Army Exoskeleton Suit Gives Man Superhuman Strength

hi folks, there have been several threads on the subject of exoskeleton, including one over a year ago on the same company.

Sarcos Exoskeleton

However given recent developments I thought it would be a good idea to see what our friends at Raytheon have been up to lately.

Raytheon Company’s research facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, is developing a robotic suit for the soldier of tomorrow. The exoskeleton is essentially a wearable robot that amplifies its wearer’s strength, endurance and agility. Reminiscent of super heroes depicted in comic books and Hollywood movies, the bleeding edge technology effectively blurs the lines between science fiction and reality. So much so, that Popular Science magazine recently likened Raytheon’s exoskeleton to the “Iron Man”® depicted in the blockbuster movie of the same name.

Defense Technology International Built from a combination of sensors, actuators and controllers, the futuristic suit enables a user to easily carry a man on his back or lift 200 pounds several hundred times without tiring. Yet, the suit, which is being developed for the U.S. Army, is also agile enough to let its wearer kick a soccer ball, punch a speed bag, or climb stairs and ramps with ease.

They also have a good description of the technology at the Aviation Week website.

The suit:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/be6f7e69b9c8.jpg[/atsimg]



Singularity Hub has imo the best piece on this latest exoskeletal technology:

Super hero movies are all the rage these days. Take a look at the swollen coffers of Marvel and DC and it will be apparent. With such a vested interest in the super-human, it seems only natural that it would be brought to real life. No, there has not been a revolutionary breakthrough in gene therapy (X-Men style), and nobody is as diesel as Batman, but the researchers over at Raytheon’s recent acquisition, Sarcos Lab, have set their sights on super-strength with the design of their XOS exoskeleton. Capable of lifting over 200 pounds without the operator breaking a sweat, this DARPA funded meld of man and machine will make any Iron Man fanboy plotz.

Well, it's not as pretty as the ironman suit but it is an interesting start ...

Perhaps the SH guys said it best:

We live in an age of constant progress where man’s mastery of the human body and the world around it has shown that there really are no limitations. Well, maybe time travel could get a little sticky with all the paradoxes and such, but science fiction and fantasy are fast becoming reality. This idea began as a children’s story when it first debuted over 45 years ago as Iron Man and nobody but the most die-hard comic book fans ever though that a mechanized suit would possibly exist. These comic book writers are effectively predicting the future. Perhaps it is time to switch religions to the Church of Marvel?

Anyhoot, I am not knowledgeable in these matters but I found the story interesting and thought I would share.

They've been working on this for a looooong time now.

The trouble is always the power source. As long as all of these "super soldiers" are tethered by a big-ass short0time battery or some giant cable going back to a mobile power plant of sorts the practicality of these things is null. Once we develop a sort of mini nuclear reactor we'd be good to go.

I love looking over Raytheons and DARPAs site though. It's like a real life X Filed with those guys and one cant help but wonder what they're working on that they don't discuss.

My personal favorite is DARPAs spider-goat hybrids that produce this super strong yet feather weight web being used for armor plating and crazy strong cables and materials.

www.darpa.mil...

www.raytheon.com...

it looks awful lmfao

WoW. Pretty sick! I want one.....

I can't imagine the price tag.?

Yeah, the power source does seem to be the trouble. I noticed it's hooked up to something (from the back).

Interesting....

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Hi tgrh,

I was wondering, how about all the recent developments in fuel cell technologies, they've been doing wonders for automobile development. From what I understand power sources are getting smaller and longer lasting.

As you can see I don't really know what I'm talking about but I was wondering why you think a nuclear "power pack" is the best solution?

Or we could stick a two stroke in there.

reply to post by schrodingers dog


I'm picturing Sigourney Weaver in the exo-skeleton device in the climactic ending of Aliens 2.

Power sources??? Well, I'd bet on cold fusion before too long. Thinking of the 'Doc' from "Back to the Future"....and the 'Mr. Fusion'! Right next to the 'Mr. Coffeemaker'.

Seriously, though. An autonomous device such as this....with a well-engineered power source, and of course, sufficient protection from enemy fire (if you envision this as a weapon for a soldier)...well, possibilities astound!!

reply to post by schrodingers dog


I dont necessarily. It was just the first thing to come to mind when considering the necessity for a small yet high output/long lasting power source.

Really, it's just going to be whichever comes to meet certain function/cost/reliability/safety parameters first that gets used. For all we know it could be something other than hydrogen fuel cells or nuclear.

Love the boots, put some gold fish in there and get ready to disco like it's studio 54.

Anyway on a serious note this is amazing, but scary imagine if one of these got into the wrong hands, or the simple fact of a person having/feeling that much power brings out the worst in them like power so often does?

I wonder what the weak spots are, and what they would do if say a criminal or a person goes mad while wearing one of these how do they stop them?
I guess just shoot them?


[edit on 12-6-2009 by pop_science]

If they are showing us this , imagine what they really have .

reply to post by schrodingers dog


They have had design contests going on for this project for quite awhile. Honda made a really good version. One of the design specs was some degree of armor or protection for the wearer. I don't see this suit providing that?

As far as power source, kinetic generators would utilize the momentum and the input of the wearer. New flexible solar panels can be "wrapped" around surfaces, and there is always the cutting edge tech like iron-man used. Eagle Picher Industries has always been decades ahead of the competition, and they are rumored to have micro batteries that work off radiation (similar to nuclear) energy for years! (Eagle Picher gained fame and loyalty when Apollo 13 astronauts survived due to their batteries outperforming all expectations.)

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by schrodingers dog

 

As far as power source, kinetic generators would utilize the momentum and the input of the wearer.

Again, speaking from ignorance, wouldn't that require the user to exert more effort to generate said energy? If so, would that not be somewhat self defeating?

reply to post by schrodingers dog


It wouldn't require 'more' energy. Instead it could be designed similar to regenerative braking in cars. Maybe on a down step, it would absorb energy, and supply it on an upstep. The idea being that it takes a certain amount of energy to get the suit moving or lifting, and that energy could be recycled when stopping or lowering. It is not 100% conversion, but if it was even 50%, that means storing half as much for the same amount of work!

reply to post by pop_science


Don't get too excited about this tech "falling in the wrong hands". They make these things called guns that fall into the wrong hands all the time. There are also these things called cars which are much more powerful than this suit.

Let's not overthink this.

Here is something similar by Lockheed called the HULC.
There is also a video along with the article below:

Lockheed offers ready-to-go supersoldier exoskeleton

US weaponry globocorp Lockheed is pleased to announce the unveiling of its newly-acquired powered exoskeleton intended to confer superhuman strength and endurance upon US soldiers.

The only benefits I can see is extra strength and the endurance of that strength.

I see much more cons to these than benefits. lack of agility and mobility. Big, bulky and like all man made machines and equipment, seem to break at critical times.

I woud like to see this guy chase someone and climb walls or trees. My personal opinion is that it is an extremely useless waste of time and money. It would have to be second nature to the user and the guy looks totally awkward.

BIG thumbs down.

reply to post by Grayelf2009

If you want to see another example of what the US military is secretly researching, developing & testing, then go check out the images I've uploaded to my photo area. This is technology straight out of sci/fi and not a word has been leaked to the public before !

reply to post by schrodingers dog


looks like a portable forklift.
It appears its designed more to increase human physical output rather for weaponry, but it would be cool to see 2 of them fight

Very Aliens 2 and Matrix

[edit on 12-6-2009 by zazzafrazz]

reply to post by schrodingers dog


Oh freakin' sweet!
I gotta get me one of those!
My life-long dream of becoming a world-dominating super villain just got one step closer to realization!!

This all starting to play out like the video game Halo what's next abducting children to conform them into the ulitmate super solider.