Meet Soldier’s Best Friend

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The Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) is a hydraulic-powered exoskeleton suit intended to support soldiers on the battlefield and allow them to transport heavy loads for extended periods of time without the usual exhaustion that would come with such a task.

This exoskeleton suit is built by Lockheed Martin to transfer the weight to the frame and reduce the risk of injury to the user. The design has also been developed to allow the individual wearer to retain full range of motion while also being compatible with other technology such as armour, heating and cooling systems as well as a range of custom attachments, according to pocket-lint.com.

The HULC enables soldiers to carry loads up to 200lb (91kg). The weight of the load gets transferred to the ground through the shoes of the exoskeleton. It has an anthropomorphic design and a titanium body. It is un-tethered and flexible enough to allow for squatting, crawling and upper-body lifting of the user. The system weighs 53lb (24kg) without batteries. The exoskeleton doesn’t require any external control mechanism as it is controlled by a micro-computer installed within the system. The computer enables the HULC to sense the user’s requirement and adapt to the situation accordingly.

The system can be removed and packed-up in 30 seconds. The modular components of the system can be swapped when the warfighter is in danger and needs greater mobility to escape from the enemy, according to army-technology.com.

The system has various mission-specific attachments.

The exoskeleton operates on lithium polymer batteries. The power-saving feature enables the system to support maximum load even when the battery power is low.