Power pedal robot suit by Matsushita

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. On June 15, unveiled the a wearable "Power Pedal" robot suit, which attaches to the lower body and provides users with up to seven times more leg strength. A pair of robotic legs that able to help elderly or disabled people walk. Once properly secured in the device, a user applies foot pressure to a pair of sensor-equipped pedals that control the suit.

Suit designers programmed the device to move along six different axes, and it can safely travel over rough terrain. The company expects the robot suit to be a logical tool in disaster relief operations, with no official testing details announced.

Researchers from Active Link, a Matsushita venture company, worked with Ritsumeikan University to develop a prototype of the powered suit, which is set to go on sale in August at a price of 20 million yen ($167,000) each. The company plans to cut the cost to around 3.5 million yen ($30,000) by the year 2015, as they aim to create a commercial product that can help the elderly and disabled to walk.

Matsushita made noise in the robotics field previously when it unveiled plans to create a robotic jacket which rehabilitates paralyzed medical patients. With the help of Activelink and Kobe Gakuin University, the three organizations will make a vest that slips over the patient's chest and arms and allows a person to move around freely.

Matsushita also believes the robot suit could play a useful role in disaster relief operations, especially if combined with the company’s previous upper body robot suit technology developed in 2005, which is designed to provide users with an extra 50 kilograms (110 lbs) of arm strength.

This is the continuity of what been reported by Engadget before.

Robotic suit

Categories: Robotic