Navy Uses Exoskeletons for Shipyard Maintenance
by KRIS OSBORN on AUGUST 22, 2014
The Pentagon has acquired two high-tech exoskeletons designed to make it much easier for Navy shipyard workers to suspend and hold heavy hand-held tools such as riveters, grinders and sanders.
The so-called FORTIS exoskeleton is an unpowered, lightweight exoskeleton that increases an operator’s strength and endurance by transferring the weight of heavy loads from the user’s body directly to the ground, said Adam Miller, director of new initiatives at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
“We’ve been working on exoskeleton technology for over five years. There is interest in enhancing productivity and reducing the time a ship might need to be maintained,” he said.
Alongside FORTIS, the Navy is also examining and testing other domestic exoskeleton developers equipment, Suzanna Brugler, a Navy spokeswoman said.
U.S. Special Operation Command has also started researching the potential use of exoskeletons for the command’s planned Iron Man suit that would provide operators with super human strength on the battlefield. This is a separate program but an example of exoskeletons filtering into day-to-day military operations.
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