Exoskeletons,'smart' parachutes could reduce soldiers' loads.

• Author: Beidel, Eric
• Position: Soldier Technology

NATICK, Mass.--There is a show-room here at the Army's soldier research center with a line of mannequins wearing recent iterations of body armor. The dummies look like any that might appear in a fashion store window--except one.

An especially large figure is dressed in the improved outer-tactical vest currently being used by troops in Afghanistan. Natick officials had to have the dummy custom made because they couldn't find a commercially available mannequin that could support the armor.

Soldiers are used to carrying the equivalent of another human being with them wherever they go. The vest can account for about 35 pounds of that load, but body armor is only the beginning. Troops must also carry weapons, ammunition, radios and batteries, among other items. They often end up lugging around 120 pounds of gear, not exactly an ideal task while under constant threat in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Scientists at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center battle with the problem of soldier load every day. They are working with industry to reduce the weight that troops carry, studying concepts that take into account everything from logistics to body armor to the changing sizes of service members.

Nearly everything that scientists can come up with will be affected by the results of an Army-wide anthropometric survey during which Natick is using 3D body, head and foot scanners to measure the sizes and shapes of soldiers across the force. The 18-month program will wrap up early next year and will have an impact on everything from uniforms and equipment to aircraft cockpits and the new Ground Combat Vehicle's interior. The last such survey was conducted in 1988.

"Everything we build that either goes on the human or the human goes in will depend on the data coming out of this study," says Jack Obusek, director at the soldier center. "We know that the human form has changed in our population since 1988. We have to understand what that means for the Army. We can no longer base it on these '88 standards."

Meanwhile, the never-ending struggle to reduce loads continues.

A soldier's size certainly will come into play when wearing HULC, a human universal load carrier being developed in conjunction with Lockheed Martin Corp. Despite the acronym, the exoskeleton is not like those seen in Hollywood movies. It doesn't fly or shoot laser beams, and it isn't nuclear powered.

It consists of metal leg braces that transfer weight from the...