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"  Soldiers don&amp;#039;t like to climb ropes and ladders. This is not because they are lazy\u2014it&amp;#039;s not a good field for the lethargic\u2014but because climbing means they are exposed to enemy fire and are expending valuable energy. Those simple facts make climbing aides like the Atlas Power Rope Ascender, which can hoist up to 500 pounds with the press of a button, a welcome addition to their gear.  Requests for climbing aides increased as U.S. troops faced steep mountain terrain in Afghanistan. In 2007, Army Rangers sought (and later that year, fielded) the Atlas, built by MIT graduates, who formed a spin-off company to market the system. The Office of Naval Research is capitalizing on that success to field a lighter, waterproof version to quickly scale the hulls of vessels during boarding operations and as an ad hoc winch for helicopters without rescue booms.  The new prototype is 15 pounds, 11 pounds lighter than the Army version. The Navy&amp;#039;s new system is waterproof and is currently being rated for depths up to 60 feet. In the field, the device can be lowered from a helicopter or delivered by a rescue swimmer. Navy SEALs on missions in Afghan mountains could carry the system, and as much rope as needed, in separate packs.  The ascender is easy to use, so much so that even a reporter can be taught to operate it in less than 45 seconds. The user presses the up/down button and activates a trigger to move at a maximum of 6 feet per second. The rope weaves between rollers on top of a rotating spindle. Rotate the spindle one way, and the climber ascends effortlessly. A button changes direction of the spindle, allowing the climber to descend with equal ease. In essence, the powered ascender handles ropes in the same way a ship raises and lowers an anchor.  ONR will deliver the Navy version to the Marine Corps for testing at the end of September. And no, you can&amp;#039;t have one: Atlas fields\u2014and usually denies\u2014frequent calls from civilians looking for one-off climbers, but has no plans to market the system to anyone but the military and civilian first responders.      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a5826/atlas-hands-free-climbing-apparatus/>