Robot Suit Enhances Human Strength

June 9, 2005 by budda
Filed under Fashion, Gadgets, Robotics

Japanese developers have created a robotic power suit, named HAL-5, that allows the wearer of the suit to have enhanced strength.

The 15-kilogram (33-pound) battery-powered suit, code-named HAL-5, detects muscle movements through electrical-signal flows on the skin surface and then amplifies them.

“Humans may be able to mutate into supermen in the near future,” said Yoshiyuki Sankai, professor and engineer at Tsukuba University who led the project.

The suit can also move on its own accord, enabling it to help elderly or handicapped people walk, developers said.

Japan has seen a growing market for technology geared toward the elderly, who are making up an increasing chunk of the population as fewer younger Japanese choose to start families.

A government report last week showed that pensioners made up a record 19.5 percent of the country’s population in 2004 and that the ratio will grow rapidly, surpassing 35 percent in 2050.

The prototype suit will be displayed at the World Exposition that is currently taking place in Aichi prefecture, central Japan.

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