13 November,2010 08:39 AM IST | | Agencies
You know that super-powered suit from the Iron Man movies? Science fiction, right? Maybe not!
A company is actually working on a suit that can enable its wearer to fly, shoot rockets and punch through brick walls. This super-suit could do wonders for the next generation of soldiers.
Inside a prosthetic shell of metal and hydraulics, Raytheon test engineer Rex Jameson is putting an XOS-2 exoskeleton through its paces.u00a0
But here's where fictional meets "functional." Iron Man can fly and shoot repulsor rays out of his hands. This suit is still tethered to its power source. Mobile batteries like lithium-ion either don't last long enough or can't be strapped to a soldier's body.
Jameson is part of a team designing in real life what comic books and Hollywood have promised for years: bringing an Iron Man-like suit to the battlefield.
Raytheon is seeking to develop the suits to help the US military carry supplies, and claims that one operator in an exoskeleton suit can do the work of two to three soldiers.
In the field
If all goes as planned, the company hopes to see Iron Man suits deployed in the field by 2015.
"The logistics personnel in the military typically move 16,000 pounds a day, which is an awful lot of load," said Fraser Smith, vice president of operations for Raytheon Sarcos.
The XOS-2 suit can be used in tight spaces where a forklift cannot. Describing the feeling of wearing the suit, Jameson said, "It feels like wearing a backpack -- a light pack -- and really big shoes. It kind of clomps around a bit."
One big obstacle, however, is how to power the suit. Raytheon is working on reducing the energy load; the version demonstrated on this day runs off hydraulic power from the Sarcos shop. Smith said chemically powered batteries such as lithium ions are not powerful enough to run the suit for eight to 24 hours at a time.
The wearable robotics suit is now in its second iteration. XOS-2 has all its wires and hydraulics fully enclosed, unlike the first prototype, whose innards were more exposed.
That would be problematic in places such as Afghanistan or Iraq, where a sand-encrusted robot would mean a dead robot.
Did you know?
The suit gives its wearer 17 times more strength and could be used to lift heavy supplies The Iron Man suit is projected to cost around $150,000 (Rs 67 lakh)
