Exoskeletons ready for troop tests in 2010
Designer of the exoskeleton demonstrates invention for journalists; a wearer can hang a 200 lb backpack from the back frame and heavy chest armor and kit from shoulder extensions
Different jobs have different perks. For Lewis Page, who covers new technology for the Register, a recent perk was interviewing the inventor of an actual, working powered exoskeleton — in his suit, powered up, with hundreds of pounds of armor and other military bric-a-brac strapped onto him.
Russdon Angold is an engineer from California. To the accompaniment of an occasional loudish whine as his suit’s electrically-driven hydraulics cut in and out, he briefed Page on the Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) exoskeleton this afternoon. “We’re just at the right stage for this now,” said Angold. “Batteries, hydraulics, controls, they’ve all developed to the point where a machine like this becomes achievable.”
Angold and a few colleagues at first developed the HULC on their own through their company Berkeley Bionics. The firm was acquired by Lockheed Martin, which is now assisting with “ruggedization” and further readying of the machine.
The HULC runs on Li-ion batteries, driving lightweight hydraulic legs with titanium structure. A wearer can hang a 200 lb backpack from the back frame and heavy chest armor and kit from shoulder extensions. “I’m just standing here,” said Angold, carrying just such a load. “All the weight’s carried by the structure.” He demonstrated walking around without trouble, and was able to go down to one knee and recover to standing up easily despite having almost 300 lb of kit strapped onto him.
The machine does not offer any help to the wearer’s arms, but an over-shoulder gantry can be fitted and heavy items such as artillery shells hung from it on a sling. Battery life depends on usage — you can drain the batteries fast by running — but marching slowly at 4 kph will allow it to last for 5 hours.
According to Lockheed, the HULC is not ready for prime time yet, being still “in ruggedization.” The company, however, would envisage giving it to actual soldiers so as to get their input from next summer. Field deployment in the event of a customer coming forward would happen at some point after that.
Page writes that overcoming inevitable military skepticism may be something of an issue. A senior British officer, present to observe the HULC in action, joked that it would be a major threat to the Army as it could allow more female soldiers in combat roles. He preferred to remain unnamed.
Meanwhile, rival Raytheon has bought up the competing Sarcos XOS exoskeleton. Page asked Angold why his suit is better. “Because it doesn’t have a tether,” he said bluntly, alluding to the XOS’s well-known inability to stray too far from a power socket.
