GOV/MIL Gov/Mil/Tech- U.S. SOCOM is Engineering a Next-Generation Exoskeleton to Keep Troops Alive

[Housecarl]

These Army Exoskeletons Make Soldiers Shoot Straighter
Started by Housecarl‎, 06-03-2015 11:05 PM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...y-Exoskeletons-Make-Soldiers-Shoot-Straighter

Become Iron Man for About $5K
Started by Housecarl‎, 05-13-2014 01:08 AM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?449498-Become-Iron-Man-for-About-5K

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.scout.com/military/warrior/story/1673802-special-ops-to-prototype-iron-man-suit

U.S. Special Operations Command is Engineering a Next-Generation Exoskeleton to Keep Operators Alive

KRIS OSBORN
10/30/2016

Video

U.S, Special Operations Command Plans to Have Some Initial TALOS Iron Man suit Prototypes by 2018

U.S. Special Operations Command is making progress researching, developing and testing a next-generation Iron Man-like suit designed to increase strength and protection and help keep valuable operators alive when they kick down doors and engage in combat, officials said.

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 ultimate purpose of the TALOS project is to produce a prototype in 2018. That prototype will then be evaluated for operational impact,” Lt. Cmdr. Matt Allen, SOCOM spokesman, told Scout Warrior.

Industry teams have been making steady progress on the technologies since the effort was expanded in 2013 by Adm. William McCraven, former head of SOCOM.
“I’m very committed to this because I would like that last operator we lost to be the last operator we ever lose,” McCraven said in 2013.

Defense industry, academic and entrepreneurial participants are currently progressing with the multi-faceted effort.

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.

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 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.

“The idea is to help maintain the survivability of operators as they enter that first breach through the door,” Allen added.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.scout.com/military/warrior/story/1682320-army-advances-future-soldier-technology

Army Lab Integrates Future Soldier Technology

KRIS OSBORN
Thursday at 2:04 PM

Video

Lighter weight protective body armor and undergarments, conformal wearable computers and integrated sensors powered by emerging battery technologies --- are all part of the Army’s cutting-edge scientific initiative aimed at shaping, enhancing and sustaining the Soldier of the Future.

Lighter weight protective body armor and undergarments, newer uniform fabrics, conformal wearable computers and integrated sensors powered by emerging battery technologies --- are all part of the Army’s cutting-edge scientific initiative aimed at shaping, enhancing and sustaining the Soldier of the Future.

The U.S. Army has set up a special high-tech laboratory aimed at better identifying and integrating gear, equipment and weapons in order to reduce the current weight burden placed on Soldiers and give them more opportunities to successfully execute missions, service officials said.

A main impetus for the effort, called Warrior Integration Site, is grounded in the unambiguous hope of reducing the weight carried by today’s Army infantry fighters from more than 120-pounds, down to at least 72-pounds, service officials explained. In fact, a Soldier’s current so-called “marching load” can reach as much as 132-pounds, Army experts said.

“We’ve overloaded the Soldier, reduced space for equipment and tried to decrease added bulk and stiffness. What we are trying to do is get a more integrated and operational system. We are looking at the Soldier as a system,” Maj. Daniel Rowell, Assistant Product Manager, Integration, Program Executive Office Soldier, told Scout Warrior in an interview during an exclusive tour of the WinSite facility.

Citing batteries, power demands, ammunition, gear interface, body armor, boots, weapons and water, Rowell explained that Soldiers are heavily burdened by the amount they have to carry for extended missions.

“We try to document everything that the Soldier is wearing including weight, size and configuration – and then communicate with researchers involved with the Army’s Science and Technology community,” he added.

The WinSite lab is not only looking to decrease the combat load carried by Soldiers into battle but also identify and integrate the best emerging technologies; the evaluation processes in the make-shift laboratory involve the use of computer graphic models, 3-D laser scanners, 3-D printing and manequins.

“This is not about an individual piece of equipment. It is about weight and cognitive burden – all of which contributes to how effective the Soldier is,” Rowell said.

The 3-D printer allows for rapid prototyping of new systems and equipment with a mind to how they impact the overall Soldier system; the manequins are then outfitted with helmets, body armor, radios, water, M-4 rifles, helmets, uniforms, night vision, batteries and other gear as part of an assessment of what integrates best for the Soldier overall.

In addition, while the WinSite is more near term than longer-term developmental efforts such as the ongoing work to develop a Soldier “Iron Man” suit or exoskeleton, the Army does expect to integrate biometric sensors into Soldier uniforms. This will allow for rapid identification of health and body conditions, such as heartrate, breathing or blood pressure – along with other things. Rapid access to this information could better enable medics to save the lives of wounded Soldiers.

Lighter weight fabrics for uniforms, combined with composite body armor materials are key elements of how the Army hope to reach a notional, broad goal of enabling Soldier to fight with all necessary gear weighing a fraction of the current equipment at 48-pounds, Rowell explained.

WinSite is primarily about communication among laboratory experts, scientists and computer programmers and new Soldier technology developers – in order to ensure that each individual piece of gear properly integrates into the larger Soldier system.

 

[BUBBAHOTEPT]

Fallout....... Power Armor!

 

[BetterLateThanNever]

I am all for protecting our troops but they are hell bent on keeping the defense industry going full steam to keep the money rolling in to these corporations.

I have a better idea on how to keep our troops alive, get out the conflicts that we have started and keep from starting them in the future. Problem solved.

We can now look forward to our local police force in the near future wearing these outfits as they break our door down and shoot our dogs.

 

[Dozdoats]

They were working on the exo before I retired.

As the SF troops say - "100 pounds of new lightweight gear."

 

[Housecarl]

Most likely applications near term is going to be with the Navy (for logistical work and damage control at sea) and the fire services IMHO.

 

[Intestinal Fortitude]

They were working on the exo before I retired.

As the SF troops say - "100 pounds of new lightweight gear."

Does it float? I think not