Cyberdynes Real Life Exo Suit 'HAL'
Now this is freakin awesome! I love it when science fiction comes to life! This Exo suit is real and it works and one day it will be available for you to buy! Not only is it functional but it looks pretty damn cool as well. The icing on the cake is that it will help allow people that have lost the ability to walk to be able to walk again.
The exo suit is called the Cyberdyne's Hybrid Assistive Limb, or HAL for short. Hey just like in Space Odessey 2001! Hopefully the suit wont try to kill you though. The Robot suit is designed to help paralyzed people walk again and participate in daily activities. And yes the company shares the same name with the fake robot manufacturer from the 'Terminator' films. Only this one is not fake.
"Though a voluntary control system, the robot suit detects natural electrical currents passing over the surface of the skin and interprets the wearer's intended movement. The robotic process occurs a fraction of a second before the muscles actually move."
"A prototype of HAL will allow a user to carry 100 lbs as if it were only a few." Now that will make moving a stove, fridge, or piano so much easier.
"The HAL suit, as well as providing mobility, can be used to help rehabilitate the injured. Eventually a robotic suit could be used in heavy labor or in disaster rescue missions." I hope that they add a flight aplication to it one day. It would be like Iron Man!
"The suit weighs in around 50 pounds and its battery lasts 2 hours and 40 minutes."
The Official website of Cybernetics gives the following information on where it is available and how it actually works:
The HAL robot suit is currently only available in Japan, but the company says it will eventually be for sale in the European Union.
When a person attempts to move, nerve signals are sent from the brain to the muscles via motoneuron, moving the musculoskeletal system as a consequence. At this moment, very weak biosignals can be detected on the surface of the skin. "HAL" catches these signals through a sensor attached on the skin of the wearer. Based on the signals obtained, the power unit is controlled to move the joint unitedly with the wearer's muscle movement, enabling to support the wearer's daily activities. This is what we call a 'voluntary control system' that provides movement interpreting the wearer's intention from the biosignals in advance of the actual movement. Not only a 'voluntary control system' "HAL" has, but also a 'robotic autonomous control system' that provides human-like movement based on a robotic system which integrally work together with the 'autonomous control system'. "HAL" is the world's first cyborg-type robot controlled by this unique Hybrid System.
"HAL" is expected to be applied in various fields such as rehabilitation support and physical training support in medical field, ADL support for disabled people, heavy labour support at factories, and rescue support at disaster sites, as well as in the entertainment field.
I can't wait to get one! Will you?
Source: Time, Cyberdyne