Sarcos Achieves Unprecedented Power Performance, Overcoming Major Obstacle to Commercial Deployment of Full-Body, Powered Industrial Exoskeletons

Significant Improvements in Power Consumption, Control System
Functionality and Load Transfer Put Sarcos on Track for Commercial
Release of Guardian^™ XO^®
Max Robot in Late 2019

SALT LAKE CITY & BELLEVUE, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#GuardianXO—Sarcos^®
Robotics, a global leader in robotic systems that augment, rather
than replace, humans working in the industrial, public safety and
military sectors, today announced a number of significant technology
advancements for its highly anticipated Guardian^™
XO Max full-body, powered industrial exoskeleton robotic system. The
company, which plans to start shipping the Guardian XO Max to customers
in early 2020, has completed the assembly of the world’s first
all-electric, battery-powered, full-body industrial exoskeleton capable
of enabling a human operator to safely lift and manipulate up to 200
pounds for extended work sessions.

Setting the Gold Standard for Power

With 17 years of development efforts and more than $175 million invested
in R&D, Sarcos has been laser-focused on ensuring the Guardian XO Max is
safe, intuitive and power efficient. Initial testing of the
next-generation Guardian XO Max has demonstrated an unprecedented
reduction in power consumption, with the system requiring less than 400
watts of power while walking at human speed. This reduction represents a
90+ percent decrease in power typically required for humanoid robots
while enabling work sessions of up to eight hours on a single charge.
Additionally, the unit is designed to allow its battery modules to be
“hot swapped” in the field within seconds without loss of power to the
unit.

“There are many misperceptions regarding the commercial readiness and
viability of full-body industrial exoskeletons that are capable of
substantially increasing human strength and endurance, including the
amount of power required to operate these machines,” said Ben Wolff,
chairman and CEO, Sarcos Robotics. “With our innovations in optimizing
power utilization, Sarcos has been able to do what no other robotics
company in the world has been able to do with powered exoskeletons or
humanoid robots—power a human-scale robot doing meaningful work for up
to eight hours on a single charge.”

Simplifying the Exoskeleton Experience

In addition to these power advancements, the Guardian XO Max will usher
in a new era of intuitive user experiences through implementation of
Sarcos’ proprietary advanced control system, called “Get-Out-of-the-Way”
control, to simplify the operation and use of these suits.

Designed to eliminate any perception of latency between the movement of
the human operator and the exoskeleton, Sarcos’ Get-Out-of-the-Way
control system relies on a suite of sensors integrated into the
exoskeleton, foregoing the need to affix sensors directly onto the human
body. This control system enables the Guardian XO Max to respond to the
human operator’s movements in milliseconds, allowing the operator to
intuitively control the robot in a way that leverages his or her
instincts and reflexes, and minimizes the need for human training. In
addition, the exoskeleton design allows a worker to get in and out of
the suit in less than one minute.

Reducing Load Strain to Improve Worker Safety

Occupational back injuries cost U.S. employers more than $100 billion
annually, underscoring the need to improve worker safety and provide a
means to eliminate strain on the body. Sarcos has designed the Guardian
XO Max to be full-body and fully-powered, meaning the entire weight of
the suit, as well as its payload, is transferred through the suit’s
structure to the ground. This results in offloading 100 percent of the
weight the worker is bearing, as well as the weight of the suit itself,
and thereby substantially reducing the operator’s metabolic output and
drastically reducing the risk for worker strain or injury. Initial
testing of the Guardian XO Max has demonstrated a strength amplification
of 20 to 1, making 100 pounds of weight feel like five pounds for the
user while providing a commensurate increase in productivity.

“The potential for full-body, powered exoskeleton technology
is immense—from giving our workers super-human strength without putting
added strain on their bodies, to improving productivity and efficiency,”
says John Santagate, research director, IDC. “Sarcos’ Guardian XO Max
will be a game-changer for the industrial workforce, improving strength
and capabilities, reducing the risk of injury on the job, and increasing
the quality of life and longevity of workers.”

Expanding Commitment to Exoskeleton Excellence

In addition to its product advancements, Sarcos continues to foster
innovation in the robotics industry. The company, in collaboration with
Virginia Tech University, recently announced
a $3 million award from the National Science Foundation to conduct
fundamental research to evaluate controls and human-machine interfaces
for powered exoskeletons in order to increase productivity and reduce
the risk of injury. In addition, Ohio State University’s Spine Research
Institute, led by Dr. William Marras, is currently conducting an
evaluation of Sarcos’ full-body, powered exoskeleton technology.

Earlier this year, Sarcos also formed its Exoskeleton
Technical Advisory Board (X-TAG), which is comprised of executives
from leading companies across a variety of industries such as industrial
manufacturing, automotive, aviation and aerospace, construction, oil &
gas, logistics and utilities. The X-TAG is working to identify key
performance and safety requirements necessary to ensure that the
Guardian XO Max meets the needs of Sarcos’ customers.

“We’ve already seen significant early interest in pre-orders across
numerous industries, and we are working closely with the members of the
X-TAG to ensure that the Guardian XO Max delivers on productivity needs,
while keeping workers safe and out of harm’s way,” added Wolff.

Sarcos’ Guardian XO Max is expected to be released commercially in late
2019 and begin shipping to customers in early 2020 and will be offered
exclusively through a fee-based Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) model. For
more information about Sarcos and the company’s full-body, powered
exoskeleton technologies, please visit: www.sarcos.com.

ABOUT SARCOS

Sarcos^® Robotics is
the world’s leader in mobile, dexterous, tele-operated robots that
combine human intelligence, instinct and judgment with robotic strength,
endurance and precision to augment worker performance. Leveraging more
than 25 years of research and development, Sarcos makes revolutionary
robotics products designed to save lives, reduce injury and improve
productivity, including the Guardian
S, Guardian
GT, and Guardian
XO. Sarcos is revolutionizing a myriad of industries by deploying
robots that will create the safest, most productive and cost-effective
workforce in the world. Sarcos’ investors include Caterpillar, GE
Ventures, Microsoft, and Schlumberger. Sarcos is headquartered in Salt
Lake City, Utah, with additional offices in the Seattle area. For more
information please visit www.sarcos.com.

Contacts

Sarcos Robotics
Heath Meyer
heath@zmcommunications.com
858-768-1527