The last time I can remember hearing the word ‘exoskeleton’ was in the movie Terminator 2. With his deep-throated monotone, Big Arnie tells the kid, ‘... human tissue over metal exoskeleton’. Back then, Exoskeletons were quite a rage and I still remember a dozen cyborg-tale spawns on television and all of them had those never-blink characters with voices that sounded like the audio-help companion on my desktop. And Exoskeletons, for sure, were a fantasy then. Imagine a 60 kg human walking on the streets with a robotic exoskeleton. These contraptions would undoubtedly enhance our strength and endurance. However, at the end of the day, all of us would end up with a sore body and our superhuman qualities would vanish in an instant.
Well, all said and believed, Exoskeletons could be a reality someday. If scientists at the MIT media lab US are to be trusted, they can build an exoskeleton that can match and mimic human movement to act in parallel with our motions. Of the two models that the scientists are looking to develop, one would transfer the load of a backpack on to the exoskeleton, for use in military or emergency services and the other transfers the weight of the wearer on to the exoskeleton. So, you could emulate Arnie after all. He will be back!!
Via: newscientist
