Industrial Workers Will Soon Don Exoskeletons and Achieve Super Strength

What's the most important thing for people to know about the full-body exoskeleton from Sarcos Robotics, which can turn an assembly-line worker into a superhero? "We're taking orders," says Sarcos CEO Ben Wolff. The company has been working on this wearable robotics technology since 2000, when engineers in its Salt Lake City headquarters began cobbling together experimental supersoldier suits for the U.S. military. A 2010 proto type, which enabled the wearer to punch through wooden boards, earned the nickname "the Iron Man suit" in homage to the high-tech gear in the eponymous comic book and movies. But that bulky version kept the user tethered to the wall by a power cord--something that would presumably interfere with superhero activities--and the suit remained in R&D.