Why worry about the weight??

[jacob thompson]

Whilst flicking through the pages of the new Guiness world records I noticed this very interesting addition. It was a record for a human exoskeleton.

Look at the size of this guys pack! Surely if we all had legs like that there would be no need to lighten our loads. The article explains the it Could be used for people wanting to carry large loads for long distances (sounds like us).But the main purpose is for field medics since they can carry huge amounts of gear. It can also be used for fireman to climb long flights of stairs to extinguish fires. Another application is for people that have little mobility in their legs and hence cannot walk, thats quite an invention.

For the mean time I’ll stick with my own two legs and lightening my pack.

[Anonymous]

Hey that’s my old pack before I went UltraLight. I sold it to that sucker at a garage sale!

; )

[paul johnson]

pack is prob. empty. why? a ‘small’ CG related issue. read, a few yrs ago, about an ‘exo’. the grunt in the field was supposed to be able to hump 400lb.

now, unless the feet of the exo were long & wide like snowshoes, the poor grunt would soon be like a turtle on its back, or would fall over to the side. hopefully, he would never fall fwd and have 400lb land on him! [we lose more soldiers that way!]

the 400lb would need to be kept basically centered both fore & aft, and side to side over the exo’s feet (hence the need for long & wide feet). the grunt in the picture would prob. never be able to stand upright w/400lb in the pack, but, instead, would have to lean fwd to keep the pack over the exo’s feet.

i’m sure gyros would help some, but on uneven terrain, with slips & slides, would the system react fast enough to prevent a fatal fall? wonder if this is partly why some RC “rovers” use 6 or 8 legs (nice stable base)? level ground is one thing; uneven terrain is very diff. however, as with all things, one must learn to “walk” b/f one can “run”.

had Yaw control (ESP or Stability control) in an Audi i owned. worked good as long the driver didn’t try to violate the laws of physics. enter a corner a bit “hot” and it worked well. however, there was a limit to its ability. enter the corner too fast, turn in, and you could feel the system work, but you would still slide/understeer off of the track/road. same could be said here.

i wonder, is this how the phrase was coined “help, i’ve fallen and i can’t get up”???

[jacob thompson]

If you click the picture there’s a link to the article and also to the website of the university that made it. Theres some interesting other work being done.

From the article it says that the man is carrying a total of 170lb (100 for the exo and 70 in the pack) and it feels as though he is carrying only 5lb (Its easy to SUL with an exo apparently). Currently work is being done in order to create an exo that allows a man to run and jump and manouver very easily with the same weight.

I see your point Paul. Maybe since the weight of this one is significantly lighter this problem may be reduced somewhat. still a 350lb (180 plus 170) person surely still has a lot of trouble with their COG. Perhaps this device could use gyros.

Anyway were off topic now. I thought some people might get a chuckle out of it.

[paul johnson]

it was a good post. thanks for sharing.

yes. lighter pack would be better.

i think Forest Gump had similar braces on his legs at one time when he was younger.

[hope this Thread doesn’t get Fornshell-san’s gears turnin’ – might revolutionize the Army!]

Jacob, just read the article after posting. very good article. interesting. should have no problem with 70lb in the pack, esp. given that the exo weighs 100lb + add to that the body wt. of the human. the 100lb exo, a portion of which is below the wearer’s natural CG helps also. wonder, how much of the exo’s 100lb is above the wearer’s waist? still would need some larger (removeable) feet for soft terrain – both desert & parts of SE Asia, among others. thanks again.

[Author]

Posts