Power Armor?

These unpowered ones make much more sense at this time. Not only are they considerably cheaper, but also less prone to failures and damage. IIRC the actuators heavily limit movement speed for powered exoskeletons, basically only enabling the wearer to move at a faster walking pace at most - forget about running around with them. With unpowered ones, you can evidently see in the footages that the soldiers can run around with them like they normally would. No drawbacks in agility compared to powered exoskeletons.

And noone said that you cant put armor on an unpowered exoskeleton as well. In fact, the Russians in Syria use these mainly for their EOD troops, so that they can still move around when clad in their heavy suits.

Insignius said:

These unpowered ones make much more sense at this time. Not only are they considerably cheaper, but also less prone to failures and damage. IIRC the actuators heavily limit movement speed for powered exoskeletons, basically only enabling the wearer to move at a faster walking pace at most - forget about running around with them. With unpowered ones, you can evidently see in the footages that the soldiers can run around with them like they normally would. No drawbacks in agility compared to powered exoskeletons.

And noone said that you cant put armor on an unpowered exoskeleton as well. In fact, the Russians in Syria use these mainly for their EOD troops, so that they can still move around when clad in their heavy suits.

Click to expand...

The way I understand it is that you're increasing soldier load for the advantage of reducing short-term fatigue. You're still stuck moving an extended load, except instead of having to support it via your back muscles, the weight is directly transmitted to the ground via the exoskeleton. For certain applications the reduced mobility isn't that big a deal; a GP machine gun operator, for instance, is now mobile and can be used in a more offensive role.

But without applying power from other sources, you're still screwed and have to put up with greater fatigue during movement, only with a different muscle group.

Basically you are slower but more able to haul loads. Think pack mule. You are using the same muscles, what’s changed is you are wearing struts or braces these redistribute the load to the ground as opposed to your back and legs.

Another video on the exoskeleton.

Here's the company that's producing the passive exoskeleton:


They confirm that it's in mass production on August this year. Each suit is under 5kg and fits people from 1.6m - 1.85m. Once suited people can carry 70kg - 80kg load.

Powered exoskeletons are being used at the Wuxi Logistics Support Center, which is in charge of safely disposing old munitions. Each exoskeleton can safely manipulate 80kg of weight.

Unfortunately, I don't have the full video. If anyone has it, please post a link.

Looks like exoskeletons do the hip hinge part correctly for them, even though the soldiers seem to have a rounded back. It would be interesting to see lifting heavy stuff up from ground level.

Logistics was always going to be a low hanging fruit in terms of powered exo-suit deployment, since you can easily have continuous hardline power connection or plenty of battery replacements.

It will be interesting to see when they introduce powered exo suits to carrier flight deck operations, as I can see that being an area where they can be easily deployed with current battery technology and bring tangible benefits.

Imagine deck crew being able to haul and load missiles and bombs with exo suits rather than having to use the carts and trollies they currently do. It could drastically reduce fighter turn-around times.

Such powered exo suits could serve all sorts of roles on a carrier to drastically reduce time and improve safety, from munitions and parts handling, to changing of arrester wires to maybe even positioning planes themselves.

by78 said:

Powered exoskeletons are being used at the Wuxi Logistics Support Center, which is in charge of safely disposing old munitions. Each exoskeleton can safely manipulate 80kg of weight.

Unfortunately, I don't have the full video. If anyone has it, please post a link.

https://imgur.com/TduqGkh

https://imgur.com/cqJgady

https://imgur.com/VA2QEcL

Click to expand...

Why are those soldiers using their backs and not their legs? Improper lifting posture can do a lot of damage. Even the power armor looks like it was designed to help the legs and not the back.

by78 said:

Powered exoskeletons are being used at the Wuxi Logistics Support Center, which is in charge of safely disposing old munitions. Each exoskeleton can safely manipulate 80kg of weight.

Unfortunately, I don't have the full video. If anyone has it, please post a link.

https://imgur.com/TduqGkh

https://imgur.com/cqJgady

https://imgur.com/VA2QEcL

Click to expand...

And video：