Robotic Legs Instead of Wheelchairs

smooth wombat writes "Atsuo Takanishi, an engineering professor at Tokyo's Waseda University, has demonstrated a pair of robotic legs that may one day eliminate the need for wheelchairs. At the demonstration in Tokyo, one of Takanishi's students rode the robot -- which bears some resemblance to the mechanical "Wrong Trousers" of Wallace and Gromit fame -- up and down a staircase and along a pebbly path outdoors. A picture of the demonstration may be found here " Still waiting for my Gundam but that's a good start.

Comments

ease of use

[Digitus1337]

It takes two joysticks to control... how much of an improvement is this over wheelcheers? What of those with limited or no use of their hands. While the legs seem cool, are they really practical?

Re:ease of use

[Scrameustache]

It takes two joysticks to control... how much of an improvement is this over wheelcheers?

Why don't you try going up a flight of stairs in a wheelchair and get back to us with your results?
You'll want to count the number of hands you're using to turn the wheels too...

This is dynamic standing, not walking. Still great

[chriss]

I think this is great, but it will still take some time to be used in daily life. This looks like one of the biped robots we have seen in the last years who has the possibility to carry a person. These bots can balance each step, but they are always in balance. A person which is walking or running is not in a permanent state of standing, but falling. To move forward at a reasonable pace you have to abandon stability and use gravity to draw you forward and reestablishing balance once you set down your foot.

This is difficult enough on a fixed floor (watch babies learn to walk), but much harder on something like grass or inside a moving train. Considering how long it took to get robots to even stand it will still take some time to walk. So if you depend on a wheelchair today and would like to actually move at decent speeds, you may be out of luck for some time.

What about failure

[holdenholden]

When this contraption fails (because it will, inevitably), I don't want to be the one caught under it. A wheelchair may be inconvenient, but at least will not break your neck in case of a mechanical failure. And if the battery goes dead, a wheelchair can be moved using hands or somebody can push it. If this thing looses power, you are pretty much stuck.

Re:Interesting

[Mattsson]

One would guess, though, that an eventual commercial mass-market version version would be a bit more slim and have over-all a more polished design than a university research-prototype. ^_^