Robosoldier
From: Machine Design - 07/24/2008
By: Stephen J. Mraz

Body amplifiers are getting closer to reality.

A software engineer straps himself into a metal suit suspended from above.
When the man wearing the exoskeleton moves, the machine mimics his every
motion. As he throws jabs and bounces from foot to foot, so too does the
suit, like a boxer. Considering this high-tech suit weighs 150 lb, he's light
on his feet. Then, he snatches a 200-lb bar and snaps off 50 nearly
effortless pulldowns. He’s been known to do 500 before boredom sets in.

Steve Jacobsen and a team of engineers at Sarcos - the Salt Lake City
robotics company he started in 1983 which was recently purchased by defense
giant Raytheon — developed the XOS (exoskeleton) with funding from the
Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa). But Jacobsen
sees applications in construction and the medical field as well. (Imagine an
orderly whose strength was amped up by, say, a factor of 10.)

The team is on the cusp of realizing the military's decades-old vision of
mechanically enhanced soldiers capable of carrying heavy loads. Using
artificial muscles and controls, these powerful suits could soon be available
to soldiers, firemen, even the handicapped. The biggest problem is in finding
a portable lightweight power source. But Jacobsen claims that's only six to
nine months from being solved.

Read the entire article at:
http://machinedesign.com/article/robosoldier-0724

Links:
Sarcos
http://www.sarcos.com/

XOS 2 Exoskeleton Named "Most Awesomest" Invention of 2010
http://www.raytheon.com/newsroom/technology/rtn08_exoskeleton/

2nd Generation Exoskeleton Robotic Suit Gallery
http://www.raytheon.com/newsroom/rtnwcm/groups/public/documents/content/rtn10_exo2_gallery_html.html