Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com Engadget http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif Engadget http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2013 AOL Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/ <![CDATA[Tokyo University of Science shows off robotic suit powered by pneumatic artificial muscles (video)]]> http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/02/tokyo-university-of-science-pneumatic-muscle-suit/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/02/tokyo-university-of-science-pneumatic-muscle-suit/ http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/02/tokyo-university-of-science-pneumatic-muscle-suit/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#comments Tokyo University of Science shows off robotic suit powered by pneumatic artificial muscles video

What can one do with a robot suit? Well, it's certainly not limited to just lifting sacks of rice, but that was exactly what we got to do at CEATEC courtesy of Koba Lab from Tokyo University of Science. First seen in 2009, the magic behind this 9kg kit are the pair of pneumatic artificial muscles (aka McKibben artificial muscles) on the back, which are made by industrial equipment manufacturer Kanda Tsushin. When pressurized with air using electrical components from KOA Corporation, the lightweight, loosely-woven PET tubes contract and consequently provide support to the user's back, shoulders and elbows. As such, our arms were able to easily hold two more sacks of rice (making it a total of 50kg) until the demonstrator deflated the muscles. Check out our jolly hands-on video after the break.

Gallery: Tokyo University of Science shows off robotic suit powered by pneumatic artificial muscles

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]]> artificial muscleArtificialMuscleceatecceatec 2012Ceatec2012exosuitfeaturedfeatureshands-onjapanKanda TsushinKandaTsushinKOA CorporationKoaCorporationKoba LabKobaLabMcKibbenMcKibben Artificial MuscleMckibbenArtificialMusclepneumaticrobot suitRobotSuitsuittokyotokyo university of scienceTokyoUniversityOfSciencevideo Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:02:00 -0400 21|20338969