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"I am first of all not a science fiction writer … I write, I suppose, what the Latin Americans call magic realism."
- Harlan Ellison
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| Powered Armor (or Powered Suit) | ||
| An armored suit that magnifies the power of the soldier's muscles, along with other weapons. |
How can you fight alien bugs with superior strength and agility, not to mention a tough exoskeleton. Why, with your own powered "exoskeleton," of course.
| Our suits give us better eyes, better ears, stronger backs (to carry heavier weapons and more ammo), better legs, more intelligence (in the military meaning...), more firepower, greater endurance, less vulnerability.
 (Power Suit from 'Starship Troopers' by Robert Heinlein) A suit isn't a space suit - although it can serve as one. it is not primarily armor - although the Knights of the Round Table were not armored as well as we are. It isn't a tank - but a single M.I. [Mobile Infantry] private could take on a squadron of those things and knock them off unassisted... ...Suited up, you look like a big steel gorilla, armed with gorilla-sized weapons. The real genius in the design is that you don't have to control the suit; you just wear it, like your clothes, like skin. The secret lies in negative feedback and amplification. |
| Technovelgy from Starship Troopers,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons in 1959 Additional resources -
|
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative research proposals on Exoskeletons for Human Performance Augmentation (EHPA). The overall goal of this program is to develop devices and machines that will increase the speed, strength, and endurance of soldiers in combat environments. Projects will lead to self-powered, controllable, wearable exoskeletal devices and/or machines.
Heinlein borrowed and expanded on the idea of self-powered space armor from E.E. "Doc" Smith's novels of the late 1930's. I think that the specific idea of controlling it with negative feedback from the wearer's own movements is Heinlein's.
Also, note that the powered suit has a heads-up display.
Compare to the medical exoskeleton from A Specter is Haunting Texas (1968) by Fritz Leiber and the smart suit from Destination (1987) by Iain Banks.
Here's how it works, minus the diagrams. The inside of the suit is a mass of pressure receptors, hundreds of them. You push with the heel of your hand; the suit feels it, amplifies it, pushes with you to take the pressure off the receptors that gave the order to push.
You're a bit late to make the deadline, but here is the request for proposals from DARPA for EXOSKELETONS FOR HUMAN PERFORMANCE AUGMENTATION (EHPA):
PROGRAM OBJECTIVE AND DESCRIPTION:
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Starship Troopers
More Ideas
and Technology by Robert Heinlein
Tech news articles related to Starship Troopers
Tech news articles related to works by Robert Heinlein
Powered Armor (or Powered Suit)-related
news articles:
- DARPA Wants Exoskeletons
- HAL-5 Robot Suit
- HAL Robotic Suit Ready For Production
- Power Pedal Exoskeleton From Matsushita
- Sarcos Exoskeleton Video
- Human Universal Load Carrier Exoskeleton From Berkeley Bionics
- Robotic Suit For Farmers In Japan
- Warrior Web Exoskeleton For Soldiers Undergoes Tests
- Korea's Avatar Robot
- TALOS Exoskeleton Development Proceeding
- Russia Working On Military Exoskeletons
- 'Power Clothing' - The Seismic 'Super Suit'
- ROAM Robotics Skiing Exoskeleton
- 'Warrior Suit' Combat Exoskeleton Project Still Alive
| Liquid Body Armor For TALOS Exoskeleton |
| DIY Taser-Proof Clothing |
| Look Great In Your Garrison Bespoke Bulletproof Suit |
| Bionic Body Armor Makes You Dodge Bullets |
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'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
'...I saw a nice black heavy-looking cloud sailing by just now, and I can get the electrical machine out in five minutes to draw it down.'
'From a distance it could resolve the cosmic rays reflected from various substances.'
'The answer to the dumb student's prayer.'
'He had travelled the space-lanes of the solar system for the greater part of his life...'
'The dinner was excellent. It was completely vegetarian — grown in specially prepared gardens in this Moon base...'
'Telepaths had their sensitiveness enlarged to an immense range by the pin-sets, which were telepathic amplifiers adapted to the mammal mind.'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
'But he didn't get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts. George winced...'
