Leonard Washington Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 brunell may play 100 years! We just saw a robot suit in person at NextFest, but this one here looks even more impressive than the one we checked out. Designed to help nurses pick up and carry the infirm around, the robotic exoskeleton seems like it could also be used to help you carry couches up fourth floor walkups and the like. Or really impressing people at the gym, if you could somehow hide it under a really big sweatsuit. In any case, it has a number of uses, as you can tell by my kind of bad ideas for it. The way the technology is moving, by the time you're old and helpless you might have a nurse that cradles you in her warm, exoskeleton arms. It'll either be comforting or it'll give you a heart attack. Boy, won't that be great? The countdown to the day that you can buy your very own robot exoskeleton for whatever devious uses you can dream up is getting closer and closer. Tsukuba University engineering professor Yoshiyuki Sankai's HAL robot suit is apparently pretty close to production ready, with up to 20 of the bad boys to be produced by next year and 400-500 in 2008. The suits, designed to help in any number of situations where your puny human muscles are too pathetically weak to get the job done, will cost an estimated $42,000 to $59,000. If you just want to take it for a test spin, they'll be up for rent for about $592 a month. I personally can't wait until the price comes down low enough to get these things stocked at Wal-Mart and the inevitable exoskeleton ultimate fighting league is formed. — Adam Frucci story 1 story 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Washington Posted November 2, 2006 Author Share Posted November 2, 2006 for those wanting more technical info. http://www.we.kanagawa-it.ac.jp/~yamamoto_lab/pas/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaudry Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Clutch cannon? Check Life saving legs? Check Super Smart Brain? Check Brunell will be here forever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stwasm Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Aren't those the things they use on the Fox football telecasts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Who'd a thunk they'd be inventing Iron Man before Captain America. Don't these guys know their Comic Book History? Pretty cool though. I wonder if it could be used with paralyzed patients or folks with severe osteoporosis?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baculus Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 This is similiar to the Berkeley exoskeleton project and the Future Force Warrior project, which includes powered extremity ehancements: http://bleex.me.berkeley.edu/bleex.htm I have long been fascinated by powered suits, armour, and Mechs. This Wikipedia article has a neat discussion on the subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_powered_exoskeleton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet Sassy Molassy Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 I'm preordering one now. Why? I don't know. But I'm getting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baculus Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 I always picture some of the uses that we could have for such exoskeletons, especially in regard to the Future Force Warrior project. In particular, I would really like to see Mechs, really functional mechs, developed for military use. This would be for both robotic and manned mechs. For example, could you imagine bipedal mechs that can run at 60 MPH, leap over buildings, and land, while launching missles and firing vulcans, into the middle of the enemy? After all, if I was the enemy and saw a line of running, bounding mechs, reading to jump into our position and raise hell, I'd probably retreat fast. Of course, these are my silly sci-fi envisionings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost of Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Who'd a thunk they'd be inventing Iron Man before Captain America. Don't these guys know their Comic Book History? Pretty cool though. I wonder if it could be used with paralyzed patients or folks with severe osteoporosis?" First off, :laugh: at Beaudry's post And about Iron Man, remember they have that Insulin Factor-1 or whatever it's called which has been used to increase the speed, strength and agility of rats and it doesn't diminish with age. SO TECHNICALLY, perhaps Captain America is going to come first Seriously though, I think it would rock not only for the disabled but for what that guy said: MOVING. DO you know how ANNOYING it is to move mainly because of the strain of moving the heavy stuff (smaller boxes are not the real issue) and sometimes it's not even the 'weight' but how awkward the grip is on certain items. With one of these babies (once they get them to be flexible enough,) you could do a move by yourself and no longer have to buy beer or pizza for friends or pay any damn movers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baculus Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 More info about the HAL: http://www.cyberdyne.jp/English/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drockvb Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 That looks like some awkward stuff to wear. Gessh. I couldn't get nothing done with that crap on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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