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Re:Robotic suit could usher in super soldier era by blogimus on Thursday May 15, 2008 @04:03PM (#190860)
But it is not going to happen anytime soon without a major breakthrough in battery technology. I don't know much about battery technology except that I keep hearing the challenges are tremendous. I dream of the little walnut sized atomic power plants Asimov described in the Foundation books.

From the article:

"Before the technology can become practical, the developers must overcome cost barriers and extend the suit's battery life. Jameson was tethered to power cords during his demonstration because the current battery lasts just 30 minutes."

Re:Robotic suit could usher in super soldier era by donw on Thursday May 15, 2008 @04:17PM (#190883)
The same sort of breakthrough is needed for not-powered-by-gasoline cars, so it's not like it's not a being-worked-on problem. :) This seems like a good application for fuel cells, actually, given that the energy density is five or ten times that of the best chemical batteries.