Video: Newest bionic exoskeleton allows for even more efficient ass-kicking
posted at 7:27 pm on May 29, 2008 by Allahpundit
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Via Danger Room, which has the background. No, there’s no typo in the headline: These things already exist and are being tested, as veteran HA readers may remember, but follow the last link and remind yourself how bulky the Sarcos model is. This one, the Berkeley Bionics brand, isn’t even the latest design from their own lab but trust me, you won’t care. It’s so lightweight and allows for so much mobility that you’ll gawk the whole way though.
Integrate this with some sort of full-body kevlar BDU, add an updated helmet replete with obligatory Cobra Commander reflective faceplate (with an OLED monitor for the wearer on the inside, natch), and equip with a standard issue shoot-through, self-healing invisibility shield and I’d say you’re in business.
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I want one.
Krydor on May 29, 2008 at 7:34 PM
That was impressive.
Weight of Glory on May 29, 2008 at 7:39 PM
I’m betting that the mobility restrictions imposed would be way, way too great for virtually any combat situation. I haven’t been there, but from the video I’ve seen of firefights that’ve dribbled out of Iraq and Afghanistan over the years, taking the time to bend over, undo the velcro, and eject the apparatus would not be something one would want to do when the AK fire and RPG’s started coming down the street. If Land Warrior and OICW were failures due to their bulk, this thing is utterly hopeless.
The potential for assisting people with disabilities strikes me as vastly more promising and realistic, though.
Blacklake on May 29, 2008 at 7:42 PM
I’m saving my money until they make one that flies. I AM IRON MAN.
Cicero43 on May 29, 2008 at 7:44 PM
Oh man, if the dems don’t eviscerate our military first, can you imagine the equipment our soldiers will have in five or ten years?
Bishop on May 29, 2008 at 7:44 PM
Nice.
JellyToast on May 29, 2008 at 7:47 PM
Predator gear is far more likely and possible – sans invisibility of course. Add a helmet that can see in infrared, ultraviolet, etc. Add a gun that tracks movement and fires with a command from that helmet. And then you got yourself some fun times!
lorien1973 on May 29, 2008 at 7:47 PM
And. How.
RushBaby on May 29, 2008 at 7:49 PM
Awesome.
BKennedy on May 29, 2008 at 7:50 PM
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!
Mike D. on May 29, 2008 at 7:55 PM
But does it go “NaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNa”?
trubble on May 29, 2008 at 7:56 PM
I’m actually shocked Danger Room could pry itself away from whining about the everyday happenings of Blackwater to even care about this.
UncleOlaf on May 29, 2008 at 7:59 PM
They need a fully enclosed version just in case we ever get around to invading Klendathu. I wonder if they have oil there?
Bishop on May 29, 2008 at 8:00 PM
No cup holder?
yo on May 29, 2008 at 8:02 PM
I like the way the announcer just casually drops in the idea that, oh yeah, by the way, it might wind up becoming a cane/wheelchair replacement for disabled people. That’d be interesting to see.
Well-Armed Lamb on May 29, 2008 at 8:03 PM
Sweet,whens the exo-ass kicker coming out
for those Liberal protest rallies!
canopfor on May 29, 2008 at 8:04 PM
The other way to look at it is if you’ve hiked with a full load without the exoskeleton for hours, once you do come into contact with the enemy, you are going to be sluggish because you are fatigued.
With the exoskeleton, you might not be as agile when you’re rested but you might be able to get to cover more quickly, and there you can remove the gear if necessary.
SPCOlympics on May 29, 2008 at 8:08 PM
I don’t know, the guy looked agile enough to me. Belly crawling and running sideways – what do you want, handstands and cartwheels?
You need to be able to kneel, to duck, to crouch, to crawl … What else are you going to be doing on the battlefield?
I mean, unless he’s talking about this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3iY45m0v1Y
That might be hard to do in an exoskeleton.
apollyonbob on May 29, 2008 at 8:14 PM
The scientific/medical applications for that are pretty exciting.
This one is waaay better than the Sarcos version. I like that you can ditch your ruck just as easily as you could without the exoskeleton on. Also, the guy appears to be running just about as fast as a fully combat equipped infantryman could.
BadgerHawk on May 29, 2008 at 8:18 PM
I’m also picturing combat medics using it to move injured soldiers to a safe area for treatment.
BadgerHawk on May 29, 2008 at 8:24 PM
Its the great, great, great, great, great grandfather to the RX-178.
ttevolla on May 29, 2008 at 8:26 PM
Too bad so many of you would have the military boycott anything from Berkeley Bionics. More to the point, without government (DARPA) funding to UC Berkeley, this would not exist in the first place.
(Incidentally, I took a robotics course at Berkeley. Weeks of hairy linear algebra pared down the class to three people before we got to the fun part. Good times.)
calbear on May 29, 2008 at 8:26 PM
Im embarrassed I botched the link…
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/8218/machines/ms_rx178.html
ttevolla on May 29, 2008 at 8:27 PM
Not so fast there:
12thman on May 29, 2008 at 8:29 PM
Reminds me of the Sacred Cow Burgers image with George Bush and John Kerry. George Bush is shown wearing that unit, carrying more weight – and John Kerry? Well….
(can’t find the image to link to here.)
wise_man on May 29, 2008 at 8:34 PM
Oh, and – if the dude from the Iron Man movie can make that with a full armored body suit – “IN A CAVE!!!!” – than how far off can the full suit Iron Man / Gundam Mark-II suit be??
wise_man on May 29, 2008 at 8:36 PM
Combat may be out of it’s league right now but with this thing anything from generators to extra medical supplies could be hiked into disaster or remote hospital sites.
So if you use one for Everest do you get an ‘*’ next to your name in the record books?
Limerick on May 29, 2008 at 8:36 PM
But… um.. BERLKEY?? Bionics?
No matter. IZ Teh KEWL!!
Mazztek on May 29, 2008 at 8:42 PM
And this is just the beginning, baby!
That thing is like Orville and Wilbeur’s “Wright Flyer” at Kittyhawk, wait til ya see what they come up with next year!
Tony737 on May 29, 2008 at 8:44 PM
Isn’t there some heavy weaponry that a soldier could carry with this, that he previously couldn’t?
nottakingsides on May 29, 2008 at 8:59 PM
maybe it could help Barrys bowling game
aceinstall on May 29, 2008 at 9:13 PM
Wow. I’m thinking of my brother-in-law with his crappy and painful knee replacement.
Connie on May 29, 2008 at 9:15 PM
Isn’t there some heavy weaponry that a soldier could carry with this, that he previously couldn’t? – nottakingsides
Ya mean like “Old Painless”?
(evil grin)
Tony737 on May 29, 2008 at 9:16 PM
Well, it could be the GAU mini-gun such as from the movie Predator.
wise_man on May 29, 2008 at 9:21 PM
Darn. Tony beat me to it. I was looking up youtube video clips,(took too long) but didn’t want to link to the really violent clip from the film.
wise_man on May 29, 2008 at 9:22 PM
“Exo-Hiker software malfunction rips off man’s leg at the hip…”
eeyore on May 29, 2008 at 9:54 PM
BUNK!!!!!
So freakin cool!!!
Defector01 on May 29, 2008 at 10:33 PM
woot.
If nothing else, it would help remove the wounded more quickly.
I’m curious how it keeps the load off the user when standing from a doubled over position. when upright, it puts the load to the hips and down the exo-legs to the feet. Bent over, you’re going to have to lift that load at least part of the way to vertical I would think.
It’s got to be a little trippy running with 200 extra pounds. You’ve got a lot more momentum that way, and presumably you’re going faster than you could under your own power even with half that weight. I bet stopping while going downhill is…interesting.
TexasDan on May 29, 2008 at 10:45 PM
We are now only about 10 years away from having Terminators. Judgment Day is at hand!
Outlander on May 29, 2008 at 10:53 PM
Took the words right out of my mouth! That was precisely what I thought as I was watching it!
Vntnrse on May 29, 2008 at 10:54 PM
Fake. Reeks of viral video hoax.
Bill Brasky on May 29, 2008 at 11:35 PM
Excellent.
Now go check out Machine gun vs tree at military.com (great link AP!) It’s a great pallet cleanser after the exoskeleton story.
Mojave Mark on May 30, 2008 at 2:07 AM
Yes!!!
nottakingsides on May 30, 2008 at 2:45 AM
The fat and old and lazy people at my grocery store need these, so they can get off their @sses and those electro-carts.
As far as military uses? We need to work on finding and shooting any an all bad guys from space, and let the soldiers aim and fire safe and sound using a TV remote during commercials.
AZCON on May 30, 2008 at 2:49 AM
Helmet needs straws and beer capacity for down time at the NCO club.
moxie_neanderthal on May 30, 2008 at 6:03 AM
You had me at “anthropomorphic legs”.
Rogue Traveler on May 30, 2008 at 7:43 AM
“When we first found them, they were wearing some sort of bio-mechanical suit…..”
Kafir on May 30, 2008 at 7:51 AM
I’d say it’s more like the great-great-grandfather to these fine pieces of hardware.
ZK on May 30, 2008 at 9:03 AM
Like my history prof once told me, war is the mother of invention. When can we expect an exoskeleton with the optional vulcan cannon attachment?
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on May 30, 2008 at 9:06 AM
When I was in the 82nd, we did all that and more without those pansie-inducers…but I would have liked to have one during some of those road marches…
charlie36r on May 30, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Why should we trust a company with the name “Berkeley Bionics” to make a damned thing for our Soldiers?
Ryan Gandy on May 30, 2008 at 12:02 PM
This is sweet. I can’t wait to see next gen stuff that allows the user to jump like 20 feet in the air, or run 80 miles per hour.
Gunhaver on May 30, 2008 at 3:26 PM
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