Key Technologies and Prospects of Individual Combat Exoskeleton

Abstract

With the development of modern warfare, the load-carrying of the soldier is more and more heavy. The overload affects the soldier's ability and readiness and causes acute and chronic musculoskeletal injuries. Exoskeleton can greatly reduce the oxygen consumption of the soldiers and support energy for transferring, running, and jumping, and enhance locomotor and operational capability of the soldiers. The Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton (BLEEX), Raytheon XOS, Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC), and Hybrid Assisted Limb (HAL) are the most typical exoskeleton robots. The first three are individual combat exoskeletons in support of U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The HAL is mainly used for civilian. We research and analyze the structural characteristics and joints movement of the lower limb and structural design, power system, control system, and so on key technologies of those four exoskeletons. At last, we predict the trend of prospective individual combat exoskeleton. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014.