Posted on 05/02/2008 8:15:08 PM PDT by robomatik
Berkeley Bionics™, formerly Berkeley ExoWorks, designs and manufactures lower extremity exoskeletons to augment human strength and endurance during locomotion.
The exoskeleton is comprised of two powered anthropomorphic legs, a power unit, small on-board microcomputer, and a backpack-like frame on which a variety of heavy loads can be mounted.
This system provides its pilot (i.e. its wearer) with the ability to carry significant loads (up to 150 pounds) on his/her back with minimal effort over any type of terrain for extended periods of time without reducing his/her agility. The pilot's physical effectiveness increases significantly since he/she does not feel the backpack weight.
There is no joystick, pushbutton, or keyboard to “drive” the exoskeleton; the pilot becomes an integral part of the exoskeleton while walking. An on-board micro-computer ensures that the exoskeleton moves in concert with the pilot with minimal interaction force between the two.
Our exoskeletons' unique design offers an ergonomic, highly maneuverable, mechanically robust, lightweight, and durable outfit to surpass typical human limitations. The exoskeletons designed by Berkeley Bionics™ have numerous applications; they can provide soldiers, disaster relief workers, wildfire fighters, and other emergency personnel the ability to carry major loads such as food, rescue equipment, first-aid supplies, communications gear, and weaponry without the strain typically associated with demanding labor.
Our exoskeletons incorporate breakthrough technologies that will provide a versatile transport platform for mission-critical equipment.
Our mission is to develop the best human rehabilitation, restoration, and augmentation systems in the world.
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The Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC™) is the third generation exoskeleton system from Berkeley Bionics. It incorporates the features of ExoHiker™ and ExoClimber™, exhibiting two independent characteristics:
1) It takes up to 200 pounds without impeding the wearer (Strength Augmentation)
2) It decreases its wearer's metabolic cost (Endurance Augmentation).
While the first characteristic requires little explanation, the 2nd characteristic is a compelling and a competitive advantage of HULC™ completely absent in any other exoskeleton system. During some preliminary evaluations, the oxygen consumption of the users walking at a speed of 2 MPH, was decreased by 5%~12% when using our HULC™ without a payload. When the users carried a load, the effect was more pronounced. The oxygen consumption of these users carrying an 81 pound approach load at a speed of 2MPH was decreased by about 15% when using the prototype HULC™.
The reduction of the wearer's metabolic cost is of paramount importance for long duration missions. This is true because excessive oxygen consumption leads to premature fatigue even if the exoskeleton supports the load. In fact, a very recent BAA from the Natick Soldier System Center requests proposals to conduct a preliminary study on solutions that lead to a reduction of oxygen consumption. HULC™, fueled by proprietary technology, decreases the wearer's oxygen consumption and heart rate thereby increasing the wearer's endurance.
Several field ready HULCs™ will be available for live demonstration in early 2008. Berkeley Bionics is now accepting orders for prototype HULC™ systems.
cool stuff. much less intrusive and cumbersome than the raytheon design.
BOYCOTT BERKELEY
not everyone in berkeley is a fruitcake. this has serious applications.
But everyone doing business in Berkeley funds a regime that hates America. They need to move. And a name change wouldn’t hurt.
Great for backpacking ;-)
I’ll test it
Should we add this to the Flying Castle wish list?
Troy Hurtubise seems to be somewhat of an eccentric. that being said - i want one. thanks!
Prosthetics are good, no matter where they come from. Convince me that the prosthetics will be much better than their source...
;o]
MEGAdittos to that!
Ummm...the Castle is self-sufficient, so budget is never an issue.
(We have Ninjas?)
The Zombies are Darks’s territory; the Robots are Bob’s baliwick; the Dwarves sre existing under the auspices of Dead Corpse, and the grounds are divided between Tax-Chick with her kudzu/goats and Sandy with her ever-present greenery.
I mean, SOMEone has to take care of the greenhouses....
When it comes to the winery, Dr. Ms. TulipTree is the authority, and the distillery....well, talk to sionsar...he’s the Master...
jim robinson lives in california. by your logic, you should boycott freerepublic because he lives in the belly of the beast. just because a good idea comes from a liberal town doesn’t make it less of a good idea.
so, you would like to boycott advanced research projects just to spite code pink and commie berkeley city council?
how nice.
We can make a few of these by stripping out the components from our spiderbots.
Don't see how you'd use them though. That's why we have spiderbots.
I'm afraid that I have managed to neglect the winery in my absence. I tried to find it again, but I got lost several times.
As you might expect for a properly designed space habitat, we have mechanical equipment to use in processing the grapes for harvest, and of course a part of that goes to manufacturing an acceptable wine.
But without your personal involvement and unremitting commitment to excellence recently, I am afraid our premium wines now admittedly lack that je ne sais quoi.
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