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The Fortis exoskeleton let you lift heavy tools indefinitely – and it’s unpowered!
There are many different takes on what a human exoskeleton could look like, and a few have even been put into service to greatly augment the human body. However, most of those have one thing in common — they need power. Lockheed Martin has been experimenting with a more elegant unpowered solution that solves one particularly nasty problem with clever analysis of biomechanics. That problem? Tools are heavy. The Fortis exoskeleton can allow a worker to hold a tool weighing up to 36 pounds indefinitely.
Fortis is being developed with military applications in mind. Not for the battlefield, but for the workers who support the military with their blood and sweat. Many of the tools like grinders and riveters that workers need to use can easily weigh 15-30 pounds (about 7-14 kg). Even a stout working man can only hold something that heavy at arm’s length for a few minutes before he has to rest his muscles. Fortis solves the problem of muscle fatigue by supporting up to 36 pounds of weight so the wearer can move the tool around effortlessly.
Unlike other exoskeletons that increase human strength, Fortis isn’t attached to the arms. There are no hydraulics or motors that augment the way your limbs move. All the magic happens in an articulated swing arm attached to the exoskeleton at the waist (Lockheed Martin calls this the “zeroG” arm). At the end of this arm is a mounting point for the tool. The worker operates the tool normally, but it’s attached to the exoskeleton via the swing arm. Instead of the weight of the tool being transferred to the wearer’s arms, it’s borne entirely by the aluminum/carbon fiber frame of Fortis and transferred to the ground.
Read: MIT’s Cheetah robot is let off its leash, can now run and jump silently across fields
The rest of the exoskeleton is designed with human movement and biomechanics in mind. There are joints at the ankle, knee, and hip to ensure you can actually move while wearing the device. The weight of the payload gets to the ground through the stirrup, which is also attached to the ankle and allows the foot to rest on the ground normally.Lockheed Martin says this design is superior to exoskeletons that attach to the shoes.
Designers tested the exoskeleton with a 16-pound grinder commonly used in industrial settings. A worker was able to hold this tool over his head unaided for only three minutes before needing to rest his arms. Using Fortis, the worker was able to use the grinder continuously for 30 minutes with no problems. Lockheed estimates Fortis can improve productivity by up to 27x, depending on the task. At the same time, it also reduces the risk of injury and makes manual labor much less tiring.
Lockheed Fortis exoskeleton, with a tool
The US Navy has purchased two of the Fortis exoskeletons from Lockheed and will be testing them over the next six months to see if the claimed productivity improvements are legit. Fortis may also see use in civilian applications like mining and construction. Basically, anything where you need to hold heavy things out in front of you for long periods of time can potentially be improved by a Fortis exoskeleton, and it never needs to be plugged in.
Now read: Will we ever have Iron Man exoskeletons?
Source: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/191959-the-fortis-exoskeleton-let-you-lift-heavy-tools-indefinitely-and-its-unpowered
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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