Wear it and become "Iron Man"

Excerpted from: Inside and Outside the Classroom, Junior High School Edition: Science Youth

Weekly Issue 3, November 2023

(Total Issue No. 1165)

Text/Chen Zhouzhou

Editor/Shanyu

In the movie "Iron Man", the hero puts on a mechanical suit and becomes a superhero to save the world; in "The Wandering Earth", Liu Qi uses a mechanical arm to open the blocked iron door; in "Batman", Bruce Wayne "transforms" and fights Superman... The equipment that makes the protagonists in these science fiction works powerful are all exoskeleton robots.

Understanding Exoskeletons

Before we talk about exoskeleton robots, let's first understand what an exoskeleton is. Our human skin is soft, and the bones that support the body are wrapped in skin and muscles inside our body. Common animals such as beetles, crabs, and shrimps are covered with a hard shell on their bodies. This shell is the exoskeleton, an external structure that can support and protect the soft internal organs of organisms. These animals are also called exoskeleton organisms. The crab's exoskeleton not only protects it from being bitten by other animals, but its powerful large claws can also be used as weapons to clamp prey. The world's largest terrestrial crab, the coconut crab, can even open coconuts with its bare hands!

Application of exoskeleton robots

The exoskeleton robots in science fiction movies are omnipotent and can go anywhere, but in reality this technology is far from being that powerful. Although it is constantly developing, it still faces major bottlenecks and is currently mainly used in the military, industrial and medical fields.

In the military, exoskeleton robots can enhance soldiers' load-bearing capacity and reduce load-bearing stress and fatigue injuries. After putting on the exoskeleton, equipment and weapons that require several people to carry can now be carried by one person; when soldiers carry heavy objects and walk, they feel that the heavy objects are not heavy on their backs, and they do not feel tired during long marches, which greatly improves their combat capabilities.

In industry, exoskeleton robots can be used in logistics sorting, factory production, construction handling, oil exploration and other fields to assist workers in completing high-intensity and high-risk work, improve workers' work efficiency, reduce load, and reduce the risk of physical injury.

In medicine, exoskeleton robots can be used to assist walking. They can help paralyzed people regain the ability to stand and walk, and can also help stroke patients slowly learn how to walk. In addition, exoskeleton robots can also be used for upper limb rehabilitation training, such as muscle training and recovery training.