Not just for military use, drones turn civilian
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Future soldiers may be wearing 'Iron Man' suits
Salt Lake City, Utah (CNN) -- A lunchtime crowd is gathering beside the parking lot at Raytheon Sarcos, the defense contractor, on a recent day in Salt Lake City. White-collar workers from nearby office parks stand with their yogurt cups and sandwiches, watching with quiet awe as a man in a metal suit -- sort of half-man, half-robot -- performs superhuman feats of strength.
This may be the closest these people will get to a real-life "Iron Man," the character from the comic books and hit movies. Inside a prosthetic shell of metal and hydraulics, Raytheon test engineer Rex Jameson is putting an XOS-2 exoskeleton through its paces. As the crowd watches, Jameson uses his robot hydraulic arm to shadowbox, break three inches of pine boards and toss around 72-pound ammunition cases like a bored contestant on the "World's Strongest Man." The suit moves as he moves and amplifies his strength 17-fold. It doesn't fly though. | 11-10-2010 | Science & Technology | |
Not just for military use, drones turn civilian
![]() Farnborough, England (CNN) -- They are now a familiar presence in war zones, but if manufacturers have their way, skies over civilians heads will soon be busy with unmanned vehicles.
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