Kitchener, Ont., inventor James Hobson’s homemade exoskeleton legs, which he used to lift a Mini Cooper, are displayed on a mannequin in his garage.James Hobson/The Canadian Press
A Canadian inventor, who says he was "definitely" inspired by the comic hero Iron Man, has demonstrated a homemade exoskeleton by lifting a car for a German TV crew.
James Hobson, of Kitchener, Ont., says the lift, using the legs of his exoskeleton, was about 360 kilograms, adding that the legs are rated for about 700 kilograms.
Hobson says he's been dabbling in exoskeletons for about two years and built an upper body exoskeleton last year and curled nearly 135 kilograms with it.
Since then he has quit his job to focus full-time on exoskeletons and YouTube and started building the legs – which he describes as a "very early prototype" costing about $1,000 – a few weeks ago.
Hobson says he'd been collecting parts for two years and – like the Marvel superhero's alter ego Tony Stark – modified and cobbled them together into the leg portion of the exoskeleton.
Hobson says the motivation to get the legs built was the German TV show "Galileo" coming to film the Mini Cooper lift, which he says was the test for his design.