TASSY P2P FORUMS

Five years ago, New Scientist covered plans by the Pentagon’s research arm, DARPA, to build a robotic exoskeleton that would let GIs run faster, leap further and carry more. It was an interesting and ambitious idea - the plan was to have a miniature internal combustion engine moving each powered joint. But we heard no more about it and I just assumed the notion had been quietly dropped.

Far from it. I recently spoke to John Main, chief of DARPA’s exoskeleton program. He says the project is very much alive and that exoskeletons will be delivered for Army testing in 2008