If you’re rich and want to lift a lot of heavy things by yourself, boy do we have a suggestion for you. Kawasaki is working on a wearable robotic exoskeleton called the Power Assist Suit, reports Robonable.jp (via TechCrunch). This exoskeleton can help you lift objects as heavy as 30-40 kg (66-88 lbs) without any muscle strain. When you pick up a package using the Suit, sensors automatically detect the weight, causing four small motors in the knees and hips to fire up and take the load off of your fragile legs and back.
The suit is designed so that wearers don’t really feel the weight of all the mechanics while walking around. It can also be adjusted to different heights.
Don’t get too excited though. Kawasaki plans to test the suit for another one or two years before putting it on the market. That should give us all plenty of time to seek out a list of things we’d like to lift. There is no word yet on how much the contraption will cost, but can you really put a price on looking this cool?
This technology would naturally be integrated into already underway defense/military applications for the super-soldier suit. The weight bearing and moving capabilities of the suit would support heavy body armor and weapon attachments such as heavy machine guns and rocket launchers. All electronics currently used such as communication devices, gps tracking, laser-targeting for air strike support, night vision and thermal imaging can all be contained and powered within the suit. Individual soldiers would be safeguarded from firing on friendly units. The mech soldiers would function as mobile mini-tanks, hard to detect or target, but potent in firepower.
For civic-use, SWAT teams would have their robo-cop.
Do you think that’s a good thing? Do we want a RoboCop?
While the protection of civil liberties should always take precedence in a free society, the ability of public servants to eliminate threats to public safety with speed and precision should not be overlooked. We cannot move forward with technological advances without at the same creating measures to govern its use in observance of our core values in society. My answer to your question is “yes” but with caution.
Cautionary measures can include the ability to shut down RoboCop remotely if the technology is abused by a rogue officer operating the unit. Further technological advances that would prevent the unit from firing on an unarmed suspect should also be implemented into the programming. Furthermore, in the United States, the rights of law-abiding citizens to arm themselves should be preserved and restored through explicitly worded protection in written law. When the inevitable advance of technology acquired by the state potentially poses a risk to our free society, the sensible course of action in my opinion is to empower free citizens to protect themselves from tyranny.
And we must remember to only build one RoboCop. Once you build the second one, only the first RoboCop can destroy him.
In all seriousness though, I agree.
Development of this technology naturally would turn to defense/military applications. Heavy body armor can be built around the robotic exo-skelton, with the addition of weapon attachments such as machine guns and rocket launchers. Communication technology, gps tracking, laser targeting for air strike support, night-vision and thermal imaging can all be integrated and powered by the suit. Friendly fire will be made impossible. The mechs and cyborgs of movies, video games, and science fiction will become reality.