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HULC exoskeleton begins testing

bdave

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Not quite sure where to post this. Figured it was relevant to "military affairs".

http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/21/hulc-exo-skeleton-ready-for-testing-set-to-hit-the-ground-runni/

Its lack of jetpacks means Heinlein's visions of future warfare have still not come to pass, but we're getting closer with word that Lockheed Martin's Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) exoskeleton is ready for military testing. Since last we heard of the thing it's been "ruggedized" and made a little more battle-hardy, able to carry 200lbs plus its own 53lb heft without burdening the doughy soldier inside, demonstrated after the break. It supports the cargo plus its own weight through articulated rods that follow the legs to the ground, meaning grunts can haul heavy equipment to the battle and arrive feeling refreshed. Next up for the suit is eight weeks of military trials ahead of hitting the battlefield sometime next year. Hooah, future robo-jockeys.
 
Interesting, but I can't help but imagine the soldier being crush under the weigh of everything he is carrying. All you need is a computer bug, lack of battery or simply the HULC damaged due to enemy action.  Would be afraid of ending like a turtle on it's back.

Certainly interesting but ill go without for now.
 
ettibebs said:
Interesting, but I can't help but imagine the soldier being crush under the weigh of everything he is carrying. All you need is a computer bug, lack of battery or simply the HULC damaged due to enemy action.  Would be afraid of ending like a turtle on it's back.

Certainly interesting but ill go without for now.

Reminds me of the poor soldier in Iron man 2 testing out Hammers Exo suit.
 
Go go gadget legs!!!  I can definitely see some worst case scenarios with this piece of kit...but if it does what it says it does...it's just a hop skip and jump away from Mech battles and jump jets! Yee HAAAAAA!
 
It's reliability and effectiveness in combat might be unproven but if it performs as advertised, isn't there some potential for use in rear echelon units like logistics.  I can imagine how it could allow soldiers to perform physical tasks such as unloading a truck in a quicker and more efficient manner.

Just a thought.
 
I don't know much about this HULC exo-suit, but if I was designing the thing, I would make sure there was a "quick off" mechanism.
Just like with the rucksacks, where you can pull those two straps and it just drops off, the HULC should have a similar mechanism.
It's purpose, as far as I understood it, was to aid the soldier in carrying around large amounts of 'stuff', not in being a combat aid.
Hopefully this is incorporated.
 
Based on the press release and other things I've Googled, this is a development of earlier exoskeletons which were designed to "clip on" to the person's legs and take the weight from the back and transmit it through the exoskeleton to the ground. A video shown at AUSA 2006 showed demonstrators "unclipping" the legs and folding them up against the backpack frame to leopard crawl; more convincing was personally loading 175 lbs of barbell plates onto a grad student' back and watching him run down the length of the conference center.

Making an approach march with loads of food, water and ammunition has always been an issue; these devices will serve the Infantry well getting to the area of operations and dumping the supplies needed to operate for prolonged periods of time.
 
bdave said:
I don't know much about this HULC exo-suit, but if I was designing the thing, I would make sure there was a "quick off" mechanism.
Just like with the rucksacks, where you can pull those two straps and it just drops off, the HULC should have a similar mechanism.
It's purpose, as far as I understood it, was to aid the soldier in carrying around large amounts of 'stuff', not in being a combat aid.
Hopefully this is incorporated.

Look at the video in the link in the OP.

@ 0:20 It looks like it does, or the video is well edited.
 
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