Sarcos to produce US Army's exoskeltons in 2008
By Darren Murph 
posted Oct 30th 2006 1:19PM
posted Oct 30th 2006 1:19PM
While Cyberdyne is off ramping up production for its own superhuman suit, it looks like Sarcos has been tasked with eventually producing an army's worth of exoskeletons here in the US. While armies across the globe have been scouting out robotic enhancements for front line GIs, the head honcho for DARPA's exoskelton program says that units enabling soldiers to "run faster, leap further and carry more will be delivered for Army testing in 2008." Sarcos bested 13 other firms seeking the presumably lucrative contract, primarily because its "system uses just one engine instead of many," and amps up the lucky (or not) individual strapped in by "driving hydraulic fluid via high pressure lines to servo valves on each joint." Of course, OSHA regulations won't allow these combustion engine-equipped suits to operate "inside of buildings," but bionic men / women shouldn't have any qualms busting out a bit of drywall to exploit that loophole anyway.
For once forget the military. what about civilian use.
I myself am having a good deal of trouble walking any distance (more that about 100 feet), I would love to have such a device - for legs only! It would certainly beat a wheel chair. Especially if it can go up and down stairs. Recently I came across a link for a Japanese model that looked very streamlined and light weight.
Can anyone help me locate this link again. I don't seem to be able to find it again. It looked something like ASIMO but much lighter.
Search for "HAL-5" for the Japanese version.
Americans are all think about having heros, Arnold, Silvester,...
lol
"So, this is what it feels like to be Master Chief..."
These will be perfect for herding masses of dissenting citizens into Haliburton's new detention camps!
USA USA!
The People's Temple cult called; they want their kool-aid back.
No, this will be perfect for capturing and defeating all those head choppers that you probably so admire.
Im still finding it hard to believe that people will be faster and jump further with that equipment strapped onto them.
PS... baby's got back.
This is taken straight from the pages of a Robert Heinlein novel. It makes me wonder when we'll be discovered by "the bugs".
Well all we need now is some laser cannons and spacecraft with warpdrives and we'll be ready for them.
In 1960 or 62, Mechanix Illustrated had a big article about exoskeleton suits the Army was supposed to be experimenting with. The suits seemed to be science fiction in what they were capable of doing. There was never any more word about these suits until a scifi writer brought out a series of books about a special Army unit that used these suits, and were called the Graysuits. Later in the series, the Soviet Union fielded their own version, called the Blacksuits. Sorry, Vince, but Heinlein has nothing to do with this. Apparently, the Army did not completely drop the experimentation from the early sixties, and now we are seeing it coming to fruition in 2008. Ain't science great?
Vince,
I hope soon, cause we're running out of people to kill.
exoskeltons ? Like Red Skelton ? ? ? ?
Agh....no wonder we lose wars...
I for one welcome our exoskeleton-wielding overlords!
don't u guys give credit for submissions anymore...
I wonder if it comes with a AAA or autoclub membership for when the engine breaks down on the battlefield.
This looks like a great advancement for our troops. That is, until the suits break down. and the soldiers are trapped on the battlefield with the weight of a Mini strapped to their backs. Does anybody remember why we got rid of suit of armor?
Wake up, we got rid of suits of armor because they did not stop bullets, not because of their weight.
" The engine, and a tank containing a 24-hour supply of fuel, will be slung beneath your rear end "
Gives a new meaning to the term "tailpipe emissions."
Do they actually control this thing? Or are they just along for the ride? If they fell, how could they get up?
and how much hand to hand combat goes on these days?
Has anyone seen 'Batman Begins' recently?
The "genius" who came up with this idea should be fired. Too much time spent in sci-fi fantasy land and no real thought given to the poor bastard who has to wear the over-hyped piece of junk. Anyone doing research for the military, especially infantry related equipment, should be required to spend at least one year in a line battalion. Too many damn office pogues.
Not entirely correct. Suits of western plate armor (which is what I'm assuming you are talking about) were bulletproof. Keep in mind the bullets at the time were generally .70 cal bullets fired through a .72 cal barrel. Suits of plate were generally sword proof, but they were not pike (and spear) proof and that is was opened up most plate wearers. Later they went from heavy, blunt swords (yes blunt is relative) to a more diamond shaped pointy tipped blade that worked not for hacking but piercing much like a can opener. That, plus the pike, is what spelled the end for the heavy plate armor, not the bullet.
Actually...
Armour was gotten rid of because it didn't stop 20-30 pound cannon balls from blowing off limbs, not because it couldn't stop fire from muskets or bullets when they came later. If the armour was thick enough it could stop lower powered ballistics from penetrating a person's skin.
So, it never occurred to anyone to actually spend this money so that people could better themselves and the rest of their own race instead of enhancing the rate at which we can kill each other? I'm just waiting for another WWI in terms of how it changed the nature of war. I really don't want to think about what another "change" would mean with our current capabilities.
Tell that to the muslim savages that make us have to think things like this up.
I agree with paul34 why we give so much effort on improving the way we kill each other... than we care each other ? respect each other ? living in peace and harmony... only in my dream I think...
I totally agree with you. I am a muslim and I wonder why we should not live in peace. We all think about having more military power to be able to STEAL other countries, their OIL, their ...
Exoskeleton type augmentations like these have obvious peacetime benefits in terms of search and rescue for example. Unless it gets caught in some kind of patent hell these things could be used in all kinds of situations where superhuman strength would be handy; basically it doesn't bother me that much if this technology is further cultivated in the military as long as we all benefit in the end.
The point of these isn't really combat, but load capacity. As soldiers are asked to carry more and more gear you run up against the limits of what a human can carry and still be mobile and not overly fatigued. These exoskeletons primaraly increase that carrying capacity and the range and speed at which it can be carried.
As for why we can't all just get along and sing kumbuya, grow up hippies. Peace is a zero sum game, viable only as long as no one has a reasonable chance (real or percieved) at gain via violence. That, unfortunately, is the real politik of the human condition. As long as you cover you eyes and try to dispell it with good thoughts rather than removing the motivation of those contemplating harm by being prepared to do violence of your own, them you're just setting yourself up as a victim.
Both USA and Japan have same high technology.
But,Way to use these high-tech is totally defferent between USA and Japan.
It is sad that this tech will kill arabian children and poor country people,sooner or later.
Dude, sweet! Like the thing from Aliens. Two words: BAD ASS.
great at the workplace, my boss is a slave driver and these boxes are heavy!
MJOLNIR Armor, here we come.
Actually IC engines are allowed to operate inside buildings if they are fueled with propane as this produces little CO.
Though a hydrogen peroxide monopropellant APU a device very similar to what powers the hydraulic systems on the space shuttle could be another power source to be used that would be much cleaner it by products are nothing more then steam and O2 yet still offer great power density and easy refueling.
It's main use would be loading stuff etc vs the battle field.
Also soldiers are often over loaded on the battle field being forced to carry more and more and this could help them.
I can see how this would be a great asset for our troops. The only challenge I see is,we would not need this suit if our spineless government official would pull their heads out into the sunlight. Semper Fi
Get hold of a copy of Mechanix Illustrated from the early sixties that had an article about these suits as the cover story. This is not a new idea, and if the suits can do half of what the designers of the sixties version envisioined, they will be worth far more than what they cost. The suit shown on Headline News this morning is only a skeletal framework, while the original article was a complete
suit that provided protection against chemical and biological and radiation warfare. BTW, if hte soldier does happen to fall down, the servomotors in the suit amplify the soldier's strength, allowing him to get up much easier.