Real-Life 'Iron Man Suit' Developed by Raytheon

by Jordan Yerman | September 28, 2010 at 09:47 am

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Raytheon Unveils 'Iron Man Suit'

Raytheon Company has revealed the XOS 2, a second-generation "Iron Man suit" The powered exoskeleton allows a user to lift and carry several times the normal human capacity, as well as punch through solid objects.

The Raytheon suit is driven by hydraulics that respond fast enough for the wearer to punch a speed bag or kick a soccer ball.

Developed for the US military, the XOS 2 was demonstrated with Paramount Home Entertainment as a tie-in with the Iron Man 2 DVD release.

"XOS 1 was essentially a proof of concept," said Fraser Smith, vice president of operations for Raytheon Sarcos. "With XOS 2, we targeted power consumption and looked for ways to use the hydraulic energy more efficiently. That's resulted in us being able to add capabilities while significantly reducing power consumption."

More Than One Iron Man Suit Out There

However, Raytheon is by no means the first in the field. Japan's forebodingly-named Cyberdyne Inc. is producing the HAL-5 (Hydraulic Assisted Limb) System, which debuted in 2008. Cyberdine goes so far as to call the HAL-5 suit a "cyborg": they supply the robotics, you supply the living tissue. To be fair, Cyberdine's suit looks more like Iron Man than Raytheon's. Neither is weaponized. Yet.

The question is: which robot suit would win in a fight: the XOS 2 or the HAL-5?