Employees at a Lowe's hardware store in Christiansburg, Virginia, recently channeled

Ellen Ripley in the 1986 movie "Aliens," as they donned mechanical exoskeletons to help them lift and move heavy objects. The wearable robotic suits — which are significantly lighter and less cumbersome than the forklift with legs that Ripley wore to defeat the xenomorph queen — were developed in partnership with the Assistive Robotics Laboratory at Virginia Tech College of Engineering and Lowe's Innovation Labs. They were designed to reduce fatigue in the workplace caused by transporting oversize and bulky products, Virginia Tech representatives said in a statement. Months of testing produced four flexible suits that bestow "special superpowers" to wearers, reinforcing correct lifting posture and improving their performance, according to Lowe's representatives. [Video: Lowe's Workers Test Robotic Suits] The suit is worn over regular clothes, encircling the wearer over the shoulders, and around the chest, waist and thigs. Carbon fiber in the back and legs of the exosuit store energy when the users bend down. That energy is then fed back as the users straighten up, much as a stretched bowstring transmits energy when released, to send an arrow flying. This means that a person wearing the robotic suit needs to exert less effort to accomplish certain labor-intensive tasks, such as lifting and carrying a bag of concrete.        https://www.livescience.com/59116-lowes-hardware-robotic-exosuit.html