Infantry Exoskeleton Carries 200 Pounds

Lockheed Martin's Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) is an actuated exoskeleton that helps a soldier carry up to 200 pounds of weight on its frame. It senses the direction that the user wants to move, and then moves in it. In the links, you find a video from the company showing the HULC in action.

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-01/robotic-super-soldier-suit-gets-more-juice |YouTube Video | Image: Lockheed Martin

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I like how every time something cool is created, people start whining about it. Also you know they actually put things like this through testing to eliminate the possibility of failure. God damn, stop being so pessimistic about everything.

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When I was a baby journalist in the Army (late 80s - early 90s), infantry troops complained that they had too much gear to carry. So instead of making the gear from high-tech lightweight materials or combining items (ala multi-tool concept), they simply gave them a bigger rucksack.

This is just today's version of the bigger rucksack. And more battery-operated crap to have to rely on.

Like Shannon said, I would like to see the concept applied to helping physically impaired people walk.

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Starship Troopers (the book, not the movie) has come true!

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I wonder how this would be for people with muscular dystrophy and other muscle wasting disorders... I'd love to be able to regain the ability to walk with ease. I imagine there's a lot of crossover potential with this technology.