{"id":112214,"title":"Edgerun: The 10 lb Military Exoskeleton","tagline":"Powered exoskeleton that assists every step a soldier takes under combat load","body":"**TL;DR:** Edgerun builds powered legs for soldiers. A 10 lb exoskeleton worn at the waist that adds assistance to every step and cuts the effort of moving under a combat load by 30-45%. Since May, we've run 100+ field tests with Ukrainian operators out of our Kyiv field office.\n\n\u003chttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFLeQV2DWMc\u003e\n\n**▍The problem**\n\nEvery system on the modern battlefield has been upgraded. The human carrying it has not.\n\n* For 2,500 years the soldier's load sat around 40 lbs. In the last 40 years it **doubled, then doubled again**.\n* A US infantryman now carries **90-140 lbs** into a fight. The Army's own field manual sets the limit at 48 lbs.\n* On deployment, load carriage causes **twice as many** evacuations as enemy contact.\n* The Pentagon and VA spend **$9.3B a year** on the injuries it leaves behind.\n\nBattles are won through speed and surprise. Load kills both.\n\n**▍Why now**\n\nSixty years of military exoskeletons died the same death. The device cost more to carry than it gave back. SOCOM's TALOS burned $400M before it was cancelled in 2019.\n\nThat all changed in the last 18 months. The humanoid robotics boom produced one-pound actuators that put out 30+ Nm of torque, and 21700 cells crossed 450 Wh/kg. The components finally exist. They’re getting better every quarter.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=112214\u0026key=user_uploads/1393855/cd255b24-3429-4270-9670-e28fc8df360b)\n\n**▍What we built**\n\nOur first exoskeleton is a bilateral hip system worn at the waist. It reads your gait in real time and adds torque at the moment your hip drives forward. The hip produces about 60% of the force in loaded walking, so assisting it gives the most help-per-pound of anything you could strap to the body.\n\n* Under 10 lbs with batteries\n* 30-45% less metabolic cost under a combat load\n* On in 5 seconds, off in one\n* 12+ hours on hot-swappable drone-class batteries\n* Quasi-direct-drive actuators, composite structures, CAN bus. Nothing exotic by design.\n\nThe soldier arrives at the objective still able to fight, patrols 10 km farther, and keeps a body that lasts past one tour.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=112214\u0026key=user_uploads/1393855/94bf48a9-0ba6-4ce7-94a2-f467cae9657c)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=112214\u0026key=user_uploads/1393855/883d1e98-900a-420a-b7ff-e56cc8911c0c)\n\n**▍Ukraine**\n\nOur field engineers work out of a Kyiv office, alongside operators from infantry, special operations, and National Guard units who provide structured feedback every day. [Balistyka](https://balistyka.ua/), one of Ukraine's leading body armor makers, is an integration partner, helping us ensure our system fits the kit soldiers already wear.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post\u0026id=112214\u0026key=user_uploads/1393855/89a30d39-fe11-421c-abe7-32961da8d1bd)\n\n**▍The mission**\n\nDefense is the first customer, not the last. Read the mission at edgerun.com/mission","slug":"TBu-edgerun-the-10-lb-military-exoskeleton","created_at":"2026-08-25T16:19:00.453Z","updated_at":"2026-09-19T03:19:37.591Z","total_vote_count":6,"url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/TBu-edgerun-the-10-lb-military-exoskeleton","share_image_url":"//bookface-static.ycombinator.com/assets/ycdc/yc-og-image-c440a0ad1dacfb86eeeb343717479cc54d256614449b4ef719977a0a451f8bc8.png","company":{"id":31582,"name":"Edgerun","slug":"edgerun","url":"https://edgerun.com","logo":"https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/8fb84bc8b7f8d02b776dec7685bbaf102fdadf1c.png","batch":"Summer 2026","industry":"Industrials","tags":["Hard Tech","Hardware","Robotics","Defense"],"search_path":"https://bookface.ycombinator.com/company/31582"}}