Powered Exoskeletons In The Near Future?

PhReaKyDMoNKeY writes "Discover Magazine's latest issue has a story about powered exoskeletons and how they aren't terribly far off. Sounds pretty damn cool, except maybe for the centaur flatbed model. Screw a Segway, gimme one of these babies."

Comments

diptheria

[8string]

exoskeletons really BUG me.

Faked?

[avalys]

Is it just me, or does the image of the soldier on the first page of that article look like someone tried to add the "exoskeleton" in Microsoft Paint?

good for commuters?

[PD]

I'm too old for the army, but I think it would be extremely fun to put on my "running pants" and motorcycle helmet and run 50 miles to work like the bionic man. I hope that the no pedestrians rule would be waived so I could use the commuter carpool lane.

Re:good for commuters?

[DA_MAN_DA_MYTH]

Or like the article says jump from rooftop to rooftop... No silly pedistrians or cars getting in the way...

With this, all you need is a blue suit, two antennae, and a City and wallah Instant Tick!

Obligatory Onion link

[legLess]

One of my favorite The Onion articles:

Stephen Hawking Builds Robotic Exoskeleton . It's got a great photo.

What comes next?

[Glowing Fish]

I will believe that exoskeletons are possible when I see such other anime cliches as germ warfare, human cloning, apocalyptic events and cynical plots to form a one world government come true.

Oh wait...

cool (adj): see "Powered exoskeletons"

[Lemmy Caution]

This is what I read Slashdot for. Screw the kernel updates and Microsoft vulnerabilties and intellectual property stuff. I want my Battle Armor!

I'm worried about the dry-cleaning bill, though.

So does this mean the end of...

[Anonymous Coward]

Viagra?

Amish recruiting must be up

[Anonymous Coward]

"We had young guys from the Air Force who had never seen a computer; they were successfully loading bombs with this thing in 15 minutes,"

Don't buy into the hype!

[daeley]

BURKE: I heard you were working in the cargo docks.

RIPLEY: That's right.

BURKE: Running loaders, forklifts, that sort of thing?

===

It's obvious that this is a dead-end profession just waiting to happen!!! Don't buy into the hype!

Exoskeleton picture

[Nathdot]

For those of you having trouble getting through to the article you can see a picture of the proposed exoskeleton here

:)

Pop-eye arms?

[Iamthefallen]

And from the article, I thus quote:
Kazerooni expects partial versions will hit the market first. "A factory worker might have just a pair of enhanced arms," he says. "There will be many job-specific applications for arms alone or legs alone."

This is providing of course that said worker is strong enough to carry and support the enhanced arms, I can't help but wonder... If a man screams in agony in an empty factory after having his arms ripped from their sockets, will there be a sound?

Turn it off, Grommit!

[Jeremi]

It's the wrong trousers, Grommit! And they've gone wrong!

;^)

Before exoskeletons....

[Nick Smith]

I think we need to consider internal applications first. Specifically, a powered spine for Congress-persons...

Used by Special Forces

[Dirtside]

Every time I hear "Special Forces", I always think of "Special Olympics."

I probably shouldn't let the Special Forces guys hear me say tha*CRUNCH* AAGH! MY NECK!

Re:personnel-sized armored fighting units would

[nomadic]

I'm not really impressed with how tough giant robots are supposed to make people.

Well it depends just how giant they are. I mean, a 7 foot exoskeletal suit is one thing, a 500 foot tall mech with cannons for arms is another.

Can I borrow it for a day?

[sid_vicious]

Is anybody else dying to borrow this thing for a day, and track down some of the people who picked on you during high school?

Give *me* an atomic wedgie, will you?!

Maybe it's just me...
:-)

Re:Military tech has come full circle

[linzeal]

http://www.ceu.hu/medstud/manual/SRM/armor.htm

and I quote

"It is fatiguing to fight in heavy armor, but fighters wearing this protective gear are far from the clumsy behemoths often portrayed in film. If armor were that encumbring, no fighter in his right mind would have bothered with it, because being slowed that much would be tantamount to suicide. Modern reconstructions have shown that fighters in full suits of mail or plate can perform cartwheels, leap up directly from the ground, and even sprint for short distances. Great endurance is obviously required to fight for long periods in armor, and men-at-arms trained in armor from childhood to be able to do so."

Hasn't anyone else seen that discovery show where the guy in full plate does cartwheels?

seems they already found a use for the prototype..

[z)bandito(_X]

Although power issues remain thorny, control technologies have come a long way over the past decade. In the late 1990s, Pin's group built an artificial arm that responds instantly to commands and can load 4,000-pound bombs into F-15 jet bays. The operator grabs a handlelike device at the end of the arm's framework, and the machine follows his motions, providing force-feedback so he can feel the bomb's weight, shape, and inertia. "We had young guys from the Air Force who had never seen a computer; they were successfully loading bombs with this thing in 15 minutes," Pin says.

and this is a good thing?