From Japanese cartoons to summer blockbusters robot suits have been the stuff of dreams for years yet now these dreams are coming to life. Suit’s are currently being developed to accomplish two things strengthen the elderly and strengthen soldiers. Although, the idea of having the elderly running around stronger than Stonecold Steve Austin but the goal is to have those weakened by age to rejoin the workforce with the augmented strength provided by a robotic suit. The suit halves all the work done by a farmer in half. The other robotic suit being worked on is the Raytheon Exo2 which is lovingly compared to the Ironman suit. This suit at this point is meant for loading and unloading supplies from vehicles. The other application for the suit is to be used to support soldier’s legs as the fight on the field. This will allow them to carry more and be able to move things faster.
Human’s wont change in our life time or even or children’s children’s lifetime. Yet our technology changes greatly generation-to-generation and even during a generation. My own great-grandfather someone I knew went across the planes in a covered wagon. Think about the vast changes that can happen and now that we can actually augment our abilities brings great hope for mankind.
" 'Iron Man' Actor Clark Gregg Spends a Day With the Raytheon Sarcos XOS 2 Exoskeleton ." Youtube. Web. 4 Nov 2010.
Ridder, Knight. "Robot Suits to Aid Elderly Japanese Farmers with Toiling in the Fields." AARP International 21 Aug 2010: n. pag. Web. 4 Nov 2010.
Will these robot suits affect the thought process? It may not be a good idea to give superhuman strength to elderly people who may have brain disease or other conditions which come with age. This brings a lot into question.
ReplyDeleteThe army is using robot exoskeletons, and the best they can come up with is using them to unload trucks?
ReplyDeleteI would assume that they are only using them for unloading because they are not fast or efficient enough to do anything else. I would imagine that as this technology improves they might be able to be used in combat.
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