DIY Exoskeleton can lift a Mini Cooper

Exoskeletons are very cool pieces of equipment that have stared in plenty of movies over the last few years form Edge of Tomorrow to Elysium. The idea behind an exoskeleton is to put a person into a powered device that gives them greater strength and endurance than they would have without it.

These devices may one day be mainstream enough to help the paralyzed walk again. A dude named James Hobson has created his own DIY exoskeleton that allows him to do some pretty cool feats of strength. While wearing it he can curl 170-pound dumb bells for instance.

In his latest test, he puts a Mini Cooper weighing about 2,500 pounds on a homemade lift sled. Without exoskeletons, a pair of guys were unable to lift the rear of the car even a fraction of an inch off the ground. James steps up in his exoskeleton and lifts the rear of the car well off the ground repeatedly.

James is an engineer by trade, so if anyone is going to be capable of making cool exoskeletons, he is. Lifting the car required pneumatic cylinders with 63mm bore diameters that can lift 800 pounds each at 125 psi. Check out the videos to see the exoskeleton in action.

SOURCE: Hackaday