Get away from her you b#%$@ - the Power Loader suit to become a reality

Gizmag.com ^ | 10/04/09 | Darren Quick

[Reaganesque]

Science-fiction is well on the way to becoming science fact with engineers from Activelink, a Kyoto-based subsidiary of Panasonic, developing an exoskeleton suit inspired by the "Power Loader" suit Ripley wore in her climactic battle with the Queen Alien in Aliens. And, just like in the movie, the Power Loader suit is designed to give its wearer superhuman strength for the lifting of heavy objects – in the movie it was cargo, but Activelink also has construction and disaster relief operations in its sights.

The suit is constructed from an aluminum-alloy frame and weighs 230kg (507 lbs). Similar to the Robot Suit Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) we looked at earlier this year, the current version of the new suit contains 18 electromagnetic motors, which are controlled by components that measure the direction and magnitude of the force applied by the human operator. These motors allow the human operator to easily lift loads of 100kg (220 lbs), and the control system also provides force feedback to directly feel the behavior of the suit. Activelink says this allows the user to establish a correspondence between his own operation and the movement of the robot.

The Power Loader suit is currently in development, but Activelink has plans to release a version of the robot suit to the market by the 2015.

[Reaganesque]

Science fiction becomes a reality. Kinda figures though. When I first saw "Aliens," the power lifter seemed to make a lot of sense and I wondered why such a thing didn't exist. Leave it to the Japanese to bring it to reality. Next stop: real Gundam style battle-bots!

[Wolfie]

Nice. A human forklift...The “ForkYou”.

[Reaganesque]

There is a video as well at the link.

[GeronL]

You know the military will be interested

[wastedyears]

Useless without load-bearing legs.

The arms can lift a ton? Good, but human legs can’t support it.

[ltc8k6]

Augmented worksuits as a concept are much older than that movie.

[Reaganesque]

It does have legs. Watch the video.

[EricT.]

Let me know when they start building Mechwarriors.

[KarlInOhio]

But will it be useful for groping someone on a crowded Japanese subway?

[xcamel]

The US military has one that is way better already.

[Reaganesque]

Its a matter of time...

[mark3681]

“But will it be useful for groping someone on a crowded Japanese subway? “

Yes. But only once!

[mdmathis6]

If they can perfect the manipular action to allow finer control, myriads of nurses will bless the use of these devices to help with the turning and bathing of very heavy patients!(as well as assisting with agressive Physical therapy which often gets deferred to the point of neglect)

[MrB]

That’s what I noticed.

So what if the arms can lift 100 kg - all the weight is still on human shoulders, back, and legs.

[KarlInOhio]

I never have understood why giant robots would ever beat a good tank. Lots of moving parts and thin sections mean that the arms and legs can't be very heavily armored. A lot of height means that it is very visible at the same time people want to make tanks shorter to hide better. Also the small size of the feet compared to the overall size means that ground pressure will be much higher on the robot than the tank. You better not be fighting on anything other than concrete or late August midwest soil - during Spring it would quickly sink down to its waist in mud.

[And no, I didn't spend far too much time watching anime in my youth :-) ]

[50sDad]

Anyone remember the PADD, Star Trek TNG's Personal Access Display Device", the little I/O data gadget carried like a clipboard on board the Enterprise D? Look at today's PDA's, mini-laptops mainly for Internet data, and the rapidly expanding IPhone-style cell phone. (Or for that matter, the re-mapping touch sensitive control panels that today more and more are in banks and fast-food places.) The "isn't that a cool idea" device of SF always predates the actual enginhttp://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/PADDeered, real-world tool!

The PADD

[CholeraJoe]

“Lt. John Rico, please report to Armoring.”

[FlingWingFlyer]

When I saw it in the movie, I thought the same thing. I thought maybe we did have one of those things already or that somebody was at least working on it.

[agere_contra]

I believe that real Mechs are a pipedream: but there’s certainly room for Powered Armor, which is more what this article is about.

But considering Mechs a moment: the handwave might be that these giant MechWarriors (or whatever) have room for a Fusion Reactor, and that their shape is therefore optimal for heat dissipation.

All that power for transmission, all that surface area for dissipation, some clever stabilization and suddenly you have a 50 tonne monster running at 150 mph (!)

I guess Mech-enthusiasts could also argue that the legs are indeed relatively weakly armored, but they’re also losable: if you have six of them then you can potentially lose three before falling over - that’s three tank-killing hits that only slowed you down. And being able to make a pop-up attack from behind a house is pretty cool :0)

[kidd]

Center of balance is all wrong.

Anything over a couple of hundred pounds would cause Ripley to fall forward.

[Little Ray]

They won’t.
Aside from complexity issues (tanks are pretty darn complex, too) there are issues with concealment, balance (and getting knocked over by recoil...), and armor distribution.
IMHO, the thing that makes the “giant robot” war machine popular in some imaginations is that is a knight’s steed, armor, and magic sword in one large package...

[pgkdan]

They’ve already got several models, more advanced, in the works.

[GeronL]

Some machine guns, a couple of rocket launchers, maybe a larger model someday with twin tank-like turrets....

Maybe the driver would be enclosed in a protective shell....

You know where this is going...

lots and lots of periods.....

=o)

[Reaganesque]

For those of you insisting that this thing is useless because it doesn't have legs, here is a full length picture of the device. Please note the metalic objects behind and below the wearer's legs and feet.

[techcor]

“Lt. John Rico, please report to Armoring.”

Exactly the one I was thinking. I think Heinlein was first.

[GeronL]

I want one. But mine needs to have a Gatlin-howitzer on the belly and anti-air missiles atop. And a spot to launch my little UAV’s.

[Iron Munro]

[ArrogantBustard]

Nice! The only thing that really bothers me is the single strap, centerline, between the operator’s legs ...

[CholeraJoe]

He also foresaw night vision goggles, heads-up displays and GPS. The first time I read “Starship Troopers” I thought “Man wouldn’t those be cool?” Now they’re reality.

[Scythian]

[techcor]

Don’t forget mechanical arms used to handle radioactive material were called “waldoes” for the longest time because of him.

[Iron Munro]

Nice! The only thing that really bothers me is the single strap, centerline, between the operator’s legs ...

That mechanical appendage thing hanging down?

It's called the "O'Donnell".
.

[Reaganesque]

They could call it “The Emascualtor.”

[The Comedian]

[JimSEA]

It immediately makes me think of the potential for a disaster situation like an earthquake. When you can’t really get heavy equipment in because buildings have collapsed in the street, this would be invaluable. Indonesia could have used it just a couple of days ago.

[Iron Munro]

They could call it “The Emascualtor.”

But for Rosie O'D wouldn't it actually be a "masculator"?

[mowowie]

Thats a cool picture.

[Syntyr]

"Let me know when they start building Mechwarriors." You "grow" Mechwarriors in Sibko's... ;) You "build" mechs... :) I will see your Madcat and raise you a Awesome! Yes I am a Mech junkie and Geek!!!

[infowarrior]

I think Heinlein was first.

He was, as usual...

the infowarrior

[infowarrior]

He also foresaw night vision goggles, heads-up displays and GPS. The first time I read “Starship Troopers” I thought “Man wouldn’t those be cool?” Now they’re reality.

In addition to "waldoes" (the original robotic arms) and oddly enough, the waterbed...

the ionfowarrior