These Exosuits Are Proof That The Future Has Come

The sci-fi world is full of cool and futuristic exosuits that can do a bunch of things a typical human cannot, but in real life, we are really close to having similar things at our disposal.

If you don’t know already, delivery drones, self-driving cars, and virtual assistants are becoming more and more common in daily life, so it might not be too far-fetched to think that someday, wearable robots might enjoy that same acceptance.

DARPA’s Soft Exosuit

Most of the exosuits you see in movies and video games are designed for military purposes. And no list of such wearable robot suits can be complete without mentioning DARPA’s in-development Soft Exosuit of Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard.

This exosuit has several joints, and it can assist the movement of the lower body via a system of cables, which is controlled by a mobile actuation mounted at the waist. The actuation can integrate with a military rucksack.

This project has been going on for a few years now, and the technology is developing fast. While it has not been deployed to the field yet, these exosuits have accompanied soldiers on a few long, cross-country hikes.

The point of this technology is to help soldiers to cover a greater distance without draining them of energy.

LG’s Cloi SuitBot

While most other exosuits featured on this list are still in the lab or backed by only small companies, Cloi SuiBot is the exact opposite. You must have heard of the company behind it before, but for smartphones and other electronics.

The exosuit was first introduced at last year IFA by LG, and again this year at CES. It is created to help with people’s leg movements. The built-in AI can determine each wearer weakness and only activate when they need help, thus preserving power.

LG has not said anything about when they plan to launch this exosuit or its expected cost. For now, it appears that the company is focusing on making a streamlined design for it.

Samsung GEMS

LG name might sound impressive enough, but there is another tech giant that has shown interest in making exosuits, Samsung.

GEMS (short for Gait Enhancing Motivational System) is also an assistant for the lower body, targeting your hips, ankles, and knees. The suit comes equipped with several modes, with the highlight is GEMS-H.

What these exosuits do is to aid wearer with walking speed while preserving their energy. It can also help them climb up and down the stairs and correct their posture.

Just like LG, Samsung has said nothing about the releasing date for the tech. All we know now is that the company has brought it to several large events, including CES 2019.

An Exosuit For The Factory Floor

One of the first to take an interest in the future of exosuits is Ford. And the company has already had a similar tech running at its factories. The exoskeleton is for the upper part of your body, and it is called EksoVest. It was designed to help workers better hold large and heavy car parts over their heads.

While the exoskeleton cannot make you Superman, it gives the wearer an extra 15 pounds on each arm. Any worker from 5-foot 2-inches to 6-foot 4 inches tall can wear it.

Ford is not the only player in the race for upper-body factory exosuits though. Levitate Technologies has a similar exoskeleton that can resist fire. It can help reduce up to 80% of the exertion levels for wearers who have to carry out repetitive tasks.

The exosuit of Levitate has already been used by companies like BMW Manufacturing Company and Toyota Motor Manufacturing.

Hidden Assistance

In sci-fi movies, the most powerful exosuit must be big and bulky, showing a sign of power; but in real life, things are not like that. Many people have shown interest in a kind of robotic suit that is almost invisible.

The point of this kind of design is that while it can still assist with tasks like heavy-lifting, wearers can put them under their everyday clothes without them altering their natural posture.

The mechanical engineers at Vanderbilt University follow exactly this idea. They are working on a soft, powered by spring exosuit to lower the impact of heavy loading on the wearer’s calf. The suit has no battery, motor, makes no noise, and is lightweight.

While it has not been available on the market, the researchers do want to make it to be mass-produced.

FlyJacket

FlyJacket is developed by École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne of Switzerland. With the jacket on, the wearer can technically be like a drone.

Carine Rognon of the project said that the exosuit’s inertial measurement unit would translate torso inclination into drone command. There is also passive arm support to prevent fatigue when they have to spread out the arms for too long.

A Real-Life Iron Man Suit

FlyJacket sounds impressive enough but Gravity Industries’ robot suit, powered by jet engines, is even more so.

The exosuit consists of a monitor for showing the fuel level, five jet engines, and a 3D-printed structure. This is the closest thing we get right now to Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit.

The suit has already been out, and you might have to be as wealthy as Robert Downey Jr. to afford it as the price tag is $446,000.