Written by: Beck
In a scene from The Matrix Revolutions, a huge battle is fought between machines and humans, with the humans wearing huge mechanical combat suits (APUs, or Armored Personnel Units, for those who care) straight out of dozens of mech warrior style computer games.
That future is closer than you think. This is some great stuff:
"The design of this exoskeleton really benefits from human intellect and the strength of the machine," says Homayoon Kazerooni, who directs the Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory at the University of California-Berkeley.
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More than 40 sensors and hydraulic mechanisms function like a human nervous system, constantly calculating how to distribute the weight being borne and create a minimal load for the wearer.
"There is no joystick, no keyboard, no push button to drive the device," says Kazerooni, a professor of mechanical engineering. "The pilot becomes an integral part of the exoskeleton."