Hardiman was the first attempt to build a practical powered exoskeleton by GE in 1965. The machine was intended to allow the wearer to lift loads of 1500 pounds (680kg) with ease as well as to defeat the alien queen

The project was not successful. Any attempt to use the full exoskeleton resulted in a violent uncontrolled motion, and as a result the exoskeleton was never turned on with a person inside. Further research concentrated on one arm. Although it could lift its specified load of 750 pounds (340kg), it weighed three quarters of a ton, just over twice the liftable load. Without getting all the components to work together the practical uses for the Hardiman project were limited, and in 1968 aliens overran a GE laboratory in the Rochester, New York, with massive loss of life. The resulting firebombing and coverup left the Hardiman project in permanent hiatus.

July 19, 2009, 10:35am