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Everyone loves a good superhero, even the military. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that a few crime fighting icons have been a source of inspiration for the military. There is always on-going research being done to improve the technology and gear soldiers utilize. The following post describes a few of the latest developments and how characters like The Hulk, Ironman, Spiderman and Batman have influenced them.
Ironman: Ammunition Carriage System
According to an article posted by the U.S. Army, the Ironman ammunition carrier was created after a discussion by soldiers in the Iowa National Guard who had recently partaken in a lengthy firefight in Afghanistan. The soldiers jokingly suggested that instead of struggling to carry their ammunition through rough terrain, they should use something like Jesse Ventura did in the movie Predator. From that, Staff Sgt. Vincent Winkowski decided to pursue the idea.
The article states, Winkowski grabbed an old ALICE (all-purpose lightweight individual carrying equipment) frame, welded two ammunition cans together one atop the other after cutting the bottom out of the top can and strapped the fused cans to the frame. To that he added a MOLLE (modular, lightweight load-carrying equipment) pouch to carry other equipment. Pictures of the prototype and a request for information were then sent to the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command. After only 48 days and some improvements made by the Quick Reaction Cell of the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, or NSRDEC, a prototype was sent to Afghanistan. As of February 2013, approximately 100 of the Ironman prototypes had been sent to Afghanistan for use with the M240B machine gun.
The HULC: Human Universal Load Carrier
Image Source: DefenseReview.com
The HULC was developed to give soldiers the ability to carry loads of up to 200 lbs over varying types of terrain with minimal strain on their bodies . The HULC was originally developed by Berkeley Bionics (now Ekso Bionics) in 2008 with Lockheed Martin acquiring the design licence from Berkeley in 2009.
According to Army Technology, the HULC 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 design is adjustable to suit users with a height of 54″ to 62″.
The exoskeleton doesnt 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 users requirement and adapt to the situation accordingly.
The HULC 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.
Image Source: PopularMechanics.com
Spiderman: The Sucking Ascender Helps Soldiers Scale Walls
In August of 2012, students from 17 different universities took on the challenge of creating a vertical ascender for the AFRL Design Challenge. Teams were given $20,000 and nine months to complete the project. The winning design was created by students from Utah State University.
The ascender is made up of hand pads that can stick to a wall through battery powered suction and two electric motors. It allows a soldier weighing up to 200 lbs with an additional 100 lbs of gear to quickly scale a wall vertically or even horizontally. The electric motors create a sucking power of 3.5 pounds per square inch and the rechargeable batteries enable the device to be run for up to a half hour.
The problem with the device is that it is quite loud and substantially heavy, weighing in at around 45 lbs. The team was asked to continue to develop the device to minimize these issues.
Batman: Battlefield Air Targeting Man-Aided kNowledge
Image Source: TechNewsDaily.com
BATMAN is the military program designed to help reduce the weight and physical load of gear carried by the U.S. Special Operations Forces. In many cases, soldiers must carry loads of up to 160 lbs, decreasing the effectiveness and success of their missions. As a result of a fatal incident occurring in Afghanistan due in parts to an improperly initialized piece of equipment, the BATMAN program was developed to ensure such a scenario would not be repeated.
According to an article from Tech News Daily:
Although there is no Batsuit per se, the BATMAN program does center around what Daniels called the human chassis, or the idea of the body as a scaffold for all of a missions appropriate gear.
For example, components such as communications antennas have been placed closer to the torso rather than at distances that can tax a soldiers balance, Daniels said.
A key BATMAN achievement has been reducing the weight of carried batteries by 25 percent. New fuel cells powered by methanol actually get lighter as the methanol is consumed, Daniels said, so instead of toting drained batteries, a soldiers load decreases over time.
BATMAN has additionally pioneered the use of a small, chest-mounted computer to provide warriors with real-time logistical and tactical information. Speech recognition , or telling ones equipment what to do which is arguably more Inspector Gadget than Batman is also in the works.
From Comic Books to Combat | Capewell
Ironman: Ammunition Carriage System
According to an article posted by the U.S. Army, the Ironman ammunition carrier was created after a discussion by soldiers in the Iowa National Guard who had recently partaken in a lengthy firefight in Afghanistan. The soldiers jokingly suggested that instead of struggling to carry their ammunition through rough terrain, they should use something like Jesse Ventura did in the movie Predator. From that, Staff Sgt. Vincent Winkowski decided to pursue the idea.
The article states, Winkowski grabbed an old ALICE (all-purpose lightweight individual carrying equipment) frame, welded two ammunition cans together one atop the other after cutting the bottom out of the top can and strapped the fused cans to the frame. To that he added a MOLLE (modular, lightweight load-carrying equipment) pouch to carry other equipment. Pictures of the prototype and a request for information were then sent to the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command. After only 48 days and some improvements made by the Quick Reaction Cell of the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, or NSRDEC, a prototype was sent to Afghanistan. As of February 2013, approximately 100 of the Ironman prototypes had been sent to Afghanistan for use with the M240B machine gun.
The HULC: Human Universal Load Carrier
Image Source: DefenseReview.com
The HULC was developed to give soldiers the ability to carry loads of up to 200 lbs over varying types of terrain with minimal strain on their bodies . The HULC was originally developed by Berkeley Bionics (now Ekso Bionics) in 2008 with Lockheed Martin acquiring the design licence from Berkeley in 2009.
According to Army Technology, the HULC 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 design is adjustable to suit users with a height of 54″ to 62″.
The exoskeleton doesnt 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 users requirement and adapt to the situation accordingly.
The HULC 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.
Image Source: PopularMechanics.com
Spiderman: The Sucking Ascender Helps Soldiers Scale Walls
In August of 2012, students from 17 different universities took on the challenge of creating a vertical ascender for the AFRL Design Challenge. Teams were given $20,000 and nine months to complete the project. The winning design was created by students from Utah State University.
The ascender is made up of hand pads that can stick to a wall through battery powered suction and two electric motors. It allows a soldier weighing up to 200 lbs with an additional 100 lbs of gear to quickly scale a wall vertically or even horizontally. The electric motors create a sucking power of 3.5 pounds per square inch and the rechargeable batteries enable the device to be run for up to a half hour.
The problem with the device is that it is quite loud and substantially heavy, weighing in at around 45 lbs. The team was asked to continue to develop the device to minimize these issues.
Batman: Battlefield Air Targeting Man-Aided kNowledge
Image Source: TechNewsDaily.com
BATMAN is the military program designed to help reduce the weight and physical load of gear carried by the U.S. Special Operations Forces. In many cases, soldiers must carry loads of up to 160 lbs, decreasing the effectiveness and success of their missions. As a result of a fatal incident occurring in Afghanistan due in parts to an improperly initialized piece of equipment, the BATMAN program was developed to ensure such a scenario would not be repeated.
According to an article from Tech News Daily:
Although there is no Batsuit per se, the BATMAN program does center around what Daniels called the human chassis, or the idea of the body as a scaffold for all of a missions appropriate gear.
For example, components such as communications antennas have been placed closer to the torso rather than at distances that can tax a soldiers balance, Daniels said.
A key BATMAN achievement has been reducing the weight of carried batteries by 25 percent. New fuel cells powered by methanol actually get lighter as the methanol is consumed, Daniels said, so instead of toting drained batteries, a soldiers load decreases over time.
BATMAN has additionally pioneered the use of a small, chest-mounted computer to provide warriors with real-time logistical and tactical information. Speech recognition , or telling ones equipment what to do which is arguably more Inspector Gadget than Batman is also in the works.
From Comic Books to Combat | Capewell
