Vimal Govin Manikandan, an engineering student has gone ahead and built a real-life Iron Man suit using exoskeleton technology. While it doesn’t fly and can hardly walk, Manikandan and his team developed a novel way to control a walking robot suit.
Manikandan says the suit was inspired by action movies especially the Hollywood blockbuster Avatar that featured machines designed for use by the military. The exoskeleton made by Manikandan weighs 220 pounds, and can roughly lift 330 pounds. However, it is unclear if that includes the exoskeleton and human inside.The exoskeleton cost Manikandan just $750 (approx £578) to make, which is quite impressive. However, on the downside, as the suit weighs 220 pounds, it makes it difficult to walk or run while someone’s wearing it. Also, since it is powered by batteries, the chance that it lasts long is unlikely. It’s not the first exoskeleton that Manikandan has built. Previously, he had made a mechanically powered Iron Man suit (see video below). Manikandan wants the military to use his technology, he told Al Jazeera.
