Just last October the Honda of Japan is developing a novel walking assistance device, but the details of its functionality were hazy. Finally the company is revealing more and taking the device on the road. Apparently Honda has managed to translate some of their research from the super-awesome, ASIMO into a “walking assistant device” for the gait-impaired, but still somewhat capable of walking on their own. We’ll let Honda PR describe how it works…
The cooperative control technology utilized for this device is a unique Honda innovation achieved through the cumulative study of human walking just as the research and development of technologies was conducted for Honda’s advanced humanoid robot, ASIMO. Applying cooperative control based on the information obtained from hip angle sensors, the motors provide optimal assistance based on a command from the control CPU. With this assist, the user’s stride will be lengthened compared to the user’s normal stride without the device and therefore the ease of walking is achieved.
The compact design of the device was achieved with flat brushless motors and a control system developed by Honda. In addition, a simple design to be worn with a belt around the hip and thigh was employed to help achieve overall weight as light as approximately 2.8kg. As a result, the device reduces the user’s load and can be fit to different body shapes.
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