minute like fast-set cement or plaster of Paris, expanding slightly in the process.

Soldiers will have water with them. Used water, if nothing else.

Let's take an example from nature - specifically Skin and Nails.

Each Plate consists of several alternating layers of Ceramic (for strength - or perhaps goethite?) and Rubber (for shock-absorption and adhesion)

At the back of the plate is a sheet with lots of holes in. Alternating holes exude 1 of 4 different liquids: 2 of them mix & react to form a Ceramic layer, and 2 mix & react to form a Rubber layer. By pumping the liquid out, you push the existing layers forwards and form a new one behind them.

Cracked ceramic plate layers slough off - you can have microscopic electrodes around the edge that measure the electrical impedance to determine if layers need to be replaced/regenerated on that specific plate.

How about the plates are aligned in several columns on the body and each can slide down into the place of the plate below it. When plates get to the bottom of the suit, they slide around to the back and go up a chute inside the suit behind the wearer's spine.

If a plate takes a hit, the whole column slides down, around to the back, and up the chute until the damaged plate reaches the "reforger" inside the chute, where it is reforged. All the undamaged plates that pass through just pop out the top of the suit and immediately slide into a column that has room for it (usually the one they just came from).

A column of plates would basically be a chain of armor, and even while it's sliding down it's offering protection everywhere except where the damaged one happens to be at the moment.

Potentially you could have the armour made up of a rows and columns of smaller ceramic plates all around the body (looking almost like an array of pixel on the armour). Each column could be mounted on a rotating belt. As one plate is hit, the row rotates around the body of the wearer, moving the damaged plate to a 'recovery point', where the plate is removed, replaced with a new one and collected for repair.

To go along with the scales idea, since you don't need back plates, make the plates easily attachable to whatever backing fabric is holding the armor. Then you can swap out a dead plate with a new one when it breaks. If you make it so that when scales break, the vast majority of the scale falls off, it's easier and faster to change. Carry the extra plates on your back to swap out, and/or keep a pouch or box around that has backups.

This kind of repair would interfere with movement, but it could also make for some really interesting tense scenarios. It would be like healing in a battle royale game, in the middle of a firefight. Also makes it possible to miss a scale repair and make yourself vulnerable.

Could also make modular armor, with different kinds and sizes of plates that can be hotswapped quickly. If a shield breaks, eject that module and load/attach a new one. This can make it harder to have backups available, but if they use a universal mounting mechanism, you can find all kinds of different modules in the world, depending on the setting.

Graft the plates on a carbon nanotube mesh behind it. Given fine enough it would keep the majority of the ceramic plates in place. A bit like gluing linen against a wooden shield. While the wood splinters the fabric holds it together far longer then it would without it.

Holding the plates together makes it easy to remove them as a whole. They could use a magnetic locking system. Easily removing them and slipping a new one in place. This of course isn't automated but down with the help of squad members.

Temporary patches to cover weak spots and crumble away after an hour or two.

Provides protection while the damaged spot can self repair and patch provides additional protection while still in place after repair in direction of fire. Patches can be bulky and double thickness to be flexible and fit on any armour segment. You only need as many patches as you expect to take hits in any given engagement.

Use back scratcher to slap patches where you cannot reach easily.

You're missing the point of armour, and of soldiers.

Soldiers die

Basically, that's their job description. Go places, kill other people, and if you're unlucky then get killed yourself.

A soldier does have a money value, of course in terms of the training they've received and perhaps the equipment they're carrying. Which leads onto...

Armour only needs to be as good as the value of the person it's protecting and the risk they're taking

Back in the days when wars were fought with swords, kings had the best armour. For a long time though, the guys running an army haven't themselves been in the fighting, so they simply haven't needed that kind of personal protection.

Body armour has become cheaper these days, but it's still only practical for some applications, and for use on some areas of the body. It's technically possible to build better body armour, but it would cost more than the value of the soldier wearing it. Unless on average it gives you better fighting ability for the same money, it really isn't happening.

I don't see why you would want that. There's plenty of time between battles to repair your armor (replace ceramic plates), and getting hit in the same spot in the same battle is tiny. Taking a headshot is a bigger risk (easier to hit than a degraded part of armor, and more dangerous).

No army uses robotic arms to repair armor in real combat now, and there is a reason for that. If your world doesn't differ from the real one (similar tech level, no magic, etc.) why would you expect a different result?

Is the goal simply healing of the armor?

If so, I agree with @nzaman and say repair, rather than replace. Gluing back together the broken plate is going to be weaker, but if the glue is strong enough, it'll result in the plate breaking in different places the next time. (and it's the breaking that matters -- absorbing energy in the process).

If the plates were in a teflon-lined kevlar pouch, you could have a system that injected an adhesive that could set up and take the shape of the pouch (without sticking to the pouch itself too much). You then just need a pump and a series of tubes and valves to direct the glue to the pouch. (although, I'd run this on the outside of the armor -- it'd suck to have it glue something else together). You might also be able to use something that was two-part to cure, or require a catalyst (heat, UV light, moisture, etc.)

With some better technology, it might be possible to encapsulate a glue so that when the plate breaks, it releases the adhesive automatically in the correct location that it's needed. You might need something to hold the plate together while it curses (as you're not adding volume) but you could use shape-memory metal wires around the pouch that holds the plate snugly while it's curing.

You still have similar mechanics -- there's a limited time window in which a second well-placed shot would be deadly.

I can imagine the ceramic plates being small, likened to a fish scale pattern. The velocity of a bullet will hit a small ceramic plate and the momentum will push it inward (perhaps it's attached to a spring). The damaged plate will come into contact with a hot plate within the armor suit, and will pop out when done and repaired - what are the chances of getting hit in that same exact spot twice in a row?

Or more fancily, it falls back into the suit, but a lever/spring system pushes another plate to fill the gap (like Iron Man style, or there is a system in place that detects light and moves the new armor piece to replace that spot). Alternatively, this system could work using gravity - the extra armor piece sits on top of another piece, and when the damaged piece falls within but out from underneath the extra piece then gravity will pull the new piece of armor downward immediately.

Give your troops the ability the request drop-pods that fall slightly ahead of them that they can step into and has robotic arms that can remove and replace plates that it detects as damaged. Moravec's Paradox should be less of a problem here because you can give them a spot to stand on and each arm has one plate to replace that's right in front of it.

Bonus points for extra cover, replenishing other stuff (Ammo, batteries) and being usable by multiple soldiers.

Bonus bonus points if the pod can also melt-down and reforge plates so it has unlimited stock.

You could also give them thrusters so they can execute a rudimentary "Jump" forward when requested after the troops have advanced past them (Might save your army some budget).

Stick a turret on them to provide some fire support or give them an armory to allow the soldiers to change loadout depending on the battle situation.

They could also hold medical supplies and understand how to cauterize/treat wounds (This gets a bit Moravecian).

Random idea: like biology repairs broken skin, but faster.

Plates have small reservoirs of liquid epoxy-like goop held under high pressure, this epoxy-like goop is defined as curing at low pressures. Once the outer shell of the armor plate is breached the high pressure reservoir will vent epoxy-like goop, which will then quickly solidify as it escapes into the lower external pressure.

At the end of the battle these armored soldiers would look like crap, literally, but that's of secondary importance and could make for some moments of barracks humor.