Bi-Pedal Mecha / Power Armor in ST

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Given all the futuristic personal technology that we've seen in ST throughout all the various series,

Personal Flying Attack Drones (ST: DSC, ST:INS)
Flying Boots (ST:V)
Personal Shields (Various Star Trek)
Personal EV Suits (Various Star Trek)
Small Arms resistent Materials for armor against hand held energy weapons level (Various Star Trek)
Small Bi-Pedal Mecha (ST: DS9)

I'm surprised Power Armor (Iron Man / Halo-esque / Super Sentai / Tokusatsu) isn't more common along with Bi-Pedal Mecha of various size / scales and more personal attack drones / droids.

All the technological pieces are there.

Same thing with Bi-Pedal mecha that you see in Sci-Fi / Anime, all the pre-requisite technology is there to make it happen, just graphical budget and in universe logic to justify them.

What would you like to see come into Star Trek Universe?

 

[Timo]

Well, not mechas. The big and clumsy ones, that is, the sort that Quark once tried to sell. Why bother to walk when you can fly? Why don armor when you can activate shields? Why use a suit to give yourself extra arm-wrestling strength if you can just point and shoot with a phaser or a handheld transporter beam?

The closest thing to a mecha in Starfleet, Burnham's suit from the pilot, was found aboard an old-fashioned starship that still operated primitive stuff such as VR helmets. The regular DSC versions are much more subdued. But probably still a good match to the mechas of more primitive adversaries, in the two applications that would appear practical: action inside hostile spacecraft and installations, and action in confining hostile outdoors environments.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Well, not mechas. The big and clumsy ones, that is, the sort that Quark once tried to sell.

Do you really trust Quark's mecha army to be of quality? Do you really trust anything Quark tries to sell?
It'll move, but be slow and clunky because it's cheaper to sell in mass production.

Not because somebody with the right technical know how, might make the better units that are truly Super Human level agile and even more capable? Something that resembles Data, but with less human characteristics and more Mass Produced Android (Iron-Man / Master Chief / Kamen Rider / Space Sheriff / Super Sentai) level aesthetics?

Why bother to walk when you can fly?

Walking is less energy intensive than flying and a good way to conserve energy when flight isn't needed to cross vast terrain / obstacles quickly? Not every action requires you to fly towards it, especially in urban environments or environments where stealth might be more useful.

Why don armor when you can activate shields?

You need some amount of armor once your shield goes down, it doesn't have to be huge & bulky like a StarShip's Hull Plating or Voyager's Ablative Hull Generator, but practical armor should be able to withstand above average situations like Lt. Cmdr. Data.

Why use a suit to give yourself extra arm-wrestling strength if you can just point and shoot with a phaser or a handheld transporter beam?

The target might already have shields up or are resistent to your energy weapons to some degree, and they might already have transporter scramblers and anti-transporter tech.

The closest thing to a mecha in Starfleet, Burnham's suit from the pilot, was found aboard an old-fashioned starship that still operated primitive stuff such as VR helmets. The regular DSC versions are much more subdued. But probably still a good match to the mechas of more primitive adversaries, in the two applications that would appear practical: action inside hostile spacecraft and installations, and action in confining hostile outdoors environments.

That's why Power Armor for humanoids along with humanoid sized & shaped androids past the 24th century should be pretty awesome. Iron-Man / Master Chief level of amazing tech should be considered obsolete and old tech by Star Trek 26th Century in my universe.