Forever War, Starship Troopers?

[Mark Sman]

Both books using the idea of body armor and amplification of action.

So now this.

http://media.tbo.com/photos/trib/2004/mar/0310exo1.jpg

Photo by: University of California-Berkeley
BLEEX is a 100-pound exoskeleton. Its creators in Berkeley, Calif., say testers wearing the device and carrying 70 pounds in a backpack feel like they are bearing 5 pounds.

BERKELEY, Calif. - Move over Bionic Man and make room for BLEEX, the Berkeley Lower Extremities Exoskeleton, with strap-on robotic legs designed to turn an ordinary human into a superstrider.

http://tech.tbo.com/tech/MGAB2HJ8ORD.html

[Flagg]

Holy hell...that oughta turn every La-Z-boy ninja and keyboard commando into certifiable SF terminator....

as long as it's only operationally used on level ground, deployed only with full logistics and maintenance support, isn't allowed to go underwater or even get wet, isn't allowed to get dirty, and doesn't have to lie in the ****e position to avoid enemy fire

[Mark Sman]

Or is simply the test bed for something else.

1900 people laugh at airpower.
1920 people laugh at atom power.

Obviously this project isn't even close to deployed. Obviously.

People laughed at Wells and his sub.
People laughed at Einstein and his bomb.
People laughed at Stoner and his gun.

Things happen. Generally quicker than we think. If you look at the subject line of this post I made reference to two classic science fiction novels. The point was that a mechanical exo-skeleton is closer than it used to be.

Or possibly a mechanical device that responds to a remote human control.
Hell, Who Dares Wins.

[Ratamacue]

Imagine the implications for something like this not only in the military and for firefighting, but for people with disabilities giving them weak arms or legs. Something like that could give those people full mobility again in the future.

On the military side of things, that's a fantastic breakthrough and could be one of the greatest military innovations of the past century if they can make it reasonable when it comes to power consumption and make it silent in sound.

[NcDeuce]

I wonder if you could jump with that... :lol:

[Marmot1]

I wonder if you could jump with that... :lol:

I wonder how much maitenance it need per hour of operaton

[anonymous individual]

..mmm forever war is a good novel. I still haven't have the change to read forever peace and the spin-off novel.

[Flagg]

Or is simply the test bed for something else.

1900 people laugh at airpower.
1920 people laugh at atom power.

Obviously this project isn't even close to deployed. Obviously.

People laughed at Wells and his sub.
People laughed at Einstein and his bomb.
People laughed at Stoner and his gun.

Things happen. Generally quicker than we think. If you look at the subject line of this post I made reference to two classic science fiction novels. The point was that a mechanical exo-skeleton is closer than it used to be.

Or possibly a mechanical device that responds to a remote human control.
Hell, Who Dares Wins.

I was just funnin' ya mate.....

Like most innovative prototypes...it can take years or even decades for it to come to fruition....think flying cars...at least that was what I read as a kid I'd be driving by now.....and I haven't gotten my flying car yet.

Someday maybe.....but I reckon the usefullness of it will become apparant in civilian applications first...like with disabled people as mentioned already......making it "military proof" would probably be a bit harderto engineer/manufacture at reasonable cost

[James]

I wonder if you could jump with that... :lol:

Yes, and without a chute.

[wholagun]

I wonder how much maitenance it need per hour of operaton

good point, if it breaks down can the soldier continue? or is it screwed cause the pack on his back is too heavy? There are alot of questions to be asked and this has to still be heavly tested