'Aliens'-style power suits on the way
Published 19 May, 2008, 10:56
When the movie 'Aliens' hit the screen, many people wanted to get hold of a cargo-loading power suit that the film’s heroine Ripley used to battle the alien queen. They were surprised to learn such equipment didn’t exist, but in a couple of years this could change, as militarytimes.com reports.
A Salt Lake City-based robotics firm called Sarcos is developing an exoskeleton suit for the soldiers of the future under a contract from the U.S. Army. So far their best prototype can multiply human strength twentyfold.
The aluminium and electronics marvel senses movements of its operator and uses hydraulics to give them extra force. In this suit you could effortlessly carry around a 200 pound load with almost no special training.
The Army plans to use the strength-enhancing technology for cargo loading and even to repair of vehicles in the field.
The suit’s main weakness is its power inefficiency. The working prototype that Sarcos has demonstrated is supplied via a thick cable. Researchers are considering ways of overcoming it by using more advanced batteries or using a backpack gasoline engine. Until the problem is solved, the suit could use the tank of a helicopter generator in the field.
Another thing that needs addressing is the response time of the electronics. While the suit’s reaction to the operator’s movement is impressively fast, there is still a short time-lag, which makes things like dancing, or jumping around under fire really challenging.
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