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US Army Furthers Development of Robotic Suits

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the ellen-ripley-is-a-lesson-to-us-all dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The BBC reports on advancements in the US military's robotic exoskeleton program. It's being spearheaded by Sarcos, a research laboratory in Utah. The firm has designed the XOS exoskeleton for US Army use, a lightweight frame that gives the user greater strength and endurance. 'With the exoskeleton on and fully powered up, Rex can easily pull down weight of more than 90 kilos, more than he weighs. For the army the XOS could mean quicker supply lines, or fewer injuries when soldiers need to lift heavy weights or move objects around repeatedly. Initial models would be used as workhorses, on the logistics side. Later models, the army hopes, could go into combat, carrying heavier weapons, or even wounded colleagues.'"

13 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. Battle of the Future by locokamil · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'll bludgeon you to death with my wounded comrade!

    1. Re:Battle of the Future by dolphinling · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'll bludgeon you to death with that exoskeleton's user person!

      ..."User person"? Seriously, who writes these things?

      --
      There are 11 types of people in the world: those who can count in binary, and those who can't.
    2. Re:Battle of the Future by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Perhaps what you're seeing is the result of the joke which is more humorous than the original.

  2. No Iron Man tag? by dreamchaser · · Score: 3, Funny

    I want an advanced armored exoskeleton. Make it fly too. I can do without the repulors if I MUST, but please do give me a big flamethrower and a chaingun on my model. Maybe some shoulder mounted RPG's too?

    1. Re:No Iron Man tag? by Abreu · · Score: 2, Funny

      Instead of Iron Man references, I'd say instead that the US Army is now in charge of Gundam

      --
      No sig for the moment.
  3. Re:obligatory quote... by Nick+Number · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Obligatory" in this case meaning "incorrect".

    It's "Get away from her, you bitch!"

    --
    Promote proofreading. Don't mod up sloppy posts.
  4. Starcraft II by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 5, Funny

    I want an advanced armored exoskeleton. Make it fly too. I can do without the repulors if I MUST, but please do give me a big flamethrower and a chaingun on my model. Maybe some shoulder mounted RPG's too?

    And here we have another person that will seem to drop off the face of the planet once Starcraft II ships. Please remember not to play for 48 hours without sleep while consuming only nachos and soda, we wouldn't want you to permanently drop off the face of the planet. OK, maybe not "we" but "somebody" out there would care. ;-)

  5. Re:The designing engineers. by Constantine+XVI · · Score: 2, Funny

    They just got frustrated with not being in charge of Gundam.

    --
    "I think an etch-a-sketch with an ethernet port would beat IE7 in web standards compliance."
  6. Re:Weight of more than 90 kilos? by Chris+Burke · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ignoring the fact that the kilogram is a measure of mass, not force, this sentence still makes no sense. I can "pull down" double my weight with my little finger. Pulling it UP would be hard.

    Translation: "I've never seen the inside of a gym before."

    It's okay, this is an understanding crowd for such things. ;)

    --

    The enemies of Democracy are
  7. nuts by zogger · · Score: 2, Funny

    There's no foot replacement for good hands (the reverse is true as well). Mountain goats are fantastic climbers, but monkeys and men are better. Two legs/feet and two hands is a better fit for extreme maneuverability in climbing and traversing rough terrain. I've done a lot of climbing and having hands is just nifty... The only reason it isn't used yet mechanically is that no one has built a good enough model. That opposable thumb idea caught on a long time ago because it "just works". And being able to travel on two points on less rough ground frees up the other two points to "do stuff" like tote things, swing a weapon, whatever.

  8. Re:obligatory quote... by fitten · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's prequel was pretty good, too. But yeah, the sequels kind of blow.

  9. The 2nd Amendment by Charcharodon · · Score: 4, Funny
    I hope the 2nd Amendment covers these things when they start being released commercially.



    The right to bare Robot arms shall not be infringed!

  10. Re:obligatory quote... by halivar · · Score: 2, Funny

    I wanted to tag it getawayfromheryoubitch, but my funny tagging efforts only ever go for naught. Alas...