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Now that Iron Man is here, it got us to thinking: Could we build our own Iron Man suit? Not just a costume, but a functioning apparatus that could perform the miracles the spectacular marvel in the movie does? Well, not really. We’ll have to pass on antigravity tech and jets blowing out the bottoms of our feet that are hot enough to roast our tootsies like marshmallows — never mind that the suit clearly breaks the first law of thermodynamics, creating energy for free.
But still, we could come close to a few of the feats of the Man of Iron. Suspend your disbelief, and follow along with the real-world corollaries to the wizardry of Tony Stark, billionaire industrialist and genius inventor, also known as Iron Man.
Hardiman
Before we start building our own Iron Man suit, let’s first benefit from the experience from those who have tried this in the past. In 1965, GE (disclosure: our parent company, bless ’em) was the first to try creating an exoskeleton for humans. But the first iteration went berserk — kicking, bucking and gyrating so much, they never chanced it with a human inside. The project was scaled down to an arm that would be able to lift 750 pounds, enough to load up a bomb onto a plane on an aircraft carrier. Big problem, though: The arm itself weighed 1,500 pounds, far beyond anyone’s capacity to handle it. The idea was scrapped. 
Robot Suit HAL
Yes, we geeks feel meek compared to Iron Man, but now we can gain a modicum of superhuman strength from Robot Suit HAL, Cyberdyne’s answer to the plethora of exoskeleton-style strength suits under development. The company’s gearing up to create 400 to 500 of the strength suits starting this October, so save up your $1,000 and you can rent the outfit for a month. Making you two to ten times stronger, the company says it operates for five hours on a battery charge. This we’re going to have to try. 
Rocket Belt
You’ve seen it flying in James Bond movies and at the Olympics years ago, but the rocket belt is still around. This one, made by TAM, costs $125,000 and can even accommodate 300-pounders. Using hydrogen peroxide as a propellant, there’s actually no combustion taking place at all — instead of Iron Man’s flames spewing out of his shoes, there’s a harmless plume of oxygen and water vapor hissing out the rocket pack’s nozzle. Too bad it only flies for 20 seconds. 
Wingsuit
Once you’ve thrust yourself to altitude with that Rocket Belt, it’s time to start soaring on your own, ready to take on those fighter jets. Well, it’s not going to be that sophisticated, but it’s a start. Those adversaries will no doubt be taken aback when they see you soaring around like a flying squirrel.
This isn't a powered flight, but the footage shot by this guy while flying in his special suit reminds us of Iron Man’s feats of daring do. The wingsuit is pretty much reserved for skydivers and daredevils, as evidenced by the way this guy heads straight for the sharp mountain peaks in this video. Amazing. 
Heads-up display
Put on a Bluetooth headset for your cellphone as you wear this Sportvue MC2 helmet, and you’ll have a rough approximation of Iron Man’s heads-up display. This one’ s made for motorcycles, showing your speed, RPM and gear, but surely it could be adapted for flying, fending off bad guys and saving the world from evildoers. 
Repulsor Rays
OK, to do what Iron Man does with those repulsor rays would take the total output of a nuclear power plant, so let’s settle for the effect of sparks coming from our fingers. Or let’s have you do it, and we’ll watch. The guy in the picture above goofs around with Tesla coils, making sparks fly at will. He even does one crazy trick involving himself standing in a swimming pool. On second thought, our Iron Man can do without such hijinks.
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By FROUROS at 3:42 PM ON 05/02/08
Please give more updates on the matter in the future.And give a darpa and natic a call..imagine an army of soldiers in a suit like ironmans.
By drg at 5:38 PM ON 05/02/08
How could you leave this out?
Jet Man!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-66AcTo9TU
By Gambit at 5:42 PM ON 05/02/08
www.thepollroom.com
By C at 6:00 PM ON 05/02/08
Ya an army of soldiers....exactly the way everyone should be thiking...sigh
By -Samuel at 6:01 PM ON 05/02/08
awesome the way those guys flying
By pittster at 8:51 AM ON 05/03/08
http://www.geekologie.com/2007/11/exoskeleton_is_wicked_nasty_i.php
This is the closest thing I've seen
By celebrity sex scandal pictures video gossip at 6:10 PM ON 05/03/08
thax
By boygenius at 8:42 PM ON 05/03/08
This month's popular science magazine had several pages devoted to the US military's version of Iron man:
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2008-04/building-real-iron-man
By Wuss at 9:35 AM ON 05/04/08
Instead of an actual Iron Man suit, if you took all those articles together.... what you'd be left with is a slow-free falling, 20 second flight, walking battery capable of benching 300lbs instead of 150, at a measly cost of half a million.
Oh ya, and 1 bullet would kill you.
By dresdensfollower at 1:04 PM ON 05/04/08
what about the guy that made the Spartan armor based on Halo, he did better than most of these guys
By Anonymous at 4:58 PM ON 05/04/08
Jet-Man's wings belong on this list:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-66AcTo9TU
http://jet-man.com
By pittance at 2:15 PM ON 05/05/08
The plume from a hydrogen peroxide / catalyst rocket (as in a rocket belt) isn't 'harmless' it's live steam, usually at about 600 degrees C
By Darkflame at 5:51 PM ON 05/05/08
err...Cyberdyne? CYBERDYNE?!
Isnt that name flagging up warning lights for people....
By BrainiacV at 11:05 AM ON 05/07/08
You guys also forgot the powerloader from Aliens. Fictional as well, but some people actually tried to order them.
By Dragonflight at 12:53 PM ON 05/07/08
This is the site Dresdensfollower was talking about.
http://www.productwiki.com/the-trojan-by-troy-hurtubise/
This guy is certifiable... but he got that way by testing his stuff under life-fire conditions, so I tend to believe his armor will do what he says it will. And 15K for a suit is expensive? Not compared to the money it would cost to train and equip a single special forces soldier from recruitment to deployment.
By Twilight at 1:03 PM ON 05/07/08
Actually, from what I read, I thought the power loader from Aliens was mostly real. It was just sped up a "little". If I remember right, the real loader ran at something like 1/20 the speed (very strong but not very practical).
By zemric at 4:37 PM ON 05/07/08
@dragon fly ya for single person if you read the whole thing and dont bullshit people about it to look expensive and make them think oh that guy is stupid. it would sell for 2000 at mass production which for armor is quit good for a life since it cost them to train them like 3k why lose a guy and retrain another when you can save him by a suit of armor that cost 2k. the guy is quite a genius at this type of thing.
By chimera0205 at 6:55 AM ON 05/08/08
If anyone remembers the movie Dave, they stopped at a warehouse that used a power loader. (Memorable line while the Pres was in the device, "I once caught a fish THIS big.") That was a low-budget comedy, so if they didn't borrow the loader from the Aliens set, it's for real.
By Dogg at 9:02 AM ON 05/08/08
2 cool...! love the nfo, ppl! love the nfo!!!
By Steve F. Canyon (hisself) at 12:01 AM ON 05/09/08
Ok Scooter,
So just what part of comic book were you missing here? everyone knows that animators and cartoonists are able to suspend the laws of physics at will in the name of creative license. With the cool factor Robert Downey Jr. brought to Tony Stark I think we can afford to suspend a little disbelief in the name of entertainment.
By i am iron man at 7:36 AM ON 05/09/08
it doesnt even tell u how 2 make an iron man suit