Take a load off with Honda's walking aid
Honda's new support system can do stairs.
(Credit: Honda)See all the cool things we'll have to look forward to when we're older?
Honda unveiled another experimental walking-assistant device on Friday that lets people's legs still do the walking while taking take some of the weight off leg muscles and joints. The device looks like a follow-up to another walking aid from Honda shown off earlier this year.
With the latest one, a person steps into the device shoes and leans back into the high seat. Honda does the rest by supporting a large portion of the person's body weight during walking, stair-climbing, or even squatting.
The seat level can be adjusted for different heights. People wear their own shoes and place them into the device shoes. The device is controlled through an individual's body movement with the assisting force from two motors being automatically directed toward the person's center of gravity to maintain balance, according to Honda.
The technology applied to the device grew out of studies Honda research groups did to develop walking techniques for Asimo, its humanoid robot.
Honda announced it will begin testing the device this month at its assembly plant in Sayama, Saitama, Japan.
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. E-mail her at candacelombardi@gmail.com. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. 
Ugly as it may be, this will be a boon to disabled people. Maybe we can finally get rid of the electric scooters the seniors use to run you down in Walmart.
- by dustyfilly August 26, 2009 1:58 PM PDT
- Well these "comments" suck BIG time!!!!! I am a real person with a disability that prevents me from doing many usual activities. I was always an active person from childhood hiking many steep trails from a young child into adulthood. As a pre-teenager I started working with horses and was very strong and hardworking. At the age of 30 I was a victim of two car accidents, twice being hit from behind while at a traffic stop. I continued to function for almost 15 years, but now at 48 years I can barely walk. I have had the three lowest discs in my back removed and instead of being fused had three new innovative titanium discs placed in my spine, this was in 2005. By 2006 I realized that my surgery was a failure and have become more and more unable to function. Honestly, it thas been torturous. I see this device as a non-invasive alternative. I want to try it now!!!!!
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(6 Comments)