Talos And Other Non Chinese Powered Exoskeletons

• Advanced Armor: Materials to support next generation full-body ballistic protection
• Mobility/Agility: Enhancement platforms such as powered exoskeletons
• Situational Awareness (SA)
• Light/noise discipline
• Command, Control, Communications & Computers (e.g., conformable and wearable antennae and wearable computers)
• Individual soldier combat ready displays including non-visual means of information display
• Power generation and management
• Thermal management of suit occupant
• Embedded Medical monitoring and biomechanical modeling

TerraN_EmpirE said:

This may be the Revision Talos system demonstrator.
The objectives of that program

• Advanced Armor: Materials to support next generation full-body ballistic protection
• Mobility/Agility: Enhancement platforms such as powered exoskeletons
• Situational Awareness (SA)
• Light/noise discipline
• Command, Control, Communications & Computers (e.g., conformable and wearable antennae and wearable computers)
• Individual soldier combat ready displays including non-visual means of information display
• Power generation and management
• Thermal management of suit occupant
• Embedded Medical monitoring and biomechanical modeling

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‘Iron Man’ Suit’s Process Important to DoD, Official Says
By Jim Garamone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

MacDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., Feb. 4, 2015 – The Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit is being designed to give protection and capabilities to U.S. special operators, but the process of designing it may be as revolutionary as the suit itself, said U.S. Special Operations Command officials.

TALOS started 18 months ago, after incidents downrange caused SOCOM to take a hard look at how special operators are outfitted.

“We’ve put a lot of great technology on the battlefield, but have we really taken a step back and taken a clean sheet and said for the next five, 10, 15 years do we need what we’ve got now, or do are there other game-changing technologies we can incorporate?” James Geurts, Socom’s acquisition executive, said during a recent interview.

TALOS is an Important Program

Geurts said there are two fundamental reasons for the TALOS program. The first is the most obvious -- DoD needs to examine new ways to protect and enable special operations service members.

“It’s not just body armor; it’s all the things that go into that,” he said.

This includes sensors, heads-up displays, an exoskeleton to reduce the load special operators carry, medical sensors, and much, much more.

The second reason keys on the question, “Are there new ways we can redesign how we acquire capability for the force?” Geurts asked.

Geurts used the examples of Kickstarter and collaborative crowd-sourced designs. He also pointed to the strides 3D printing/manufacturing has made.

Appreciation of Technology

Special Operations Command is uniquely positioned to do both, he said. “We’re a joint force, we value technology, we’ve got inherent capabilities to acquire it, and we have a long history of always looking to exploit whatever is available rapidly and get it on the battlefield,” Geurts said.

The Army, Navy and Air Force have responsibility to man, train and equip forces. The services and defense agencies have their own acquisition systems, with their own strengths and weaknesses, just like Socom.

“The key to me, is how do we take the strengths of both -- just like we do operationally -- so we’re both better,” Geurts said.

Socom’s advantages include nimbleness, agility and adaptability, Geurts said. The service branches, he added, have the advantage of scale, amplification, large networks and deep benches.

Small, Joint Acquisition Task Force

The TALOS effort is a good example of what Socom can bring to the acquisition process, Geurts said. The command has a small joint acquisition task force concentrating on the suit. They have opened the process up to an incredible number of companies, government agencies and entities and academia. They also held a “rapid prototyping event” last year, he said, that brought together all these players. It allowed the range of people to exchange the range of experiences, products and processes.

The hands-on event strengthened the network that has grown up around the suit, Geurts said. This acquisition strategy has worked beautifully for TALOS, he said, which has made tremendous progress.

“If we can close the distance between operator, acquirer, technologist, then I can create things that each would not independently create on their own,” he said. “[We’re] always worried about not providing a solution to the operator because they didn’t know to ask for it or not taking advantage of technology because I didn’t know how [the operators] could use it.”

“The real strength is the network,” Geurts said. “I’m not a person who thinks we should find one perfect acquisition process. I don’t think it exists. We buy a multitude of things. At Socom, what I’m looking for is: How do I have a multitude of tools and an acquisition workforce that knows which tool to pick for the job?”

Creating the next aircraft would probably call for a disciplined acquisition process that looks hard at the requirements and the trade-offs, Geurts said. Replacing a sensor on an aircraft, he added, may call for a more agile and adaptable process.

Tailored for Invention, Not Acquisition

“If I’m inventing something that doesn’t exist, neither of those processes is likely the best,” Geurts said. “TALOS is putting together another tool we haven’t fully exploited in DoD that’s tailored for invention, not acquisition.”

For this process the question becomes how does Socom “crowd-source from all entities of government, industry and academia and form partners and leverage all that to get a diverse input,” Geurts said.

TALOS has attracted companies and entities not used to working within a DoD system. “The wider and more diverse the players, the greater the solution set we can come up with,” he said.

Another question Socom is wrestling with is how to create “rolling collaboration events” and not just a “once-and-done,” Geurts said.

TALOS already has spun off 12 or 14 things that are a by-product of the research. “The end-product is certainly important, but the new things we acquire along the way and the new processes we develop are just as important,” he said.

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Military exosuits have unrecognized potential at sea, report finds

By Thomas Gibbons-Neff
The Washington Post
Published: January 14, 2015

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This Lockheed Martin suit is designed to allow users to carry heavy machinery and tools.
LOCKHEED MARTIN
WASHINGTON — It's no secret that U.S. armed forces are working on high-tech robotic suits, known as exosuits, to enhance the average service member's capabilities and develop the military's very own Iron Man. But while many are excited about the potential of an army of Tony Starks vanquishing the free world's enemies, a new report by the Center for a New American Security suggests exosuits have unrecognized potential when it comes to humanitarian assistance and ship-based operations.

The 28-page report, "Between Iron Man and Aqua Man: Exosuit Opportunities in Maritime Operations," suggests that exosuits technology will be available within five years and could greatly benefit U.S. maritime operations. It finds that "damage control is the application with the greatest opportunity for capability enhancement and that use in deck operations and maintenance would provide major cost savings."

The report's authors, Navy Lt. Scott Cheney-Peters and Andrew Herr, come with vested interests in the subject. Cheney-Peters is a surface warfare officer in the Navy Reserve. Herr is the chief executive of Mind Plus Matter, a human performance consulting firm, and Helicase, a technology consultancy.

But the two view exosuits as the way of the future — technology that will allow sailors to do more with less on ships that are damaged, repairing and resupplying at sea. Imagine a shipping container overturning in rough seas, or a fire below decks. Instead of having teams of people or large pieces of equipment deployed, one or two sailors outfitted with specifically equipped exosuits could do the job.

"More importantly, the benefits from accelerating these functions would only increase during military operations. Getting ships back to the fight sooner is particularly valuable," the report says.

Aside from ship-based operations, Herr and Cheney-Peters highlight the potential of exosuits in humanitarian missions and expeditionary base construction. They technology could play an integral role in moving large amounts of equipment and providing support during operations that might be strapped for resources.

Implementing exosuits as a force multiplier, however, could also have drawbacks. Unpredictable ship movements at sea, rust in saltwater environments and the need for a constant power supply would possibly push the Navy to modify aspects of their fleet and operating procedures to accommodate suits on ship and for shore-based operations.


"In addition to tailoring suits to naval applications it may eventually become worth to subtly tailor ship design to improve exosuit effectiveness," the report says.

To control costs, the report suggests the implementation of a single type of exosuit that could be outfitted for various missions. Its development program, the authors say, could be led by the Navy, possibly in conjunction with the Coast Guard.

"If the Navy tries to jointly develop a suit with the Army, it will likely be burdened with the cost of the requirements necessitated by operating in a land environment away from reliable power sources, almost certainly skewering the cost-benefit analysis against this promising technology for maritime applications."

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EKSO BIONICS(TM) SECURES SECOND PHASE OF U.S. SPECIAL OPERATION COMMAND'S TALOS PROJECT

AWARD LEVERAGES COMPANY'S UNIQUE EXOSKELETON EXPERTISE AND STRENGTHENS IP PORTFOLIO
RICHMOND, Calif., Jan. 22, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ekso Bionics Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:EKSO), a robotic exoskeleton company, announced that their leading work on the first phase of the TALOS project resulted in a grant to expand their involvement into the second phase of the project. United States Special Operation Command (SOCOM) announced last year that it was working to create a wearable uniform, which provides superhuman capabilities with superior mobility and protection, for their Special Operations Forces. This project involves four phases, with the second phase to be delivered in the latter part of 2015. With the second phase of the project, this contract marks over $35 million in total third party funded development work done by the Ekso Bionics engineering team.

"We are honored and excited to continue to play such an integral role in the TALOS project for SOCOM," says President of Ekso Labs and Co-founder of Ekso Bionics, Russ Angold. "Building on the success of our first phase, we are doubling our efforts this year to accelerate the development of an advanced exoskeleton that will deliver super human capabilities to SOCOM. In addition to working with world-class partners, our ten-year history of exoskeleton development is a huge advantage on a fast paced project like TALOS. Not only can we leverage our extensive IP portfolio, built in large part by similar projects, but we have a diverse knowledge base from developing exoskeletons for medical, industrial, and military applications, which allows us to quickly push the technology to the next level."

Some elements of the suit's development are more complicated than others; the role that Ekso Bionics has been tasked with is among the most difficult — to create a light, strong exoskeleton with a full range of motion. To address this challenge, Ekso Bionics has teamed with Stanford University's OpenSim, a state-of-the-art simulation software network, and the Robotics Program at SRI International, a leading research center with a history of developing world-changing innovations. SRI's cross-disciplinary team offers advanced manipulation solutions and component technologies at the forefront of robotics R&D and has played a critical role in developing companies such as Intuitive Surgical®.

"This is an important challenge that can improve user mobility and protection," says Rich Mahoney, Director, SRI Robotics. "We are excited to team with Ekso Bionics and eager to share our expertise and technical capabilities to create a new generation of high-performance exoskeletons."

Ekso Bionics designs, develops, and commercializes exoskeletons, or wearable robots, which have a variety of applications in the medical, military, industrial, and consumer markets. Exoskeletons are ready-to-wear, battery-powered robots that are strapped over the user's clothing, enabling individuals to achieve mobility, strength, and endurance not otherwise possible.

Ekso Bionics' lead product, EksoTM, is a wearable bionics suit that enables individuals with any amount of lower extremity weakness to stand up and walk over ground. Ekso Bionics is forging a new frontier in rehabilitation for people living with the consequences of stroke, spinal cord injury, and other neurological conditions affecting gait.

About SRI International

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is a leader in research and development whose innovations have created new industries, extraordinary marketplace value and lasting benefits to society. SRI Robotics provides new component technologies for robotics and automation, and is a leading developer of robot platforms for medical, manufacturing, and healthcare markets.

About Ekso Bionics (OTCQB:EKSO)

Since 2005, Ekso Bionics (

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) has been pioneering the field of robotic exoskeletons, or wearable robots, to augment human strength, endurance and mobility. The company's first commercially available product called Ekso has helped thousands of people living with paralysis take millions of steps not otherwise possible. By designing and creating some of the most forward-thinking and innovative solutions for people looking to augment human capabilities, Ekso Bionics is helping people rethink current physical limitations and achieve the remarkable.

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Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements regarding (i) the plans and objectives of management for future operations, including plans or objectives relating to the design, development and commercialization of human exoskeletons, (ii) a projection of financial results, financial condition, capital expenditures, capital structure or other financial items, (iii) the Company's future financial performance and (iv) the assumptions underlying or relating to any statement described in points (i), (ii) or (iii) above. Such forward-looking statements are not meant to predict or guarantee actual results, performance, events or circumstances and may not be realized because they are based upon the Company's current projections, plans, objectives, beliefs, expectations, estimates and assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties and other influences, many of which the Company has no control over. Actual results and the timing of certain events and circumstances may differ materially from those described by the forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties. Factors that may influence or contribute to the inaccuracy of the forward-looking statements or cause actual results to differ materially from expected or desired results may include, without limitation, the Company's inability to obtain adequate financing to fund the Company's operations and necessary to develop or enhance our technology, the significant length of time and resources associated with the development of the Company's products, the Company's failure to achieve broad market acceptance of the Company's products, the failure of our sales and marketing organization or partners to market our products effectively, adverse results in future clinical studies of the Company's medical device products, the failure to obtain or maintain patent protection for the Company's technology, failure to obtain or maintain regulatory approval to market the Company's medical devices, lack of product diversification, existing or increased competition, and the Company's failure to implement the Company's business plans or strategies. These and other factors are identified and described in more detail in the Company's filings with the SEC. To learn more about Ekso Bionics please visit us at

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. The Company does not undertake to update these forward-looking statements.

CONTACT: Media Contact:
Heidi Darling, Director of Marketing Communications
Phone: 415.302.4777
[email protected]

Investor Contact:
Lauren Glaser, Vice President
Phone: 646.378.2972
[email protected]
Source: Ekso Bionics
Released January 22, 2015

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Japan Wants Exo Suits For Its Soldiers
DECEMBER 29, 2014
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As 2014 drew to a close, Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MOD)

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request for next year on its website.

The detailed 60-page document is an accessible list of critical and sundry investments for Japan’s Self Defense Forces (SDF). Much of it is connected with deterring Chinese encroachment on Japan’s territorial waters.

There are also abundant R&D programs for future weapons.

And then, on page 35, sandwiched between funding for surface-to-air missiles and pouring even more funding to universities for dual-use technology, is a very peculiar requirement.


It reads:

Research on highly mobile powered suits (¥0.9 billion)

Implement research on highly mobile powered suits which enables SDF personnel wearing/carrying personal equipment to take quick and agile actions

A small illustration beneath the text portrays a squad of marines landing on a beach and a rescuer carrying a civilian in a ruined post-natural disaster city.

This $7.4 million initiative is among six special projects related to the SDF’s need for a serious offensive capability, one it doesn’t possess. So money is now being earmarked for these special projects that, according to the budget request, “Promote technological research and development.”

Industry Responds

Although powered mobile suits, also known as exoskeletons, are available commercially, these are expensive and often prototypes. In public life, the limited selection of exoskeletons are meant for people with mobility issues.

But leading corporations have embraced exoskeletons, or wearable robots, to assist laborers in the manufacturing sector and other industrial settings. Lockheed Martin has

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, while South Korea’s Daewoo developed its own exoskeleton for its shipyard workers.

Japan is predictably a leader in wearable robotics, with companies like Panasonic and

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having showcased separate models. Exoskeletons are often pet projects of major Japanese universities, making these breakthroughs easily accessible for the MOD.

The idea of an exoskeleton also resonates with the general public. Long a trope of science fiction novels, comics, video games, and movies, an exoskeleton symbolizes the ultimate tool for overcoming a human’s physical limits.

A Global Trend

In recent years, however, some corporations have begun publicizing their own efforts to develop exoskeletons for military use.

Hyundai Rotem, the subsidiary of South Korean vehicle manufacturer Hyundai, is

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what it calls “Wearable robots for Military.”

Earlier in 2014, the US’ own SOCOM started

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input from manufacturers for its TALOS program. It’s an armored suit that give commandos additional strength and endurance during operations.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) is allegedly cultivating a

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project of its own. In Europe, France’s industrial complex is keen on exoskeletons too.

The

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exoskeleton by RB3D is marketed as a dual-use system for performing multiple tasks involving loads.

But so far, none of these systems are used by soldiers in real missions. Lockheed Martin’s own

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a 53-pound lower body suit for hauling extra gear during cross-country patrols, never found its intended customer. (The US Army.)

It deserves mention that the Japanese SDF’s aspiration for “highly mobile powered suits” is part of the budget request and not yet an item in the official budget, which is released during a later date.

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TerraN_EmpirE said:

a couple exoskelitons that need no power.

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