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Human Exoskeletons Getting Closer

Posted by kdawson on from the forever-war dept.

ColdWetDog writes "It's not Sigourney Weaver tossing aliens about, but The Register has an interesting blurb about a real human-capable exoskeleton that looks pretty cool (Lockheed-Martin press release). Runs for three hours at 3 mph on internal batteries; max speed is 7 mph. Of course, no price is listed but I suppose if you have to ask you can't afford it. Team this up with a Big Dog and you've got the ultimate high-tech cross-country team. Bring your own batteries. Or just wait for your jetpack to arrive."

13 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. Speed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Max speed is 10 not 7.

    1. Re:Speed by tomatensaft · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's maximum 10 mph for short bursts, 7 mph for longer marches. This information is presented in this PDF file: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/mfc/PC/MFC_HULC_Product_Card.pdf

  2. Looks like there has finally been progress. by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 4, Informative

    Companies have been making exoskeletons ever since the "Hardiman" of the 1960s. While more modern versions have actually bordered on the practical (see the suit worn by Ripley in the movie Aliens... that is a real machine), they have always had to drag a power tether in order to do anything useful. Of course they did not show that part in the movie.

    The decision to do away with arms, for now, was probably a good one. One can still carry heavy loads, which is the main point.

    1. Re:Looks like there has finally been progress. by timmarhy · · Score: 5, Informative

      i have to agree. it's the knee's that give out first on an old solider. carrying 40kg's of gear isn't good for you at all, and i'm betting this kind of thing will be targeted at hilly terrian such as afganistan. i wonder how weird this would feel to walk with?

      --
      If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
    2. Re:Looks like there has finally been progress. by Capt.+Cooley · · Score: 2, Informative

      FTFA: it uses a four pound lithium battery, not a power cord. So yeah, they WOULDN'T show that part in the movie. Also mentioned: it's capable of carrying more than the standard load of a soldier, so it could carry back-up batteries. If I were a soldier, I'd want this.

    3. Re:Looks like there has finally been progress. by fractoid · · Score: 2, Informative

      FTFGPP: It was the suit from Aliens, and other historical ones, that had a hidden power cord in the movie. At least, that's how I read it.

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    4. Re:Looks like there has finally been progress. by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes, I was referring to the lifter that Ripley wore in the movie Aliens. The real "suits" of that type have power cords. I believe they also experimented with on-board generators, which of course tended to be loud and pumped out lots of exhaust.

    5. Re:Looks like there has finally been progress. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      The suit in Aliens was manhandled from the inside by a large weightlifter who was 'puppeted' around by Weaver. (in the same way you'd give a ride to a young child standing on your feet).

        It was made from vacuum formed plastic and required frequent retouching by the prop guys to keep it looking 'real'.

      As I recall (this is all from the 'making of' part of the Aliens DVD) it was so unstable there was also a tether from the top to keep it upright.

    6. Re:Looks like there has finally been progress. by LordGlenn · · Score: 2, Informative

      the autoloader from "Aliens" was a prop. Details are in the "Making of" mini-doc on the DVD. the "fact" that it was a real machine is a common net myth though.

  3. Honda Walking Assist by jeti · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Honda Walking Assist device has a rather unique and elegant design:
    http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2191712/honda_walking_assist/

  4. Re:Yeah but the boot sequence is too complex. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Offtopic? Someone never watched Centurions...

  5. Re:LM all all the freedom fighters need is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    The reason it's easy to kill tanks/Humvees with mines is that you can just put your mines on roads, which big vehicles are mostly restricted to. A team of soldiers in powered armor has more options, like walking off road, or taking side streets. Will you start mining alleyways? Goat paths?

  6. *sigh* Iternet ! build to be bomb proof... by Akardam · · Score: 2, Informative

    The internet itself exists because the US military was seeking a way to maintain communications in the event that a major city was destroyed with an atomic bomb, causing a disruption in telephone communications.

    Why, oh why do people keep trotting out this tired old myth?

    The ARPANet wasn't created to survive a nuclear holocaust. Hey geniuses, it used common (though pricey and high speed) telco circuits - the same as carried telephone communications. They weren't hardened or anything like that. Explain to me how they'd stay put when everything else went kablooie?

    The original purpose of the ARPANet was to allow resource sharing between research centers with computing resources that were being funded by and/or involved in defense level research. Even after the first dozen-odd IMPs (routers of their day, and amazingly only refrigerator sized, compared to the behemoths that they interconnected), they weren't even hardened.

    Ironically, it would be over 20 years from the inception of the ARPANet that there would be a sufficiently large number of nodes and more imporantly links to give the Internet the level of robustness that might give it a reasonable chance of surviving an all out nuclear attack, the kind that people continually champion as its original raison d'être.

    Anyone who's interested in learning more should really read the excellent book, _Where Wizards Stay Up Late_.