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Raytheon Exoskeleton Brings "Iron Man" to Life
An anonymous reader writes "Raytheon is bringing 'Iron Man' to life, according to EETimes. 'The movie opens in theaters worldwide today, but the real "iron man" has already been under construction at Raytheon Company (Salt Lake City, Utah) since 2000. Raytheon's Exoskeleton project is the brainchild of project leader Stephen Jacobsen and is being funded by the U.S. Army. The project, according to the company, permits soldiers to don an Exoskeleton suit that amplifies their strength — enabling them to lift 200-pound payloads without tiring.'"
#DeleteChrome
Oops, sorry, wrong movie (*ducks*)!
that it can only be used by alcoholics
if it is used by anyone else, the suit is not an iron man, it is a war machine
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
is but ONE of many who develop such stuff.
The exo-skeleton concept has been around for
MANY years, just grab an old copy of Popular
Science from the 1960's. The subject was
"Man Amplifiers". Nothing to see here.
That's from Alien. Now if the suit allowed the soldier to fly then it'd be from Iron Man.
I agree..
And..
Holy fucking shit.. Are we going to get rehashes of every robotics story we've ever heard comparing it to how it somehow is kind of like Ironman's fictional gear?
I guess this has to happen over every geekpr0n movie. It'll get called a blockbuster before release, then everyone will run out and buy shit related to the movie, then mcdonalds will have a happy meal toy for it, slashdot people will run linking headlines to any article that merely mentions the title.
Damn it people.
for a topless sunbathing scene
Yea, those look exactly the same.
It's like saying we already have jetpacks then pointing at a trampoline.
or else!
Except, after seeing it last night, I can your statements BS. The movie was AWESOME (and the only thing it was advertising was Audi and Burger King).
And corporatism, and empire, and technophilic military priapism.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
What the heck does ballyhooed mean?
It means it was the subject of an Indian Musical film, my dear.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
ummmm, they're at BK.........
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/04/17/rent-a-hal-robot-sui.html
It may not have the same MAX strength gain but:
a) doesn't still require a tether
b) has a much lower profile
c) You can already RENT IT.
EA David Gardner -"... but the consumers have proven that actually what they want is fun."
Which is AWESOME.
That EETimes.com story missed one ability of the Raytheon suit:
waste millions of government cheese making pointless boondoggle equipment that has the same basic functionality as a forklift...Wave of the FUTURE!
Hell, the Iron Man suit can't even compete with that!
Thank you Dave Raggett
Umm, the movie is about a man who makes weapon systems, and finds out they're being horribly misused. He then stops selling them, at a huge loss to his personal wealth. Not exactly fascist propaganda there.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
No, that would be an endoskeleton.
The ocean parts and the meteors come down
Laid out in amber, baby.
Whoopie... does Raytheon have awesome batteries too? No? Then they won't be getting very far in that Iron Man suit, will they? Slashvertisement indeed. The suit isn't news. The power source is the sci-fi part.
Holy fucking shit.. Are we going to get rehashes of every robotics story we've ever heard comparing it to how it somehow is kind of like Ironman's fictional gear?Why not? Every time we have a Cat5 hurricane, we hear the self flagellating global warming cultists tell us we should repent for enjoying the benefits of a modern society.
I guess this has to happen over every geekpr0n movie.Yep, you nailed it. Comic book movie == /. gold. Who cares if it funds another MPAA lawsuit? I want my geekpr0n!
I can go see a film purely for the CGI aspects. I don't always want deep meaning attached. Iron man is chalk full of western culture....because it's a western film. Also, yes, I think certain pieces of military hardware are cool (i.e. the SR-71 blackbird, the Global Hawk UAV, etc) from an engineering standpoint. So what? Hell, even weapon systems are cool when they're used properly in a movie (i.e. the Death Star was a weapons system mind you). If you're looking for something deeply meaningful, perhaps going to the movies isn't your best choice of venue.
Exactly.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
One of the links in the article leads to a page about a company called Cyberdyne creating a robotic exoskeleton named HAL... http://www.cyberdyne.jp/English/robotsuithal/index.html
What else should we expect from a major defense contractor ?
:P
Maybe if a job requires a human to lift 200lb payloads, that job should be redesigned. Throwing 42 quadrillion dollars at an engineering problem for one task is kinda sorta super dumb when the problem can be eliminated entirely with a few brain cells and a case of dr pepper. I don't even know what they're doing, but I'm pretty sure they could streamline it so a simple machine does the heavy lifting, and a simple human pushes the button for their 6-figure income.
Besides, Iron Man sucks. Flying two-tone slab of steel from the 60's, just as weak as every other Marvel B-list movie adaptation (see: Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Punisher). What next, The Falcon ?
-Billco, Fnarg.com
Anyway, I'd much rather someone work on a chickenleg mech. They just look cooler, and they're equally as impractical.
Of course, these exoskeletons were piloted by Martians, not humans.
Exoskeletons also appeared in Robert Heinlein's 1959 (or was it 1958 in the magazine serial?) Starship Troopers:
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
The primary problem with an exoskeleton, at least as it pertains to front line combat use, is and, as far as I know, remains the massive heat signature generated by the internal combustion engine that is required to pressurize the hydraulic components (a battery powered compressor would probably be impractical and not any less heat generating). Anyone wearing this exoskeleton would show up like the sun on infrared making them vulnerable to the types of heat seeking missiles or automated guns that would normally target vehicles and other substantial heat sources. If you are going to have the heat problem then why not just use a vehicle which can mount the heavy weapon on the chassis, carry some exhaust cooling shrouds, and provide more armor than the exoskeleton? The exoskeleton doesn't make much sense, at least in my opinion, for front line operations or at least not it its present form. It doesn't offer enough advantages over a vehicle to make it worthwhile to accept the same or similar set of drawbacks (i.e. generating large quantities of waste heat).
Anyone remember there were the 30+ story mechs along with the mini body-suit mechs? The pic in the article looks just like the beginning of those mini ones. So by that reasoning around the turn of the next millennium we'll have the huge ones, but any dedicated gamer saw this coming well over a decade ago. Can't wait for trial by combat!
I disliked V for Vendetta, because that truly was an film which took serious liberties with the source material (to the point where the original author declined to be credited). It misrepresented the plot to make it appeal to fools like you; the kind of fools that see homo-eroticism in a superhero story and aren't aware of the really sinister films; the ones that pander to the American anti-American (and I say this as a British person). I mean the kind of tiresome American who thinks that the two solutions to the current bad president are revolution or magical panacea of the democratic party. I'm sure some of the latter persuasion think they're both the same thing.
Keep on fighting the man, man!
I think what we're looking at here is less of fascist propaganda, and more of a muddled attempt at creating a topical movie. It just simply doesn't count as propaganda when the writers are too stupid to realize that the schlock they dish out, which is intended to appeal to the lowest common denominator, also happens to expound the ignorant mentality of "Us vs. Them."
Am I the only one who was reminded of Gray Fox/"Cyborg Ninja" from Metal Gear Solid?
I sure hope they've addressed the Top Eleven Problems with Having an Iron Suit?
Six words: Get away from her you bitch!
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
Once upon a time, when arms companies were owned by families, the movie may have been less than fantasy. There have been a few arms makers who turned to things like sewing machines and not always with loss of fortune. Today, arms companies are huge multinational companies without a soul. They will make and market whatever killing machines they can. Raytheon will make and sell this suit to anyone waging wars of aggression and shirk the responsibility as "it's up to politicians to make war and peace".
At this point, even that excuse is worthless. The US trades with and is becoming harder to tell apart from China. It is better now to now work for arms makers because the arms are not being used for conquest and oppression instead of the preservation of liberty.
The automobile had no military value when it was first invented either. It was slow, cumbersome and weak. Now look at military transports and tanks today. As you said, "at least not in its present form". You've gotta start somewhere.
CGI = Computer Generated Imagery
"CGI" stands for "Computer-Generated Imagery." "CG" also stands for "Computer Graphics" but gp is not wrong.
It's pretty decent. Some great laughs, and really great action. It's not life changing - but it was a great amount of fun. Sort of like a comic book - but a movie instead.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
have to agree. the movie is pure popcorn entertainment (saw it last night), you go to these kinds of movies to have fun, not be intellectually manhandled. Its sad to see that the simple pleasures of a summer blockbuster can be totally lost on some people.
It's a fucking superhero from a comic book. What do you want?
Slashdot needs a "-1, Wrong" moderation option.
The Urban Hippie
You're obviously British. Democrats don't believe in guns, ruling out revolution for them. They are so anti-firearm, no revolutionary could possibly support them. I dare say, you'd be three standard deviations out to hold both views simultaneously as a possible solution to America's problems.
The movie itself is an advertisement for non free software
.... if it runs Windows, I will rush to the store to buy THAT version. =)
I actually watched the movie yesterday, and it was quite nice.
Now one thing I assure you, with all the features that stark's armor have properly working and with a fast start up time like that
What is best in life? To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their women.
YES! Immediately after I've read the summary too! You've restored my faith in this /. crowd...
Well done er dude
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
When I was in the army, I could lift 110 kilograms and I wasn't exactly a jock. So I fail to see the utility of this contraption, unless American GIs are really, really puny...
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Although I'm guessing Raytheon must have purchased it somehow.
Trivia: the same company that developed the exoskeleton also made the animatronic dinosaurs for the jursassic park ride @ Universal Studios.
Trivia: Sarcos worked very closely with the Center for Engineering Design @ the University of Utah. IMHO a very interesting collaboration between the academic and commercial worlds.
I did some research work there during my bioengineering days and one of my friends worked on the project...
Evolution: love it or leave it
Just giving us the Aliens powerloader would be impressive. Robocop would be even more impressive. But the Iron Man suit strays far into unobtanium territory. Antimatter powerplant, antigrav flight, there ain't no way we're getting something like that for another 50 years. That'd be like rolling out the first Sopwith Camel and saying we've made good progress towards the F-22.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Western militaries have not been fighting opponents well equipped with heat seeking AT missiles for a long time. Even against some insurgent with an RPG, powered armour is going to take less casualties then ordinary troopers on foot or in a humvee, because it will have all over armour proof against shrapnel. A direct hit on a PA will kill the soldier, a direct hit on a humvee can kill a whole squad.
PA will be an absolute boon for taking out insurgents in a dig in position, when heavy fire power cannot be used (which is quite often in an urban environment).
========
CINC, 4th Penguin Legion
You are hilariously overreacting.
Not only that, those words sound like they come straight out of some prescribed, remedial "Talking Points for Socialist/Activist Dummies" book.
Good thing you are AC, because someone just said something really sto0pid. You think the movie studios are behind all these re-treaded tech news storeis? Maybe all these sites, /. included, are trying to cash in on something they everyone is buzzing about?
The Iron Man movie was definitely worth my $10.
Does it now. Tell me, do you hear a lot of stupid? Well, I remember a wise man once saying stupid is as stupid does.
STEP AWAY FROM THE STUPID
Eclectic beats from Leeds, UK
handmadehands.co.uk
Especially considering Iron Man is probably the last thing a slashdotter would think of when they see powerarmor. We're the kind that thinks of Starship Troopers and Fallout first.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
Saw it yesterday with my 7 year old son at a local preview. The film's not bad, but it does take time to get going.
The film's not going to be a classic, but it's well made and passed the time.
AT&ROFLMAO
Try "cgi" at www.google.com. There - that wasn't hard, was it?
Phew - good job you posted AC otherwise you'd feel embarrassed, we'd know who you are and strangers in the street would be be pointing at you and smirking for the rest of the day.
Your penalty is to watch TRON 3 times in a row this Sunday.
AT&ROFLMAO
Clippy could be a PITA:
"Looks like you have raised your arm and engaged weapons:
O Do you want to incinerate your victim?
O Do you want to launch homing micro-rockets?
O Are you writing a letter?
O Were you just going to scratch your nose?"
AT&ROFLMAO
>Maybe if a job requires a human to lift 200lb payloads, that job should be redesigned. Geez, dude, don't you ever have dreams about doing cool shit? Ever dream about aiming above the mark? Don't be a wet towel.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
The irony is he uses terms such as "too stupid", "they dish out", "appeal to the lowest common denominator" and "ignorant mentality" in a distinct attempt to segregate himself from them.
I saw the film last night (in the UK) and it was one of Marvel's better efforts. For those who like the comics and haven't seen it yet, stay to the end of the credits to see an extra scene which gives a nod to the rest of the Marvel Universe.
Am I obviously British because I stated so twice in my post? I hope so.
I'm aware of this apparent contradiction, and this was exactly the intended meaning in my post. It is an insult; it is meant to be insulting, especially if to be insulting is to highlight the inconsistent views of the opponent.
I saw it last night with my wife, and we enjoyed it. I agree that it took some time to get going, but I'm also the type of person that likes to see some of the details behind the characters and their rationale. I loved that in the movie it wasn't the suit that was so amazing, but the power supply. Though, this movie was definitely to introduce characters for sequels and not so much to be a standalone flick.
Actually, in my mind the power supply wasn't the most amazing piece of technology. It was the CAD tools that he had available. I'd probably pay more for that than the suit itself.
Disclaimer: 1. My wife and I are both engineers. 2. Check my Slashdot name. 3. The Stark logo in the movie was very familiar.
Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
I can go see a film purely for the CGI aspects. I don't always want deep meaning attached.
Going to a movie to watch it for the CGI is like reading a book for the words.
Sure you can use some fancy ten syllable words, but if the plot sucks fancy words won't save the book.
Two movies come to mind when I say this... Star Wars: Episode I and Godzilla (The American One)
Now granted, CGI can be used with a good effect like Lord of the Rings, Matrix, and say Episode III.
These movies didn't have the most deep and thought provoking plots as some of those movies on the Sundance Film fest, but the actually had something that you could follow without having to think about the meaning of life.
I'm not bashing you because you go to the movies for the CGI, but I'm saying for many people who see a lot of movies and go home wishing they'd spent their $9 on something else... Well CGI stops being that important when its used all the time these days.
I'll probaly (might) go see Iron Man because I dig the comics and Robert Downey Jr. but I'm not holding my breathe for the years best movie.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
Andy.
Well then, carry on ol' chap! Although I'm not sure how pandering to a miniscule portion of the population would make a film "really sinister".
I'm assuming you did'nt like the KICK ASS movie "The 300" either?
I personally think that the best solution to the current bad government is revolution, because they are not accurately counting votes anyway.
Do you have another suggestion?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
That's a departure from the original rah-rah "Go USA" Cold War-era comic. It's a good departure though. Not very realistic, but cool, and in keeping with the whole Marvel philosophy of the hero with psychological conflicts versus the Silver Age DC outlook with its semi-omnipotent heroes and villains who are either all-good or all-evil. Tony Stark has gone through an interesting evolution in the books as well. I have only rarely gone to the movies in recent years, preferring to watch movies via DVD, but I might be interested in seeing this one on the big screen.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
I disliked V for Vendetta, because that truly was an film which took serious liberties with the source material (to the point where the original author declined to be credited).
Along with every other movie, though, to be fair (Constantine, League, From Hell). Personally, I'm not sure if that says more about Hollywood, or Moore.
"Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
Yeah really. If revolution and the electoral process aren't options, what exactly are you proposing? What's a sinister film that appeals to an 'American anti-American' ? And why would being against the current government be sinister? You want to criticize the president, his detractors, and both extremes of their possible means of getting rid of him. Sounds like you just like to bitch. Do as you are, I guess.
Terminate and stay resinous.
I didn't explain myself properly. My mistake. When I go to a movie, I'm not that concerned with the plot. I went to see Transformers to see the excellent work ILM did. I went to see Cloverfield to see how well their CGI work was. When I want substance, I read a decent book.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
True enough I guess, but what if they develpoed them for personal use? Imaging WWE meets Battlebots and you'll see where I'm going with this, it'd be the best sport ever made!
I remember! And I remember the "out of band" communications. Nice to hear from you. Glad you enjoyed it, yourself.
:-)
Yeah. I gotta go lighter! I was coming down with the flu when I saw this - and got grumpier from there...
Still - the film seems to promote some fantasy about who the military/industrial elite are, and that there are individuals in those positions who can act singularly - out of conscience - for the benefit of humanity.
Tony Stark is like a comic book John Galt. I can't stand Ayn Rand, either.
Ultimately, the film was produced with help and cooperation of the USAF.
The "chair force" have moved themselves to the forefront of the Military mission of generating propaganda and conducting surveillance on the world's civilian populations - including US domestic operations. You don't need to do much more than search for "Air Force" on Slashdot and Wired.com's Danger Room to see how insidious and corrupting this has become.
Nick Turse talks about how this has evolved: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032008T.shtml
But Marvel Comics has gone as far as hiring Active Duty USAF officers on duty in Israel to write for them! And they boast about it!
So, yeah. I had a hard time seeing this as an entertainment, when I had the continual creepy feeling it was a PsyOp.
I'd rather see The Ipcress File, The Conversation, or Three Days of the Condor.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Your chalk full of pendants.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
You sir, are a fucktard.
It's not like they made this thing to advertise the movie. It just happens to be interesting in light of the movie.
I think you need to get laid to stop worrying about such trivial matters.
"No matter where you go, there you are." -- Buckaroo Banzai
What actually happened is far better than the movie.
Ah, you were there?
Because our accounts of what "actually happened" are a little vague. Now, if you could just set some things straight in the Wikipedia entry...
When did the future switch from being a promise to a threat? -C. Palahniuk
Why does it say to wait until the end of the credits. Does something happen then?
"I mean the kind of tiresome American who thinks that the two solutions to the current bad president are revolution or magical panacea of the democratic party."
/.er, who's country has ridings that openly support and elect fascists?
How do you bring to power, in the United States, a third political party? A country that has been dominated by two political parties for a century. The best part about the so-called democracy of America is that when a new political movement emerges, the existing parties criminalize them. Red scares, green scares, etc etc
The solutions really seem to be revolution or the magical panacea.
What would you suggest? - oh wise British
Surely you can think of a method to defeat the Republicans in power that does not involve the Democrats, mass organized protest or violence.
>Umm, the movie is about a man who makes weapon systems, and finds out they're being horribly misused. He then stops selling them, at a huge loss to his personal wealth. Not exactly fascist propaganda there.
That puzzled me too. Perhaps when he said "I saw it" he meant the trailer.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I consider the movie as an adaptation of the comic book. They both have their good points.