Computerized Leg Device to Help Elderly Walk

Honda Motor, a pioneer of humanoid robots, on Friday unveiled a new walking assist machine designed to make it easier for the elderly to climb stairs and help factory workers.

The computerized leg device is the latest addition to walking technology developed by the Japanese automaker, which announced the world’s first two-legged walking robot, ASIMO, in 2000.

The 6.5 kilogram (14.3-pound) device — consisting of a saddle, leg-like frames and shoes — can reduce the load on users’ legs while walking or climbing and descending stairs by supporting bodyweight, Honda said.

Honda said the motor-powered machine is still at an experimental stage, but elderly people and people undergoing rehabilitation who need support for their leg muscles and joints are the main target.

The device is also expected to help assembly workers to keep a crouching position, Honda said, adding that it plans to test the device at one of its factories north of Tokyo.

Like with a unicycle, users ride on the seat sustained by frames that can bend and extend like knees with two motors controlled by signals from sensors inside the shoes.

“We used ASIMO’s technology for developing the walking assist device,” Masato Hirose, a senior engineer at Honda Research and Development, told AFP.

“ASIMO is designed to be used as a tool, but the walking assist device is designed to complement real human bodies,” he said. “Both will exist for the sake of people.”

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