Japanese have come out with a real robot suit or you can say “Iron Man” suit that will assist the old or disabled to move.
Hybrid Assistive Lab or HAL, a robot suit was given the safety certificate in Japan, which ensures that the suit can be sold all over the world, says a report from SciencingAround.
First robot to get clearance
Cyberdyne, Japanese robot maker, has developed Hybrid Assistive limb, which is actually a pair of legs. The robotic company has also developed a pair of arms similar to legs. The certificate was given to the robot legs by Quality assurance body after going through the draft version of an international safety standard for personal robots that will most probably get approved this year, according to the statement of ministry for the economy, trade and industry.
One of the officials in the ministry said that metal-and-plastic exoskeleton is the first robot that has been given a certificate of a first nursing care robot.
How the “Iron Man” suit works?
The robot depends upon the impulse of the muscle to know and support the body movements, and is made in such a way that it can be used for old aged and as nursing carrier to lift patients. The suit starts working after it identifies weak bio electrical signals from patient’s muscles and then starts small motors and power units.
Radiation protective suit to follow
Around 330 of so-called ‘Iron man’ suits have been given to 150 hospitals, welfares and other facilities by Cyberdyne since 2010. The cost of the suit is 178,000 yen ($1,950) per suit per year.
“It is very significant that Japan has obtained this certification before others in the world,” said Yoshiyuki Sankai, the head of Cyberdyne. Sankai said that Japan has taken an initial step to convey the message about robots of the future. Sankai is also a professor at Tsukuba University.
Another kind of HAL is made for those workers who should be protected from the heavy radiation while clean up at the destroyed Fukushima Nuclear plant. Japan has been engaging robots in the industries from a long period.
However, according to some critics the government is not that prompt in creating safety framework for the robots.
