One skeleton is good, but two is better: modern exoskeletons

Fiction lovers once dreamed that exotkeletons would “someday” become commonplace. And somehow it turns out that this technology has crawled from the category of fantastic concept, first to the rank of laboratory experiments, and then to the category of serial routine. Purely mechanical exoskeletons are already riveted by students . Just like a Goblin: “History has become a legend, a legend is a farce. And then already and jokes sang ” . We decided to put together a selection of videos with exoskeletons, which serve not to entertain the venerable public, but to bring benefit to society and individual individuals.

Recently, Ford introduced passive torso exoskeletons EksoVest. They remove part of the load from the back, neck and arms, and are designed for workers who perform many operations with their hands up:

Developed by Matsushita Electric Corporation - Panasonic AWN-03 - designed to reduce the load on the back and legs when lifting and carrying weights. Compensation of the load on the back reaches 15 kg, the batteries are removable, no need to put an exoskeleton on charge and wait.

Moreover, this is not the only Panasonic exoskeleton, there were, for example, PLN-31 Ninja, PLL-04 ( allows you to run at a speed of 12 km / h ) and MS-02.

In Lockheed Martin, another interesting industrial exoskeleton was created - Fortis. Its peculiarity is that it allows not only removing a part of the load (up to 14 kg), but also is equipped with a fastener for electric or pneumatic tools.

The ReWalk exoskeleton is a new leg for those who are wheelchair bound due to injury or illness. Of course, the device alone will not replace full-fledged lower limbs, but at least allows you to move independently without any hateful wheels.

With more serious damage or extensive paralysis, when ReWalk is useless, you can use the exoskeleton of the New Zealand company REX.

The exoskeleton Hybrid Assistive Limb, created for the rehabilitation of people with problems of the musculoskeletal system, also serves the good cause. For several years it has been used in some clinics in Japan and Germany.

Work on exoskeletons for the soldiers is not the first year. Many armies of the world are already close to adopting large batches of compact exoskeletons that reduce the load on their legs and back: soldiers can carry more ammunition and ammunition, walk longer and get less tired. For example, back in the early 2010s, Ekso Bionics and Raytheon created HULC exoskeletons (licensed by Lockheed Martin) and XOS 2, respectively. Developments were actively lobbied in the army structures, but have not yet been adopted. HULC allows you to carry up to 90 kg of weight and run for a long time at a speed of 12 km / h. And XOS 2, in fact, a miniature loader with external power.

In our future set of equipment " Warrior 3 " should also be an exoskeleton, but a clear video with him could not be found.

You can listen to what the chief designer of TsNIITochMash tells about the concept of the next generation of equipment, after the “Warrior 3”:

As usual, the most reliable examples of exoskeleton will probably be introduced first from the military. Waiting is not so long, the third "Warrior" plan to adopt in 2020-30-x.

And finally, a minute of trash: an Indian craftsman bungled an exoskeleton to fight terrorists.