Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Robotic Suit Gives Shipyard Workers Super Strength

Posted by samzenpus on from the power-up dept.

An anonymous reader writes Ship-builders Daewoo have been testing robotic exoskeletons in South Korean shipyards that provide the wearer with super-human strength. From the article: "The exoskeleton fits anyone between 160 and 185 centimetres tall. Workers do not feel the weight of its 28-kilogram frame of carbon, aluminium alloy and steel, as the suit supports itself and is engineered to follow the wearer's movements. With a 3-hour battery life, the exoskeleton allows users to walk at a normal pace and, in its prototype form, it can lift objects with a mass of up to 30 kilograms."

21 of 125 comments (clear)

  1. How do you say... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ..."Get away from her, you bitch" in Korean?

    1. Re:How do you say... by mythosaz · · Score: 3, Funny

      geunyeo hanteseo tteol-eojyeo, dangsin-eun nappeun!

      I'm only posting this so that someone corrects me.

    2. Re:How do you say... by Spy+Handler · · Score: 5, Informative

      "geunyeo hanteseo tteol-eojyeo" - "Get away from her" --> This is correct.

      "dangsin-eun nappeun!" - this is wrong, it means "You are a bad person" and it's in the polite form even.

      "Geh sek ki ya" would be more appropriate, it's a commonly used expletive meaning "dog offspring".

    3. Re:How do you say... by jgtg32a · · Score: 2

      Does that literal translation to actually carry the same weight as the as the English word?

  2. Only geeks... by funwithBSD · · Score: 5, Insightful

    would consider lifting 30Kg to be superhuman.

    --
    Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
    1. Re:Only geeks... by MozeeToby · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Now go out and lift it once per minute for 3 hours and see how you feel.

    2. Re:Only geeks... by OzPeter · · Score: 3, Insightful

      would consider lifting 30Kg to be superhuman.

      And from TFA the target is 100kg Try lifting *that* more than a few times and see how you go.

      I feel sorry for you that the amazing super-strength exoskeleton capable of lifting 1000 kg, and able to run all day didn't just spring into existence at the snap of your fingers. It really must be tough living in that fantasy world where research and development don't take time and resources.

      --
      I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
    3. Re: Only geeks... by Jeremi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Prototype, people, it's a prototype.

      I'm all for alien-crushing super-robot strength too, just not while the software is still in beta :^)

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    4. Re:Only geeks... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You get to sweating a bit, and I doubt it's good for your back in the long run, but its certainly doable

      (I used to work in a freight terminal - we would load 2 or 3 trucks with 20-30 Kg packages over a 2 hour period.. and none of us were 'buff' by any stretch of the imagination).

    5. Re:Only geeks... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I used to work in a freight terminal - we would load 2 or 3 trucks with 20-30 Kg packages over a 2 hour period.. and none of us were 'buff' by any stretch of the imagination

      That's great! With this thing, however, you reduce staff loads. One trained worker could do an 8 hour shift, without stress and with (possibly) lower risk of injury, just by switching out batteries every few hour. Beats having to properly train four men to do the work and losing workers to strain injuries. If this is cost effective, who knows. Also, this is the prototype. I would assume they are interested in higher powered systems for the production system.

      So what I'm curious to see is how people handle moving with heavy weights, without feeling the heavy weights. Spinning around could be potentially dangerous, and dropping items could be devastating if someone were to forget the true weight of the item they held.

    6. Re:Only geeks... by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2

      So, move 180 65lbs bags from point A to point B in 3 hours? That's not too hard, even for those of us who are quite out of shape. Why, just last week, my boss, who is about as out of shape as I am (and is also a geek), mixed and poured the foundation for a shed in his backyard with only his elderly father-in-law to help. Because of the sloping terrain and city codes regarding minimum foundation thicknesses, it ended up taking 96 80lbs bags. My boss was a bit tired come Monday morning, but otherwise seemed to get by just fine.

      That said, he only had to do it for one day. I get where you're coming from, that if you were having to do it at length, it would be an issue. I just think you could have chosen a better time frame than 3 hours. Maybe "all day, everyday" instead, ya know?

    7. Re: Only geeks... by Livius · · Score: 2

      Oh, come on! Skynet got nuclear weapons when it was still in beta.

    8. Re:Only geeks... by jcoy42 · · Score: 2

      Because of the sloping terrain and city codes regarding minimum foundation thicknesses, it ended up taking 96 80lbs bags

      96 80lb bags would only cover 115 square feet at 6". And if it's a slope, it would have to be smaller than 10x10. Where do you live where they have building requirements for such a small shed? In AZ, you don't have to care at all until you go over 200 square feet.

      --
      Never trust an atom. They make up everything.
    9. Re:Only geeks... by LoRdTAW · · Score: 2

      Yup. I know that on Long Island in Suffolk counties town of Babylon anything with a footprint bigger than 10x10 feet is needs a concrete foundation. That concrete foundation is now a permanent structure which requires a permit and tax revaluation. So keep it small and you won't be bothered. That or live in NYC where most people don't give a damn and build whatever. Let the next homeowner worry who is probably a developer looking to knock it down and put in a 6 family with no parking anyway.

    10. Re:Only geeks... by rahvin112 · · Score: 2

      Are you kidding? The people that tie steel for a living are lifting more than 50lbs at a time for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. I'd bet better than 10% of our populations is constantly lifting and moving that kind of weight around pretty much continuously for their entire career.

      What are you, a basement dwelling virgin who can barely lift 10lbs?

      The only time 50 or even 100lbs should be a problem is if the shape is awkward (too long and wide, etc), the edges are sharp or the center of mass and shape make it awkward to hold (such as requiring that you hold the weight with your fingers rather than your arms). All but the sharp edges are usually neutralized by getting multiple people to move it. Now you start talking 100+ pounds in either dense or awkard shapes and this could be very helpful but 75lbs is nothing.

    11. Re:Only geeks... by swillden · · Score: 2

      I just think you could have chosen a better time frame than 3 hours.

      Well, after three hours the suit battery is dead.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    12. Re:Only geeks... by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 2

      So what I'm curious to see is how people handle moving with heavy weights, without feeling the heavy weights. Spinning around could be potentially dangerous, and dropping items could be devastating if someone were to forget the true weight of the item they held.

      Now let's all say it together...:
      We can work all that out in the software!
      Note to testing and QC departments:
      We will not be standing nearby while we work this out in software...

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    13. Re:Only geeks... by EvilJoker · · Score: 2

      That really depends on how the weight's being lifted, i.e. what muscles are being used. Lifting with the knees? No problem. Outstretched arms? Difficult. Involving twisting? Risk of injury.

  3. No SCV comments? by rogoshen1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm disappointed in the Slashdot of today. All of these comments, and not one person making wise about Koreans playing Starcraft and deciding to develop their own SCV's.

  4. Look ma, no hands? by aNonnyMouseCowered · · Score: 2

    Take a good look at the photo that accompanies the linked article:

    http://www.newscientist.com/da...

    There's clearly no support for the hands. The thumbs of the worker modeling the exoskeleton are clearly visible above the presumably heavy metal object that's actually being lifted by a a crane-like contraption that loops over his shoulders. The worker is only using his hands to stabilize the object.

    Power suit this isn't. So no Ironman here yet.

  5. There's a LEGO set, too. by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 2

    Ok, the LEGO set is independent of this prototype. But it's available this month. Here is the original proposal on Lego Ideas. Buy your own minifig exosuit! You know you want to.