Human Universal Load Carrier
Human Universal Load Carrier, or HULC, is an un-tethered, hydraulic-powered anthropomorphic exoskeleton developed by Professor H. Kazerooni and his team at Ekso Bionics. It is intended to help soldiers in combat carry a load of up to 200 pounds at a top speed of 10 miles per hour for extended periods of time. After being under development at Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory since 2000, the system was announced publicly at the AUSA Winter Symposium on February 26, 2009 when an exclusive licensing agreement was reached with Lockheed Martin.
Development
Lockheed Martin entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Ekso Bionics (formerly Berkeley Bionics) in January 2009. The program is based in Orlando Florida at the Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control business unit and the program manager is Jim Ni.
Lockheed Martin is currently developing a new, ruggedized HULC system which will be evaluated by the US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC). The upgraded HULC system includes optimized control software, extended battery life and human factors improvements for quicker and easier sizing to each user. Lockheed Martin is also exploring exoskeleton designs to support industrial and medical applications.
HULC (gene)
In molecular biology, Highly Up-regulated in Liver Cancer (non-protein coding), also known as HULC, is a long non-coding RNA. It was first identified in hepatocellular carcinoma, and is also expressed in colorectal carcinomas that metastasise to the liver. It may have a role in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. It downregulates the expression of several microRNAs, including miR-372. Expression of HULC is upregulated by CREB, there is a CREB-binding site in the promoter of HULC. miR-372 represses translation of the kinase PRKACB, so downregulation of miR-372 leads to increased levels of PRKACB. PRKACB activates CREB by phosphorylation, therefore leading to increased expression of HULC.
