Bionic suit offers wearers super-strength

[Steve]

http://www.newscientist.com/article....mg18624945.800

wow i think this is brilliant.
this has so many potential uses.
looks a bit bulky but i think its due to be reduced and minimalised as much as possible.

ROBOT suit has been developed that could help older people or those with disabilities to walk or lift heavy objects.

Dubbed HAL, or hybrid assistive limb, the latest versions of the suit will be unveiled this June at the 2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan, which opened last month. A commercial product is slated for release by the end of the year.

HAL is the result of 10 years' work by Yoshiyuki Sankai of the University of Tsukuba in Japan, and integrates mechanics, electronics, bionics and robotics in a new field known as cybernics. The most fully developed prototype, HAL 3, is a motor-driven metal "exoskeleton" that you strap onto your legs to power-assist leg movements. A backpack holds a computer with a wireless network connection, and the batteries are on a belt.

Two control systems interact to help the wearer stand, walk and climb stairs. A "bio-cybernic" system uses bioelectric sensors attached to the skin on the legs to monitor signals transmitted from the brain to the muscles. It can do this because when someone intends to stand or walk, the nerve signal to the muscles generates a detectable electric current on the skin's surface. These currents are picked up by the sensors and sent to the computer, which translates the nerve signals into signals of its own for controlling electric motors at the hips and knees of the exoskeleton. It takes a fraction of a second for the motors to respond accordingly, and in fact they respond fractionally faster to the original signal from the brain than the wearer's muscles do.

While the bio-cybernic system moves individual elements of the exoskeleton, a second system provides autonomous robotic control of the motors to coordinate these movements and make a task easier overall, helping someone to walk, for instance. The system activates itself automatically once the user starts to move. The first time they walk, its sensors record posture and pattern of motion, and this information is stored in an onboard database for later use. When the user walks again, sensors alert the computer, which recognises the movement and regenerates the stored pattern to provide power-assisted movement. The actions of both systems can be calibrated according to a particular user's needs, for instance to give extra assistance to a weaker limb.

The HAL 4 and HAL 5 prototypes, which will also be demonstrated at Expo 2005, don't just help a person to walk. They have an upper part to assist the arms, and will help a person lift up to 40 kilograms more than they can manage unaided. The new HALs will also eliminate the need for a backpack. Instead, the computer and wireless connection have been shrunk to fit in a pouch attached to the suit's belt. HAL 5 also has smaller motor housings, making the suit much less bulky around the hips and knees.

HAL 3 weighs 22 kilograms, but the help it gives the user is more than enough to compensate for this. "It's like riding on a robot, rather than wearing one," says Sankai. He adds that HAL 4 will weigh 17 kilograms, and he hopes HAL 5 may be lighter still.

Sankai has had many requests for the devices from people with brain and spinal injuries, so he is planning to extend the suit's applications to include medical rehabilitation. The first commercial suits are likely to cost between 1.5 and 2 million yen ($14,000 to $19,000).

[DevilDog#1]

Minor mods and could be used for other uses

[atholon]

Pretty weak, it is too bulky. They need to make smaller stronger motors.

[Stu]

awesome You recon it'll be like being darth vader?

[atholon]

I doubt the motors are even very strong. It looks really stupid. They'd need to find a bigger power source than a battery to make it strong enough.

Ohh and a 35 pound battery on an older person's back is going to help a lot.

[Trojan]

Awesome thought of what this technology will be able to do in years to come. Could be bad news for us humans someday, heh... .-troj

[Steve]

as it says, "it's like riding a robot not wearing one". it supports its own weight.

and even at this stage it can assist upto 40KG ontop of what a person can usually manage unaided.

this is a fantastic invention, imagine being able to walk if you have a disablility or disease which means you cannot without help.

nothing would ever be invented if everyone was as negative as you Mr Athlon :/

[DevilDog#1]

Originally posted by Steve
nothing would ever be invented if everyone was as negative as you Mr Athlon :/

<marquee behavior=alternate>FLAME!!!</marquee> Ban him!! Oh wait ... can't he's the admin. drat!!

[atholon]

Ohh that was soooo uncool Steve!!

I just thought they'd have come out with something better than that by now.

When I become the World's first trillionaire you'll change your mind

[Steve]

Originally posted by DevilDog#1
FLAME!!! Ban him!! Oh wait ... can't he's the admin. drat!!

^ the kind of post that gets ppl on my back

[Hellfighter]

man thats great i was in the US-Army Infantry we would walk for 12-20miles to get some place, on the back 80+ pounds of dead wight to Carrier, it would see using that gear would seem like a dream. not only that maybe get to the zone faster.
===============================
ROBOT suit would make it essayer to get there and ready for action. were normal a trooper be too weak to fight or too winded to fight, with it i can see them ready to fight at full strength for a fight. 6-million man is here

a full armor Robot suit from neck to feet. with a link to each other a true fighting force. soon we see some one jumping to a 5 floors up and walking at 60mph.

will it is the testing phase they only can make it better and maybe take it to the next level. ether way they going to make some big money on it thats a fact.

[teej]

Originally posted by atholon
I doubt the motors are even very strong. It looks really stupid. They'd need to find a bigger power source than a battery to make it strong enough.

Ohh and a 35 pound battery on an older person's back is going to help a lot.

it wont be bad at all. THey made it so your carring it, but its giving you tons of support so its not lik eyour carrying it at all. elderly ppl wont have a problem.

[DevilDog#1]

Originally posted by Steve
^ the kind of post that gets ppl on my back

Having one of them days bud?

[Dr. Bullet]

I think it's a great idea. People who would normally sit on a powered scooter and get fat will be able to walk and be normal. Past that, firefighters could greatly benefit from it too.

But forget the humanitarian crap, this means a lot for our military

[DevilDog#1]

Isn't it always?

I think the only reason it's coming out now is probably because military needs have been satisfied.

[atholon]

I think it has a long ways to go before our military uses it.

The stuff I like is the flexible, light, bullet proof "vest" they came out with

[BADDOG]

Very interesting stuff!!!!

Regards

[Grenademan]

Looks like a bundle of fun!