An exoskeleton intended to encapsulate a human in order to operate in a hostile or dangerous environment must have power generation solutions that have; so far, it remains unsatisfactory. I propose a compact and lightweight solution not far from existing technologies.

The most interesting way to solve the problem is to review the solutions of the past and implement the best of all the components. First, the density of the fuel, to remain compact, a practical high-density fuel must be used. For simplicity, a binary fuel of kerosene and pure oxygen will be selected. Kerosene and oxygen have been used successfully in Russian rockets reliably for years. Atomising kerosene and oxygen in a pressure chamber at 30 atmospheres gives you a lot of boom and go!

Second, we need to convert this “boom-and-go” (hereafter referred to as pressure and velocity) into rotational energy. This has been and will be better recovered by turbines. The type of turbines that work best for energy recovery will be like a Pelton wheel with smaller Pelton wheels configured similarly like the rear gears on a bicycle. The reason for the Pelton wheels is simple. Twice the energy is recovered by redirecting the pressure flow as close to 180 degrees as possible. Modern high-speed turbines redirect less than 90 degrees and rely on stators and stages to recover further with the inevitable losses involved.

As the compound Pelton wheel winds, the flow from the nozzle is successively directed to the smaller diameter wheels, resulting in very high speed. Third, the compound Pelton wheel is electromagnetically coupled to an electric generator which then transforms high frequency / low voltage energy into low frequency / high voltage current. This power drives the fourth: the steering wheel.

Bitter flywheels transform electrical energy into a kinetic energy storage device on magnetic bearings in a vacuum. This energy is then the “battery” that supplies the energy demand to the linear motors that are the actuators or “muscles” of the machine that an operator drives.

This type of system can easily supply 900 horsepower with minimal weight, no small achievement, and extraordinary feel. To get an idea of ​​the power involved, imagine driving an Indy car and accelerating hard and fast enough to make it difficult to breathe with the adrenaline pumping harder than your best judgment can say, “slow down!” It’s 900 horsepower.

Now, change that Indy car into an exoskeleton. You are inside a titanium and nickel exoskeleton whose power source is the child of love between a Russian rocket and a very secret military jet engine. Its capabilities include going to the bottom of the ocean autonomously to retrieve and repair what others cannot. It can work in the asteroid belt beyond Mars mining a trillion dollars worth of very rare and very pure metals. You can build base stations on the Moon or Mars or wherever humanity decides to roam!

Let the robots do the dirty, boring and dangerous thing. Let’s explore the limits of our imagination.