Lockheed Martin [LMT] licensed the Dermoskeleton bionic augmentation technology from Canada’s B-Temia, Inc. for use in its exoskeleton research, Lockheed Martin said Tuesday.
This licensing agreement will permit Lockheed Martin to use the technology in the company’s military, industrial, commercial, and first-responder product applications.
The Dermoskeleton is the basis for computer-controlled devices that can increase load-carrying capacity and mobility by counteracting overstress on a person’s lower back and legs.
Lockheed Martin is conducting exoskeleton research to help soldiers carry heavy equipment over long distances, similarly to use in industrial settings, the company said. The Dermoskeleton technology may help these products.
“This technology offers a pathway to increased loadbearing and greater agility for our FORTIS industrial exoskeleton. It can also help to solve existing limitations of powered exoskeletons for our military and first responders. We’re excited about the potential we see here,” Glenn Kuller, vice president of Advanced and Special Programs at Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control business unit, said in a statement.
The FORTIS exoskeleton is a lightweight unpowered unit that increases the operator’s strength and endurance by transferring the weight of heavy loads from the operator’s body to the ground. It does this by using a series of joints at the hips, knees, and ankles, Lockheed Martin said.
Stéphane Bédard, B-Temia president and CEO, welcomed the licensing.
“This agreement confirms our company’s technology leadership and value of our work in increasing human mobility in both industrial and defense applications. Our arrangement with Lockheed Martin provides another avenue for our bionic technology to enhance human performance,” he said in a statement.