To carry your weapons and heavy military equipment, HULC comes to rescue you!
Don’t be afraid, there is no typing error in the name of the famous green superhero, for one simple reason: it’s not him we are talking about.
In fact, HULC is an acronym which stands for Human Universal Load Carrier, that is, an exoskeleton designed for armed forces in order to help them carry heavy material at a long distance.
Manufactured by the California-based Berkeley Bionics, HULC is in fact designed to multiply human strength; other models of exoskeletons, though, tend to concentrate their work mostly on the arms, allowing their users to lift up to 200 kilos of material without any effort.
Unlike these types, HULC’s functionality is mostly focused towards the shoulders, on which a normal soldier generally carries something like 30 kilos of equipment. Thanks to the exoskeleton’s support, his load capability is multiplied by five, allowing him to carry up to 300 pounds (136 kilos) on the gantry applied on the wearer’s back.
The whole structure, which also includes some sort of “crutches” which provide support for the legs, is powered by rechargeable batteries; walking at the average speed of 6 kilometers per hour, you can use HULC’s assistance for approximately 5 hours, enough to carry your equipment to your final destination without big trouble.
At the current stage, the potentials of this exoskeleton are only in the development phase, although a demo version has been already presented to operators and experts, and the initial field test, thanks to the cooperation of soldiers in war zones (of course far from the frontline) will be carried out in summer 2010.
