Posted on 11/26/2007 9:03:45 PM PST by Tlaloc
A Utah-based company is now six years into the development of a unique robot that fits around its user so that it literally mimics every movement of its human commander.
Imagine stepping inside a robotic system that fits around your body like an exoskeleton.
It allows soldiers to become almost superhuman in strength and stamina.
In this case, whatever the soldier needs to do, the exoskeleton follows his or her exact moves.
The prototype designed and built by SARCOS is going to become even more polished and sophisticated within the next five years.
American soldiers are well trained and physically fit, but they're still vulnerable.
The human machine gets tired, needs rest, and performs only within the limitations of flesh and bones, but when tester Rex Jameson steps inside the robotic exoskeleton it mirrors or mimics everything he wants to do.
Two-hundred pound pull-downs?
No sweat!
"We did this 500 times till I got bored," Jameson said. "I could basically do it ad nauseum." And he wasn't even out of breath.
Not out of breath, no wear, no muscle pains or strains.
If Rex needs to pull away from the exoskeleton to do something on his own, it just floats and waits for his return.
"I can go ahead and do whatever I need to do. When you're ready to start again, I just grab it and away we go," Jameson said.
It's taken SARCOS six years to get to this point, but the technicians and engineers who've pulled this off have been designing and polishing robots for decades.
Imagine trying to lift 150 to 200 ammo cans that weigh 72 pounds each onto a pallet.
Commanding his exoskeleton, Rex does it.
In a round robin, lifting 35-pound canisters, several other men moving as fast as they can can't keep up.
Steve Emero of SARCOS felt so worn out he couldn't keep going.
But Rex could.
Lifting 200-pound weights?
Piece of cake.
Walking up stairs?
No problem.
Running, walking on heels, prancing, taking on a ramp, the list goes on!
Meshed with exoskeleton, Rex punches a bag with just the right amount of strength.
From enough grace to gently play ball, to enough super-power to load a missile on an airplane, exoskeleton does it all.
Wayco Scroggin, director of production at SARCOS, said, "He has get-out-of-the-way controls which follow from the end of the feet to the hands, and the machine will just follow where he goes."
During these experiments the prototype is tethered.
There's also a safety line as a precaution, but the end product will be portable with its own backpack power.
The skeleton's various models will be covered, offering different levels of protection for the soldier inside.
Eventually the exoskeletons could even become autonomous, allowing the soldier to step out while the robot goes on to perform a task on its own.
Stephen Jacobsen, owner and CEO of SARCOS, explained, "If you step out of it, it becomes a humanoid robot. If you step into it, it becomes a tele-operated robot."
The SARCOS system will operate entirely on portable power within the year.
Down the road, it will move into human experimentation within the Army and sophisticated tactical tests involving soldiers.
Dr. Catherine Halsey [in the HALO universe novels] would give a standing ovation.
Starship Troopers
Life imitates art: the anthropomorphic mechas of anime are becoming a reality.
Is that too much to ask?
Starship Troopers!
Want me to go on a 20K ruck march, Sergeant? Sure! I’ll even carry the 240!
Wow, and I always thought Dale Brown was thinking way too far out of the box with his Tin Man soldiers.
How a bunch of ragheads on horses with AK’s think they could possibly beat America is the real fantasy.
They can beat us if we are not allowed to use what we have. They can beat us when traitors here at home talk defeat 24/7.
Saw the video of this a week or so ago, pretty cool. I want one for pulling up trees by the roots. That would be so COOL!
mark for later
“Nice shooting, son. What’s your name?”
“Murphy.”
bmflr
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Why the smart money is on Duncan Hunter
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1926032/posts
Posted on 11/15/2007 3:43:17 AM PST by Kevmo
It was what the drop troopers wore after their reentry pods
fell away.
Powered armor combat suits. Also discussed (very well I think) in John Ringo’s books.
This is just the first step, FReep Friend.
Unless you were referring to that lame abortion of a movie that was based on the book by Grand Master Robert A. Heinlein which did not have them at all.
If so, go to your video library, chuck the CD or the tape and go find a copy of the book. It’s one of the best pieces of military science fiction, bar none.
Sadly, it is the movie itself that is my current intel source of the Starship Troopers universe.
But I'll take your advice and see if my Sci-Fi oriented cousin can procure the book for me to read.
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