Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Robosuit for Your Grandma

Filed under: Geriatrics

As Japanese population ages, researchers are trying to put muscle power back into the elderly, and are coming up with some rather ugly looking robosuits, or as entomologists also call them, the exoskeletons. Here's an attempt from Kanagawa Institute of Technology, as reported by AFP:

The suit looks clunky, takes 10 minutes to put on, weighs thirty kilos (66 pounds) and has blinking lights and wires reminiscent of a robot in a sci-fi movie.

But it allows the wearer to lift a person as heavy as 100 kilos as if they were carrying only half that weight.

"I don't feel heavy at all. Because of air pumped in the suit, I just feel like I'm carrying a normal backpack," said Hiroi Tsukui, a participant in the project as she carried a young man onto a table to demonstrate to onlookers.

For now the suit, developed by Kanagawa Institute of Technology, is only made to order and generally targeted at nursing homes and hospitals.

But Tsukui hopes it will be used in ordinary homes in the future.

More from AFP...

(hat tip: Sci Fi Tech)

                (0)

Name:


Email Address
(will not be published):


URL:

Remember personal info?
(anonymous comments allowed)

Yes No

Comments:

Verification (needed to reduce spam):

Click the "Post" button only once!