Exoskeleton lightens the load

Researchers in the MIT Media Lab's Biomechatronics Group have created a device to lighten the burden for soldiers and others who carry heavy packs and equipment.

Their invention, known as an exoskeleton, can support much of the weight of a heavy backpack and transfer that weight directly to the ground, effectively taking a load off the back of the person wearing the device.

The researchers' prototype can successfully take on 80 percent of a 36.4kg load carried on a person's back, but there's one catch: the current model impedes the natural walking gait of the person wearing it.

'You can definitely tell it's affecting your gait,' said Conor Walsh, a graduate student who worked on the project, but 'you do feel it taking the load off and you definitely feel less stress on your upper body.'

The research team was led by Hugh Herr, principal investigator of the Biomechatronics Group and associate professor in the MIT Media Lab. Earlier this summer, Herr and his colleagues unveiled the world's first robotic ankle for lower-limb amputees.