Robotic exoskeletons are storming out of sci-fi and onto your squishy human body
Delta demoed its Sarcos Guardian tech at CES this year. (Stan Horaczek /)Forklifts and remote-controlled robots are great for brute force power. They can easily lift 200-pound objects, but that strength typically comes at the cost of dexterity. Utah-based robotics company Sarcos, however, wants to put the humans inside the machines to handle the heavy lifting and the delicate details of industrial work all at once. The company showed off the alpha version of its Guardian XO exoskeleton earlier this year at CES. It’s part of a collaboration with Delta Air Lines, which has started testing the suit starting in the Q1 of 2020. According to Sarcos, other private companies and government entities have started doing the same and it plans on using feedback from those trial runs to enter commercial production in Q4. The Guardian XO has come a long way. “It was originally funded by the Defense Advanced...