A robot venture from Japan called Cyberdyne (yes, just like the evil corporation in the Terminator movies) has been in the news for years now for its futuristic exoskeleton HAL-5, a wearable robotic suit that helps paralyzed persons walk and lift heavy objects.
Until now, the spectacular suit was marketed mainly in Japan, but today it came to light that Professor Sankai (the mastermind behind the exoskeleton) plans to step up the internationalization of his company. Six units of HAL-5 will be exported to hospitals and health care facilities in Odense, a city in Denmark, as early as next month. The suits will be tested for six months for safety and efficiency.
HAL-5 is full-body robotic gear that’s about 1.60m tall and weighs 23kg (another model for the lower body weighs 8kg less). It converts brain signals sensed through the skin into motion, enabling handicapped people to walk around and lift heavy objects almost effortlessly (needless to say, the suit supports its own weight).
I saw an early version of HAL back in 2004 and even that version was fully functional and impressive (it was demonstrated by Professor Sakai and one of his students during an event in Tokyo). HAL-5 works for over 2.5h on a single battery charge.
Watch it in action in the video below (English subs):
Via Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]
So who is going to make the Power Loader from the Alien movies? Now that would be extreme.
So wait… Cyberdyne, which shares it’s name with the fictional corporation that build skynet, is building an exoskeleton similar to a Powerloader from the Alien franchise, named HAL… the AI gone insane in “2001″
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG. :P
Well, as long as there are no mr Wayland and ms Lutani in the shareholders…
Congratulations for making such invention.
I am interested to use this robot for my daug
ter who is 19 year of age and can not walk due to lack of co ordination (neurological problem- FA)
Please inform if it can work for her.
Regards
si parla della danimarca…si potrebbe avere informazioni di quale struttare in danimarca si parla. ?? e quando sara disponibile la tuta? sono propensa di andare fino in giappone. vi prego di aiutarmi.
grazie mille