Scientific fact: In order to realize the scene described in Avatar, scientists have done a lot of research, trying to integrate biological "wet parts" (an intelligent program that imitates biological systems and structures) into mechanical hardware. Part of the goal of man-machine interface research is actually to give disabled people like Jack the ability to move.
Nikolai Lees, a neuroscientist at Duke University in the United States, is the chief scientist of a multinational research project "Re-walking Project", which is developing an exoskeleton "neuroprosthesis" device, which can be placed on the body of the paralyzed person and receive instructions from the brain. Last year, Nikolai Liss and his colleagues showed the most powerful proof of this technology to date.
In a laboratory in North Carolina, researchers trained a macaque to walk upright on a treadmill. Then, they get neural signals from electrodes inserted into the monkey's brain and send them to Japanese laboratories along with videos through the Internet. In this laboratory, a robot can do the same for macaques. "Avatar" describes that in order to work, fight and cross the "Pandora" rainforest, human beings put on the "Enhanced Mobile Platform" (AMP) suit. From the seat of this machine, the operator's arms and arm movements will be transmitted to the external limbs of AMP suit, thus being "enhanced". Although the operator's swing arm is only a few inches, the corresponding metal arm of AMP suit can swing an arc with a circumference of 10 feet (about 3.05 meters). AMP suit will turn the operator into a "Hercules". For the space marines, it is as easy as a man carrying a rifle to take part in the battle with a huge 30 mm automatic cannon.
Scientific fact: For decades, the U.S. military has been developing exoskeleton suits with power devices, which allow soldiers to carry heavy equipment to participate in operations and help carry out rescue missions, engineering operations and injury rehabilitation. Since 2000, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense has funded various researches under the project "Exoskeleton for Enhancing Human Performance", including the research team supporting Raytheon Sacos. The machine they developed is called "XOS", which weighs 150 pounds (about 70 kilograms) and can be installed on people's arms, arms and backs.
The hydraulic principle of this aluminum robot device allows users to lift 200 pounds (about 90 kilograms) hundreds of times without feeling tired, and it is very convenient to use, and users can climb stairs or play football freely. An important disadvantage of XOS is the need for independent driving. At present, XOS still needs external power supply. Research groups of institutions and enterprises such as MIT, UC Berkeley and Honda Motor are developing similar machines for lower limbs.