The need for a paradigm shift in the development of military exoskeletons

An exoskeleton is a body-worn mechanical device designed to work in concert with the user to enhance human capabilities. For the dismounted close combatant, an exoskeleton could be worn whilst performing a variety of complex tasks and duties. As such, there is a requirement for the human and the exo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of sport science 2022-01, Vol.22 (1), p.35-42
Main Authors: Mudie, Kurt, Billing, Daniel, Garofolini, Alessandro, Karakolis, Thomas, LaFiandra, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Physiological
Automation
Control algorithms
Design
Exoskeleton Device
Humans
injury and prevention
Kinematics
Metabolism
Military Personnel
Motor control
Movement
policy
technology
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Summary:An exoskeleton is a body-worn mechanical device designed to work in concert with the user to enhance human capabilities. For the dismounted close combatant, an exoskeleton could be worn whilst performing a variety of complex tasks and duties. As such, there is a requirement for the human and the exoskeleton to readily adapt to different movements in different contexts. There have been many attempts to design an exoskeleton to improve the performance of the complex adaptive human system with limited success. Despite a vast investment in time and resources, exoskeletons have not yet been adopted for operational use by military leadership for use by the dismounted close combatant as they are yet to demonstrate substantive augmentation to individual warfighter and collective team capability. We argue that a major limitation of current exoskeleton systems is their inability to concurrently adapt to the user, task and environment. Unless a device can meet this requirement, it is unlikely to offer a comparative benefit to the dismounted close combatant. This paper will present the state of the art of current exoskeleton technology, and recommend future research necessary to reach an acceptable standard of augmentation and thereby lead to widespread adoption.
ISSN:1746-1391
1536-7290
DOI:10.1080/17461391.2021.1923813