14 DAY TRIAL // There isn't a single soul on this earth born in the '80s that didn't wonder at some point how come we haven't built the "Aliens" power loader yet.
And apparently we haven't, and amazingly, yes, it wasn't as difficult as it seemed. Mitsui, Japan's number one oil and mining corporation, insert here any Weyland-Yutani reference, has announced that it plans to develop a real life, actually functioning version of Ripley's power loader.
Named Assist Suit AWN-03, it is developed by ActiveLink and Panasonic. It basically features a 13-pound backpack with leg strappings and can help a user lift 33 pounds without any difficulty. Although efficient enough in its own right, in the next two years the company plans to finish building an expanded version of the same design with mechanical arms and legs, being essentially a true power loader.
A company representative made no secret out of the obvious similarities between their design and James Cameron's power loader, declaring that it was their purpose all along to finally build the famous "Aliens" industrial heavy-lifting suit.
After making increased progress on many other human exoskeleton assist suits, the power loader will be ActiveLink's ultimate product yet. Since the need for such devices was always high, the Japanese company believes that if the design proves successful, it will sell at least 1,000 units of the AWN-03 in its first year of production. Besides Mitsui, other Japanese companies like Kajima Corp. and Yamato Holdings have expressed interest in the design.
Who wouldn't? After all, if it does work, there won't be a building site or oil platform in the world that wouldn't be equipped with a trusty power loader.
