Soldiers: may wear robots to increase strength.

• Author: Beidel, Eric
• Position: TECHWIRE

* In the future, soldiers might put robots on the same way they do their pants--one leg at a time.

Upcoming experiments will determine if soldiers who strap robots to their bodies can stay healthier and have more energy to complete missions. Later this year the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center will run laboratory tests on the Human Universal Load Carrier, a hydraulic-powered exoskeleton that can carry up to 200 pounds for extended periods and over rugged terrain.

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The robotic skeleton provides strength, while the human who wears it provides the brainpower, said Keith Maxwell, business development manager at Lockheed Martin, which produces the HULC and has a $1.1 million contract with the center to run tests on the apparatus.

Interest in exoskeletons has grown steadily since 2000, when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency introduced a program aimed at augmenting a soldier's strength through the use of robotic suits. Ten years later, the momentum is building.

Raytheon also has developed an exoskeleton. More so than Lockheed Martin's product, Raytheon's version resembles something a comic book hero would wear with a power chord and metal arms. The HULC runs on a battery that, depending on the activity level of a soldier, could last five hours or all day.

The HULC consists mainly of metal legs, a backpack and lightweight shoulder straps. A microcomputer picks up signals from sensors throughout the exoskeleton so it can mimic the motions of its wearer, reducing the amount of human energy...