[Popular Science of Chinese Military Technology] The exoskeleton in the movie "The Wandering Earth" already exists in reality

"The Wandering Earth 2" once again made people cheer for domestic science fiction movies. The various science fiction equipment that appeared in the film naturally became the talk of movie fans and military fans. As a science fiction movie, the equipment in "The Wandering Earth 2" is very "realistic". For example, the human exoskeleton that frequently appears in the movie, whether it is construction workers, service personnel carrying equipment, or military personnel performing combat missions, exoskeletons seem to have become the universal equipment of the "The Wandering Earth 2" era. The exoskeletons in "The Wandering Earth" have a lot of shadows of real equipment.

Caption: This is an exoskeleton with external extensions, which is a powered exoskeleton device

In real life, exoskeletons are gradually approaching us. Whether it is military applications or production and life, we are exploring the development of exoskeletons. Exoskeletons can be divided into two categories: civilian and military in terms of use. In terms of power, they can be divided into powered and unpowered. Powered exoskeletons can be further classified according to whether they are equipped with artificial intelligence. It can be said that the subdivisions are clear and the development context is diverse. The movie "The Wandering Earth" allows us to truly see the different application scenarios of exoskeletons.

Regardless of the type of exoskeleton, its purpose is to enhance and improve the function or ability of the human body. In life, exoskeletons can restore limb function for people with physical disabilities or elderly people with physical disabilities, help them recover and restore their ability to take care of themselves. At work, especially for workers who need high-intensity physical labor, exoskeletons can improve their carrying capacity, reduce labor intensity, provide additional protection, and reduce the risk of injury. In the military field, the exploration and application of exoskeletons are more, which can improve the soldiers' ability to adapt to the battlefield environment, reduce combat fatigue, reduce physical exertion, extend combat time, and reduce combat casualties. For example, the exoskeletons that my country is actively researching and testing can enhance the human body's movement, climbing and carrying capabilities through exoskeletons in harsh terrain conditions, especially in plateaus and mountainous areas, where vehicles, aircraft and other means of transportation are greatly limited under complex terrain and climatic conditions. Even in areas above 3,500 meters above sea level, people using non-powered exoskeletons can save 5%-10% of their physical strength when they are active, and can even save more than 70% of their physical strength when they are standing still, greatly improving the combat capability of individual soldiers in harsh environments. This type of unpowered exoskeleton is currently generally made of materials such as carbon fiber. It has a light total weight and good impact resistance. The equipment can be put on and taken off by one person. It is not restricted by power such as power supply in various environments and can be used continuously.

Caption: This seems to be a simple capability-enhancing exoskeleton. It can be powered or unpowered. To reduce costs, it can be made into an unpowered version. It is easy to wear and can assist in enhancing the human body.

The use of powered exoskeletons can achieve a leap forward in human functions. Through power control, exoskeletons can be paired with pneumatic, lever, and hydraulic systems to provide auxiliary power, increase the human body's limits, and allow personnel to double their strength, move more quickly, and have longer endurance. They can help personnel leap from heights without getting hurt, and easily pick up dozens of kilograms of weight without any effort. Powered exoskeletons are more complex. When assisting human movements, they match movements and output power to the body through motion recognition and muscle signal judgment.

Image caption: These are two types of exoskeletons, with obvious differences. One has obvious additional functions, while the other is mostly just a basic version that enhances human capabilities.

With electricity, exoskeletons can go one step further from traditional human function enhancement to intelligent assistance. With environmental sensors and artificial intelligence processing systems, they can improve battlefield environmental perception, information intelligence collection, processing and identification capabilities, enhance personnel's battlefield responsiveness, increase combat effectiveness and reduce casualties. Information synchronization to the command network can enhance battlefield command efficiency and shorten command and coordination time. Exoskeletons with remote communication capabilities and artificial intelligence systems can even provide each individual soldier with predictions of enemy tactics and battlefield environment developments and changes through the command network and its own system, changing the combat style of future wars.

Image caption: The exoskeleton in "The Wandering Earth 1" can obviously be used by a single soldier to carry more powerful weapons and equipment. Without the support of the exoskeleton, it is difficult for a single soldier to independently hold and use heavy weapons

Of course, in addition to changing the future by itself, exoskeletons may also give rise to other changes. The current war mode and the performance of weapons and equipment are to a certain extent subject to the physical limits of humans, such as the sustained combat capability of humans and the limit threshold that the body can withstand, which affects the intensity of war and the combat performance of weapons and equipment. By improving the limits of human capabilities through exoskeletons, combined with the integration of humans, machines, and intelligence, more weapons and equipment may be developed. For example, firearms can return to the pursuit of higher initial velocity, greater lethality, and longer range, and are no longer subject to the user's tolerance of firearm recoil and weapon weight. Of course, in the future, there may be combatants wearing intelligent exoskeletons, as nodes or edge centers, to control and command more unmanned intelligent weapons and equipment for combat, reduce the input of front-line personnel, and avoid casualties. No matter what kind of exoskeleton is used now or in the future, it can effectively improve combat capabilities, reduce training costs and time, reduce the physical burden of combatants, and enable combat, logistics, and medical departments to improve efficiency.

The widespread use and low cost of exoskeletons can also change future life, especially in an aging society. Exoskeletons can improve the quality of life of elderly people with limb disabilities, empower people with disabilities, assist them in rehabilitation and training, demonstrate more social value, and make "technology changes life" move from science fiction movies into reality.

Author profile: Tian Chunyuan, member of the Chinese Command and Control Society, founded the military and current affairs commentary column "Tian Yu's Views", published a large number of articles on security strategy, military defense analysis, military technology, military theory, etc., and was hired to give lectures on the national security strategic situation .

Produced by: Science Popularization China

Producer: Guangming Online Science Department

Author: Tian Chunyuan

Planning: Jin He