Army Exoskeleton Turns Soldiers into RoboCop Super Soldiers

DBKP ^ | May 17, 2008 | Mondoreb

[mondoreb]

Super Soldiers Coming to a War Near You

Super Soldiers may not be something only seen in sci-fi movies.

The U.S. Army is developing--in conjunction with a Salt Lake City robotics company, Sarkos--technology to turn a 98-pound weakling into a Superman. "The future is now" was the motto of George Allen, of LA Rams and Washington Redskins fame. It might just as well be the motto of the U.S. Army.

Rex Jameson bikes and swims regularly, and plays tennis and skis when time allows. But the 5-foot-11, 180-pound software engineer is lucky if he presses 200 pounds—that is, until he steps into an "exoskeleton" of aluminum and electronics that multiplies his strength and endurance as many as 20 times.

With the outfit's claw-like metal hand extensions, he gripped a weight set's bar at a recent demonstration and knocked off hundreds of repetitions. Once, he did 500.

"Everyone gets bored much more quickly than I get tired," Jameson said.

Jameson—who works for robotics firm Sarcos Inc. in Salt Lake City, which is under contract with the U.S. Army—is helping assess the 150-pound suit's viability for the soldiers of tomorrow. The suit works by sensing every movement the wearer makes and almost instantly amplifying it.

The video below gives a demonstration of the latest offerings from Sarcos.

[mondoreb]

This is great as long as the technology stay US military. But, like a lot of other military technologies, it'll only be a matter of time--once the price comes down and the technology becomes more available--until it trickles down to big-city, then town and village police departments.

[org.whodat]

So stealing the machine they had in the original alien movie is new technology. Do tell.

[robomatik]

i've posted this before, but i will again.

this is a less intrusive and flexible design.

exo-hiker

[robomatik]

and more flexible design.

[Regulator]

The coming Obama Mugabe administration should find this quite useful in putting down any civil unrest by the evil Americans opposed to his thugocracy.

Seen the goons around that guy lately? Imagine the same people in control of technology like this.

Thrilling future ahead of us.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I think that they should have started right from the bat using advanced materials. For example, instead of using a 1” thick aluminum bar, they could use a 1 centimeter thick rod of advanced ceramic. Very lightweight, stronger than steel, and a lot lighter.

Instead of having the unit entirely powered by electricity, they could have sub-systems for strong robot muscle movement using hydrogen peroxide and catalyst pistons. A few ounces of peroxide could give dozens of actions better than typical servos.

There are many concurrent developments in robotics and prosthetics that could be applied here as well.

[TrueKnightGalahad]

Getting closer to Mobile Infantry powered suits ping!