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"[Science fiction is ] That branch of literature which is concerned with the impact of scientific advance upon human beings."
- Isaac Asimov
 |
| Atomic-Powered Lifting Suits | ||
| Special exoskeletons that would allow an ordinary human being to walk in doubled gravity. |
How can space explorers walk around easily when the surface gravity of a celestial body is twice that of the Earth?
| "We have those new suits rigged with atomic-powered lifting gadgets, so that'll protect us from the weight, if what our instruments say about that world's true..."
"I'll go check up on those suits and make some adjustments. I hadn't thought they'd have to handle any double-gravity worlds."
 (From 'The Brain Pirates' by John Campbell) "... may I suggest that you make sure you don't get those drive-units in the suits backward? I'd hate to have them sit on me as well as a doubled gravity." Presently he was deeply engrossed in the delicate task of readjusting the tiny atomic-power drive units he had fixed in the space suits... Slowly he turned up the lift-control at his belt. A slow creaking of straps and an unhappy wriggling on [his] part attested to the increasing power of the atomic drive mounted on his suit... "I can't even stand up without the aid of this thing. Let's go." |
| Technovelgy from The Brain Pirates,
by John W. Campbell. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1938 Additional resources -
|
Note that this precedes Heinlein's powered suit by about twenty years. However, it is really not a fully-powered exoskeleton. It appears to be primarily intended for walking, climbing, standing - lower-body muscle amplification.
Upper-body power is specifically not available:
He'd intended to hold them out horizontally in front of him, but the effort, under that gravity, was distinctly uncomfortable.
Penton faced the strange inhabitants and slowly raised both hands above his head in a gesture of friendship.
The Atomic-Powered Lifting Suit is remarkably similar to the Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton (BLEEX), yet another DARPA project.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Brain Pirates
More Ideas
and Technology by John W. Campbell
Tech news articles related to The Brain Pirates
Tech news articles related to works by John W. Campbell
Atomic-Powered Lifting Suits-related
news articles:
- BLEEX: Robotic Exoskeleton Making Strides
- ReWalk Medical Powered Exoskeleton
- HAL Exoskeleton To Assist At Fukushima
- H-MEX Helpful Exoskeleton From Hyundai
| 3D-Printed Exoskeleton Learns From Your Hand |
| Smartwatch Powered By Slime Mold |
| Carpentopod Walking Table |
| Quaise Uses Beams Of Energy To Dig Geothermal Wells |
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'...small electric motors at the principal joints worked the prosthetic framework by means of steel cables...'
'Living protoplasm incorporated into the Ampek F-a2 recording system...'
'Twoflower's Luggage, which was currently ambling along on its little legs...'
'He came to as the ship went into free flight, arching in a high parabola over the plains...'
'The peculiar quality of this light, which gave it its great preeminence over all other penetrating rays...'
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...'
‘Where to, sport?’ the starter at cab relay asked.
