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Lockheed Martin’s Army Exoskeleton to Get More Power (Video)

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by Aaron Saenz on January 28th, 2010
HULC-exoskeleton

Lockheed's HULC exoskeleton is designed to help soldiers carry loads. It's shown here with an optional shoulder attachment for front lifts.

The future of the military may be robots, or it may be soldiers dressed up as robots. Global arms manufacturing Lockheed Martin negotiated a deal with Berkeley Bionics and is now actively developing their HULC exoskeleton for the US military. The Human Universal Load Carrier isn’t a full body suit, it’s designed to ease the stress of walking and allow users to carry weight over long distances without getting tired. The frame of the HULC will bear up to 200 lbs and still allow the user to run at 7 mph with 10 mph bursts. It is also flexible enough to allow squatting, crawling, or kneeing and can be unpacked or packed in about 30 seconds. HULC is an autonomous systems (not powered by cable) but its current Li-ion batteries only give it about 1 hour of run time (less for high-stress work). That’s why Lockheed recently announced it would have Protonex develop a 72 hour fuel cell style power supply for the HULC. What could that do for the average soldier in the field? It takes the HULC from an oddity to a fieldable platform. Watch the latest promotional video from Lockheed Martin after the break to give you an idea.

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Robotic Knee Exoskeleton – Efficient But Who Wants It?

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by Aaron Saenz on January 25th, 2010
This knee exoskeleton weighs just 5kg (including battery backpack) and increases muscle effiency by 30% when walking/jogging.

This knee exoskeleton weighs just 5kg (including battery backpack) and increases muscle effiency by 30% when walking/jogging.

The steps towards really cool technology are often less than amazing. Exoskeletons, mechanical devices you wear to enhance the body’s strength are some of the most sought-after and eagerly awaited gadgets you can name. The robotic knee recently debuted by Tsukuba University…not so much. While the knee has some impressive stats: it only weighs 5 kg (~11 lbs) including the battery and backpack, but can increase running efficiency by 30%. And in trials it allowed users to jog at 7.5 km/h (~4.7 mph). According to Nikkei News, developers even believe they can commercialize it in the next three years (no small feat). They say the device is meant for healthy people who want to move more efficiently. I’m left wondering, who wants to buy such a device? Most walkers/joggers are pursuing better health and should be doing all the muscle work themselves. Hopefully this robotic knee is just a step towards developing a better, more efficient, and lighter weight full body exoskeleton that anyone can use.

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Muscle Suit – Cool New Exoskeleton, But Still Behind Cyberdyne (Video)

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by Aaron Saenz on December 28th, 2009
Kobayashi Lab displayed the latest versions of its exoskeleton at iREX 2009.

Kobayashi Lab displayed the latest versions of its exoskeleton at iREX 2009.

The cool developments out of IREX 2009 keep coming. At the recent conference, Kobayashi Lab at Tokyo University of Science displayed its Muscle Suit, a light weight cybernetic exoskeleton that augments users’ strength for lifting. There are two versions of the suit, one for upper body and back support and the other simply for lower back support. Each version can increase the lifting power of humans considerably. Kobalab demonstrated lifts of 50 kg (110 lbs) for the upper body suit and 15 kg (33 lbs) for the lower back suit. Weighing 8 kg or less, Muscle Suit is designed to be easily worn by nurses to help them move the sick or elderly, and it may see use in industrial settings for human workers that have to bend over to lift objects many times a day. While Kobalab hopes to have Muscle Suit available in the early part of 2010, it is still lagging behind more fully fledged cyborgs like Cyberdyne’s HAL. Catch two video reviews of Muscle Suit after the break.

In some ways, comparing Muscle Suit to HAL is a bit unfair. They do attempt to accomplish much the same function, but with significantly different means. HAL uses nerve signals on the surface of the skin (myo-electric) to control a sophisticated electric servo system. Muscle Suit uses hand controls (seen in the first few seconds of the IDG News video) and pneumatically driven artificial muscles. These cylinders (made of rubber and nylon) expand and contract to move the carbon composite frame of the suit. It’s a significantly less complicated system, but it also weighs about half as much as HAL. There’s no real way to know if either exoskeleton will be successful in the global market, but I do get the feeling that they may appeal to different demographics. Those wanting a fully functional cybernetic experience are likely to go with HAL. Those who simply need a way to help their workers avoid back strain may go with Muscle Suit. Determining which is the better exoskeleton is likely to be somewhat subjective. In my mind the winner between the two will be the first company who ships me a version I can play with study extensively. Cyberdyne, Kobalab…I’m waiting.

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Cyberdyne Lets Hal Cyborgs Take a Stroll Through Tokyo

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by Aaron Saenz on August 11th, 2009

The Cyborg revolution marches inexhaustibly forward. Last Monday, the Cyberdyne company had three of its employees strut the streets of Tokyo in their cybernetically enhanced legs. The legs were part of HAL, or hybrid assisted limbs, the cyborg muscle enhancement suit we gushed over a few months back. These things are powerful and efficient. Watch them walk the walk in the NECN video after the break.

HAL suits make a Tokyo street debut

HAL suits make a Tokyo street debut

When you look at the employees walking in the video, notice how the operators seem to be neither leading nor following the exoskeleton. As we’ve said before, HAL is revolutionary because of its ability to read motor neuron impulses through the skin in order to move the exoskeleton with the operators thoughts. That’s right, the suit can determine what muscles you’ll move before the muscles know themselves. HAL is really merging man and machine to provide smooth and continuous movement with little worries for injury.

Cyberdyne is been up to a lot more in the past than taking a stroll down the lane. Personal trainer Takeshi Matsumoto used a HAL suit to carry Seiji Uchida up a Swiss mountain. Uchida, who is a quadriplegic, had long wanted to climb the mountain, and with some help from Matsumoto and HAL, he was able to get within 500 yards of the summit. Matsumoto’s no wimp, but carrying someone up a mountain is something few of us would ever be able to accomplish without HAL’s ability to amplify muscle strength by 2 to 10 times. The next step would be modifying HAL to read Uchida’s motor impulses and allow him to operate the exoskeleton independently.

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Army Exoskeleton To Give Man Superhuman Strength

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by Andrew Kessel on June 18th, 2009

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.

Capable of lifting 200 pounds, but still gentle to the touch.

Capable of lifting 200 pounds, but still gentle to the touch.

We have featured other exoskeletons here on the Hub, but this one takes the cake. The super-suit is being designed for the U.S. Army, where the plan is to turn soldiers into workhorses. They would be able to lift hundreds of pounds of ammunition and cargo without feeling the slightest bit of strain, making the fast unloading of precious cargo take significantly less time. The system is run by a computer that receives input from six pressure sensors located on the exoskeleton. With that input, the computer can then determine which action the user is trying to do and tell the suit to mimic the action before the human actually exerts any force. The user only feels the weight of his or her arms and not that of the object being lifted.

Currently, the suit is limited in terms of mobility because power and hydraulic pressure come from an external source. The researchers at Sarcos have yet to develop a portable power source for the suit, but that is on the shortlist of improvements for future designs. The first step for the researchers was to create an effortless shadowing system and, now that it has been accomplished, they are now moving onto the power problem. Take a look at the video below to see the XOS suit work its magic. It’s a few years old but, because of the classified nature of this project, there’s not much footage out there.

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Army Exoskeleton Suit Gives Man Superhuman Strength

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by Andrew Kessel on June 11th, 2009

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.

Capable of lifting 200 pounds, but still gentle to the touch.

Capable of lifting 200 pounds, but still gentle to the touch.

We have featured other exoskeletons here on the Hub, but this one takes the cake.  The super-suit is being designed for the U.S. Army, where the plan is to turn soldiers into workhorses.  They would be able to lift hundreds of pounds of ammunition and cargo without feeling the slightest bit of strain, making the fast unloading of precious cargo take significantly less time.  The system is run by a computer that receives input from six pressure sensors located on the exoskeleton.  With that input, the computer can then determine which action the user is trying to do and tell the suit to mimic the action before the human actually exerts any force.  The user only feels the weight of his or her arms and not that of the object being lifted.

Currently, the suit is limited in terms of mobility because power and hydraulic pressure come from an external source.  The researchers at Sarcos have yet to develop a portable power source for the suit, but that is on the shortlist of improvements for future designs.  The first step for the researchers was to create an effortless shadowing system and, now that it has been accomplished, they are now moving onto the power problem.  Take a look at the video below to see the XOS suit work its magic.  It’s a few years old but, because of the classified nature of this project, there’s not much footage out there.

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