Exoskeletons on the the Gadget Show channel 177 8pm

[NutLoose]

Fascinating stuff and shows the developments which a lot has been driven by those wounded.

[tucumseh]

Sorry, missed it. Did they say who was developing it? In the late 90s/early 00s the tacit agreement between MoD and US DoD was DARPA would do this. We led on other programme elements/technologies. Other countries on others. US employed some very clever people on it, but the best technical paper we got to see was a dissertation written by a young whizz kid at school.

There was a rather typical argument over concept of use. Was it for Mobility or Survivability? Or even Sustainability or Lethality. Do you carry it in case someone gets injured and needs it, or do you wear it from the off? This was important because if you couldn't specify, then the beancounters pounced and it was difficult to get funding. It was one of those areas where a good answer was "Let's run with it for a while and see where we get to". The US concept in 2001 was use it in event of injury when extraction was difficult.

[NutLoose]

It covered them all the world wide, though at the start they showed the new Call of Duty game and how they incorporated them in it.

They visited Activlink who have built an Aliens style power loader type item which is designed for use in eathquakes.
They also visited MIT to look at robotic hands and extra arms so you had 4 arms! That was clever, it was worn on the back and it followed your arms, so when trying to put up a roof panel the other two arms sensed what you were doing and held up the panel from behind your head as you attached it with your arms.
They visited Decca in the US to see their arms
They covered gloves that would increase force you applied in your fingers and legs
They also covered walking suits from exobionics
The Zion D3o suit is amazing its a flexible foam that becomes solid if hit.
http://www.d3o.com/markets/military-and-law-enforcement
Also covered were waterjet hover boards,
Not anything really on military bar the odd shots of them.

[NutLoose]

It's on 175 channel5 +24 at 7pm