Powered exo-skeleton here we come!

By David Hollingworth
12:18 Mar 13, 2009 | 20 Comments
Tags: exo-skeleton | military | science

Video: It may not be the powered suit from Aliens, but it's the next best thing for soldiers in the field.

A new kind of warfighting technology was inveiled by security company Lockheed Martin at the recent Association of the United States' Army Winter Symposium in Florida. It's not a weapon, or a new kind of vehicle. But it could be a soldier's new best friend.

The Human Universal Load Carrier (yes, it's a HULC suit) is a powered exo-skeleton designed to increase a soldier's load carrying capacity while deployed on foot. As a great deal of a soldier's fatigue and even potential for injury comes from the large loads they are forced to carry, the HULC allows even greater weights to be carried, and with less risk.

"With our enhancements to the HULC system, soldiers will be able to carry loads up to 200 pounds with minimal effort," said Rich Russell, director of the extremely cool-named Sensors, Data Links and Advanced Programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Lockheed Martin is developing an entire line of ground Soldier technologies that will improve Warfighters' ability to effectively complete their missions."

The HULC suit features battery powered, titanium re-inforced leg struts that allow load to be transferred directly to the ground, while an onboard computer handles the syncing of the exo-skeleton's movement with its user. The HULC (HULC! HULC!) allows a full range of squats, crawls and upper-body lifting, and is hydraulic powered.

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20 Comments

orcone Mar 13, 2009 1:14 PM	Only thing I don't like about these suits, is if a bolt comes loose you basically crunch.
ahsoka Mar 13, 2009 1:26 PM	You could use it for stuff other than lifting - you could just use it for superhuman strength and jumping and stuff. That would be fun. How much do they cost?
majestic975 Mar 13, 2009 2:19 PM	This reminds a bit of the suit you get in Crysis, kind of. I hope it will be modified to allow soldiers to carry miniguns and lots of ammo :), being a US thing it probably will.
Khirareq Mar 13, 2009 2:53 PM	"you could just use it for superhuman strength and jumping and stuff" Or even just as mobility aids for the elderly and for injury recovery - Imagine breaking your leg and being to show up for work the next day still?
_daniel_ Mar 13, 2009 3:00 PM	Just wish the A-team had this..
jonno4130 Mar 13, 2009 3:40 PM	imagine how big a "this is SPARTA!" kick would be.....
Hawkeye Mar 13, 2009 3:45 PM	"This... is... SPARTA!" The King laid a mighty kick into the messenger, so much that he flew across the gap of the well and landed safely on the other side. "Poo," said Leonidas.
thesorehead Mar 13, 2009 4:02 PM	'sif, he would have punched a foot-shaped hole straight through his chest. Would have had to shake the body off into the well. Very inelegant! :--P But yes, the civilian applications for this kind of tech are quite interesting.
Athiril Mar 13, 2009 4:25 PM	I wonder if you can still run in those things.... would make running uphill pleasant
Lord-Ezekiel Mar 13, 2009 4:25 PM	@Khirareq ...um, that would suck? Breaking a leg is worth at least 2 months off work :P
HeavyLancer Mar 13, 2009 4:26 PM	1 more step up along the path to getting my very own Marauder suit :D
Hawkeye Mar 13, 2009 4:42 PM	Athiril: Check out the video - guy does a pretty creditable jog :)
Caffeine_Fiend Mar 13, 2009 6:14 PM	This would usher in a whole new range of practical jokes for soldiers to play on eachother on power on goto subroutine "macarena"
Elfarch Mar 14, 2009 8:42 AM	Gait somewhat awkward, possible problems with that but not likely to be major. Nice being weight supportive when unpowered, but don't lose that allen key. :{) Oh yes, Caff. You are to evil to live. :{p
colganaitor Mar 14, 2009 9:15 AM	Lol. I want one! It might wither my legs some more; so I can get a skinnier pair of drainpipes. :D
MaYaBaNG Mar 14, 2009 10:03 AM	Get some quick-change shuttle valvles in the hyd system and kick like CHUN LI! Hyah! HyahHyahHyahHyahHyahHyahHyahHyahHyah!
Athiril Mar 14, 2009 11:20 PM	Hawkeye, ill have a look when im elsewhere not on telstra 256k.. trying to load a video on telstra slows everything else down, and takes forever to not load the video and do nothing :/
p_francis_bennett Mar 18, 2009 6:07 PM	I saw the bloke in the video running and it didn't look like he was running very fast with it on, not like super human speeds.
N3M3SiS Mar 19, 2009 8:49 AM	"A new kind of warfighting technology was inveiled (?) by security company Lockheed Martin..." How do you inveil something? Is that part of the new tech. of the suit?
garlo Mar 19, 2009 2:27 PM	good for carrying gear... excessive weights... what happens when you trip or fall?? crushed by the weight in your pack... no helping for the arms to lift you up again... maybe fat lazy yank dropkicks should try getting a little fitter.... sigh...

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