Enlarge / Sarcos Robotics' Guardian XO is the closest thing we've seen in real life to the Power Loader Lieutenant Ripley used to such good effect in 1986's Aliens. (credit: 20th Century Fox)
The most interesting thing we saw at the Consumer Electronics Show this year was the back side of Delta Airlines' exhibit, where some Sarcos Robotics folks were putting the Guardian XO—a powered industrial exoskeleton—through its paces, and the adventurous (and patient) could wait for half an hour or so in line to operate one disembodied arm of the Guardian attached to a 50-pound suitcase.
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We took this photo of an operator demonstrating movement and work in the Guardian XO at the Delta exhibit at CES. [credit: Jim Salter ]
Unfortunately, neither Sarcos nor Delta were about to let any journalists inside an actual Guardian XO. They had good reason, though—which became abundantly clear after we took a test run with a disembodied, statically mounted Guardian XO right arm. The suits aren't just designed to be incredibly strong—they're also designed for long-term, ergonomically correct operation that won't destroy backs and knees the way a career in the military or heavy industry tends to. That's great if you're a trained professional trying not to injure yourself—not so great if you're a random enthusiast suddenly given 20:1 muscular amplification in a densely packed crowd of thousands.
That term—20:1 muscular amplification—is a little misleading. The Guardian XO isn't really 20 times as strong as a construction worker. The promotional materials we've seen rate the exosuit for weights that aren't out of the question for a very strong human—200lbs total, 100lbs per arm, 50lbs per arm at full extension—but inside the Guardian XO, you're handling those weights while working no harder than you might in a light office environment.
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