Japanese Develop ‘Robotic Muscle Suit’ [Japanese University Develops Robotic Exoskeleton]

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Remember that awesome ‘power loader’ from the film Aliens where Sigourney Weaver is able to lift gigantic cargo crates? Well, unfortunately, Honda didn’t reveal the Power Loader 2000, but Tokyo’s University of Science unveiled what could be a step in that direction. The ‘robotic muscle suit’ allows users to lift an extra 20 kilograms (44 pounds).

The robotic suit has been around for a while from the University of Science, but the version demonstrated yesterday at Tokyo’s International Robot Exhibition, was slimmer than models previously shown. The version shown yesterday was their first working prototype, and demonstrations yesterday were the first publicly.

PC World reports that a student volunteer was asked to carry as many 10 kg bags of rice as he could with and without the suit. He was able to carry three without the suit, and two more when the suit was activated. When the suit was powered off, he quickly dropped the five bags of rice because the weight was too much for him.

So, while we won’t be lifting two-ton crates around the space station anytime soon, this science fiction tech is slowly becoming a reality. The University plans to have a production ready model in 2010. PC World reports that earlier this year, Toyota begun experimenting with similar technology in their car factories where workers have to lift heavy car parts. Last year, we reported that another Japanese company was renting robotic legs to customers.