Powered armor is the only weapon we’ll have against the armies of pissed off robots SkyNet will launch at us from Japan when they’re tired of taking care of old people. Fortunately, the U.S. Army has contracted robotics firm Sarcos to develop the XOS exoskeleton. The XOS is made of lightweight aluminium and matches human movement with enhanced power and endurance.

The demo videos are a bit lame. I mean, who really cares if you can punch a speed bag when a Hunter Killer is decorating the walls with your guts, but I guess you have to start somewhere. I’m surprised the guy in the suit doesn’t haul off and smack those two jerks who keep stealing his ammo cases.

Right now the biggest stumbling block is coming up with a mobile power supply that can power the suit for extended periods of time. The U.S. military plans to take delivery of XOS early next year with intent of making a combat ready powered armor within eight years. 2016 is nine years before SkyNet takes over Japan. We’ll be ready for you, you overgrown tin can!

Thanks to reader Bonzai Rob for the link.

[Via BBC]

Share This

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 17th, 2008 at 3:55 pm and is filed under The Future, Gundam, Skynet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.