DARPA building superhuman exoskeleton for tomorrow’s soldiers
If the bullet-proof t-shirt in our last post doesn't do it for you, how about the superhuman Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). They've hired Sarcos of Salt Lake City to build a robotic exoskeleton that will let GIs run faster, leap further and carry more, reports New Scientist..
John Main, chief of DARPA's exoskeleton program, tested a prototype. "It makes you feel really, really strong. You get the sensation that you have a lot of strength. I sort of felt like The Hulk and I'm a skinny guy. I wore a 100-pound weight on my back and it felt like I was carrying nothing like that amount," he says.
Let's hope the Defense Department comes to its senses and starts using some of its billions to lighten the load on some of the world's less fortunate too. (image New Scientist)
As a Spec Ops soldier I can tell you that if this works, you can add body armour that would also work; allow soldiers to carry the weight needed into combat and if worked correctly can add better firepower, say for example a 20mm cannon (the new automatic rifleman).
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:20 amThe propulsion will have to be re-thought I believe. The idea of any soldier is to be as stealty as possible in a combat situation. If you’re walking around and it sounds like a scooter moving around, that’s pretty much useless, your enemy will pinpoint your posotion indefinitly. With advances in Electric Motor technology (i.e. The Tesla Roadster) it’s odd that they’re not moving in that direction for propulsion.
August 13th, 2007 at 7:10 amHow many really understand humankind will be dividing to main three different lifeforms: humans, hybrids(humans upgraded with biomechanical parts and origins) and artificial copy of human dna+genetics, it´s only a matter of time…
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September 10th, 2009 at 1:55 pm