The Army is testing and prototyping self-generating
“Ironman-like” soldier exoskeletons, designed to
massively change combat missions by supporting
soldier movement, generating electricity, powering
weapons systems and substantially lowering the
weight burden of what troops carry in war.
Energy-harvesting technology can extend mission
life for small units or dismounted soldiers on-patrol.
The emerging concept, described by Army
developers as a technical breakthrough is
engineered, not so much for the near-term, but 10
to 20 years down the road.
“The design is for an energy-harvesting
exoskeleton to address the needs of dismounted
soldiers. The system can derive energy from the
motion of the soldier as they are moving around,”
Dr. Nathan Sharps, mechanical engineer, Army
Communications-Electronics Research,
Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) told
Warrior Maven in an interview.
The implications of this kind of technology are
significant. While exoskeletons have been in
development for several years now, the technology
consistently confronts the challenge of finding ways
to sustain mobile power sources to support and
sustain its functionality.
Furthermore, current use of batteries brings
significant combat challenges due to difficulty
recharging and the massive amount of weight
involved in hauling them through combat.
For instance, should a soldier carry a portable 35-
pound generator, water, ammunition, weapons and
communications equipment, mission duration and
soldier effectiveness is greatly impacted. The Army
has been pursuing various efforts to “lighten the
load” for soldiers for many years now.
“The technologies we are developing can produce
electricity, which can be stored and used to power
batteries. This increases the longevity of a mission,
decreases the need for resupply and reduces the
logistics trail,” Sharps explained.
Sharps further elaborated that during intense
combat engagement, casualties often occur during
logistics resupply missions.
An added advantage is that, while the technology
harvests energy from the motion of soldiers, it also
simultaneously eases the strain on their joints and
muscles due to its apparatus.
“This decreases the chance of muscular-skeletal
injury. We look at the soldier as an individual
ecosystem. We’re not just looking at what they
cannot do right now, but also at what challenges
they are going to face 20 years from now,” Sharps
said.
The emerging system, currently in the early phases
of exploration, calls upon a collaborative effort
between CERDEC, the Army Research Laboratory
and the Army’s Natick Soldier Center.
The scientists explain that added electrical energy
decreases the number of calories a soldier has to
burn.
“When you move, you bounce up and down, and the
gait motion is an inverted pendulum. If you lift every
step thousands of times, it is a whole lot of energy
you are expending,” said Juliane Douglas,
mechanical engineer, CERDEC, told Warrior Maven.
The Army is currently exploring various
configurations for the exoskeleton, some of which
include a suspended backpack, which can slide up
and down on a spring, having little or no weight
impact on the soldier.
“In mechanical engineering terms, if you have
masses moving together, there is a kinetic energy
difference between the two. We have mechanisms
which can convert that linear motion into
electricity,” explained Douglas.
This technical advantage will impact a wide array of
emerging systems now being built into
exoskeletons. Not surprisingly, many of these rely
upon mobile power to operate.
For example, helmets with high-resolution thermal
sensors, wearable computers, various kinds of
conformal body armor and even many weapons
systems are now being built into a range of
Ironman-like exoskeletons.
U.S. Special Operations Command’s current TALOS
effort is working with a wide sphere of industry,
military and academic experts on plans to build
initial exoskeleton prototypes within the next year or
two. This longer-term CERDEC effort is the kind of
thing which could easily merge with, or integrate
into, some of these exoskeletons now being built.
The project, formally called Tactical Light Operator
Suit, or TALOS, is aimed at providing special
operators, such as Navy SEALs and Special Forces,
with enhanced mobility and protection technologies,
a Special Operations Command, or SOCOM,
statement said.
The technologies currently being developed include
body suit-type exoskeletons, strength and power-
increasing systems and additional protection. A
SOCOM statement said some of the potential
technologies planned for TALOS research and
development include advanced armor, command
and control computers, power generators, and
enhanced mobility exoskeletons. -- To Read Warrior
Maven's TALOS story CLICK HERE ---
Also, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology are developing a next-generation kind
of armor called “liquid body armor.”
It “transforms from liquid to solid in milliseconds
when a magnetic field or electrical current is
applied,” the Army's website said.
TALOS will have a physiological subsystem that lies
against the skin that is embedded with sensors to
monitor core body temperature, skin temperature,
heart rate, body position and hydration levels, an
Army statement also said.
Army evaluators have also been assessing a
Lockheed-built FORTIS knee-stress-release-
device exoskeleton with soldiers at Fort A.P. Hill as
part of a focus on fielding new performance
enhancing soldier technologies.
Using independent actuators, motors and
lightweight conformal structures, lithium ion battery
powered FORTIS allows soldiers to carry 180
pounds up five flights of stairs while expending less
energy.
FORTIS is built with a conformal upper structure
that works on a belt attached to the waist. The belt
connects with flexible hip sensors throughout the
systems. These sensors tell the computer where
the soldier is in space along with the speed and
velocity of the movements.
CERDEC developers say their effort is observing
and working closely with many of these efforts
looking to find exoskeleton technologies able to
better protect and enable soldiers in combat.
“What we are doing is designing the conversion
technologies to make many of these technologies
more effective by storing the energy. We are testing
prototypes, and we are able to leverage current
exoskeleton work and use it as a platform for our
systems,” Douglas said.
This story originally appeared on Warrior Maven . http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/06/06/army-prototypes-new-self-powering-iron-man-soldier-suits.html