Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton
Template:Short description Template:Infobox exoskeleton
The Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton (BLEEX) is a robotic device that attaches to the lower body. Its purpose is to complement the user's strength by adding extra force to the user's lower extremity bodily movements. The BLEEX was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and developed by the Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory, a unit within the University of California, Berkeley Department of Mechanical Engineering. DARPA provided the initial $50 million of start-up funds in 2001.[1] The prototype would be demonstrated at the 2004 DARPA Technical Symposium.[2]
Design
The BLEEX has four hydraulically actuated joints: two at the hip, one at the knee, and one at the ankle. Alongside 3 joints consisting of metal springs and elastomers, which give it 7 degrees of freedom.[3] The BLEEX is energetically autonomous, meaning it has an on-board power supply.[4]
Development later moved to Lockheed Martin, where the device became known as the Human Universal Load Carrier, or HULC.[5][6]
Performance
The BLEEX consumes 1143 watts of hydraulic power during ground-level walking along with another 200 watts of electrical power for electronics. It can support a load of Script error: No such module "convert". while walking at Script error: No such module "convert"., and can walk at up to Script error: No such module "convert". without any load.[4]
References
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- ↑ Singer, Peter W. "How to Be All That You Can Be: A Look at the Pentagon's Five Step Plan For Making Iron Man Real" Template:Webarchive, The Brookings Institution, 2 May 2008.
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