Commercial Exoskeletons

FalconZero writes "For those of you with superhuman aspirations, your dream may be a step closer; New Scientist (recently) and the Japan Times (last year) covered Yoshiyuki Sankai's work at the University of Tsukuba in Japan developing powered exoskeletons with commercial versions expected soon costing between $14,000 and $19,000 (£7,500-£10,000). Other work with exoskeletons previously covered here(1), here(2) and here(3)."

Comments

BLEEX

[Anonymous Coward]

Berkeley has some videos of their BLEEX (Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton) Project on their web page.

Video

I swear that guy in the video is the Star Wars kid, if was making robot noises with his mouth he would have me convinced.

Re:BLEEX

[FuturePastNow]

The load is attached to a frame at the top of the legs, so it adds no weight to the user. They can't tear off your legs because they have the same range of motion as your legs. And it can't "go berserk" because its only control system is the human wearing it. It basically allows a person to carry a heavy load for the same distance they would be able to cover with no load.

At least, that's what I got from reading that site for a few minutes.

I, for one, welcome our new Exoskeleton Overlords!

[Nova Express]

An exoskeleton would be potentially useful for urban combat (punching through doors, knowck down walls, etc.), but probably less than you might think. Short of just walking through wall, an exoskeleton would probably be difficult to maneuver in dense environments, and those using early models would be at a lot greater risk of accidental immobilization (i.e., a sitting duck) and other potentially fatal equipment failures than someone in, say, a tank.

Alas, for Robert A. Heinlein's vision of Powersuits in Starship Troopers, exoskeletons, like those giant Japanese Mechs, are very cool in fiction, but probably not terribly useful in reality compared to more mundane alternatives.

Lawrence Person, Science Fiction Writer

Re:Exoman

[sTalking_Goat]

what about Mantis? Same concept, better FX.

getting a better crystal ball

[Alien54]

I posted this before, and now we get this story posted where it actually fits the best. Got to get a better crystal ball. If you've seen this before, move along. Data posted here for sake of completeness....

As noted in another thread:

Neogentronyx is currently in the process of constructing a Bipedal Exo-Skeletal Robotic Vehicle [neogentronyx.com], known as a Mech and designated NMX04-1A. The purpose of the NMX04-1A is proof of concept and to make the first bold step towards full production of Mecha vehicles, affordable to civilians and not just commercial entities. There are plenty of pretty pictures and info here [neogentronyx.com]. See also these larger more recent pics [coasttocoastam.com]

Another fine product of Alaska, approximately 18 ft tall (7 meters)

As someone noted:

Bring a few cans of WD-40. Looks like they are assembling this thing out in the open! No building to put it in!

...........

Do you think that he's any competition?

Re:Blame it on Gundam

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/featu res/F_Star_Wars.html

Re:Limited Usefulness

[Mahou]

i think the military application for exoskeletons is to help soldiers carry more supplies while marching extended distances. not fighting. marching. and i'm pretty sure we didn't have the tech for load-bearing exoskeletons back in WWII...

Re:I, for one, welcome our new Exoskeleton Overlor

[Jeremi]

Perhaps the biggest problem: balance

I think balance is starting become a solved problem. Look at the Segway for starters... plus previous Slashdot articles have linked to some very impressive videos of (small) robots doing handstands, ballet, etc. So it appears that balance is just a matter of having a fast enough computer running a clever enough feedback algorithm.

I think a more difficult problem will be energy: how does your exoskeleton carry enough fuel/energy to be useful without adding too much weight or compromising the user's safety?