TSUKUBA, Ibaraki Pref. (Kyodo) Cyberdyne Inc. began building a new lab Wednesday to develop a robotic suit aimed at helping people with disabilities to move their limbs.
The lab, in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, will double as a manufacturing plant and is due to begin turning out 400 to 500 of the suits each year from October, with annual output rising to tens of thousands of units over the next several years, according to the technology venture. Cyberdyne was founded by professor Yoshiyuki Sankai and other researchers at the University of Tsukuba.
The company has tied up with Daiwa House Industry Co. to rent out the new product to consumers and health-care institutions.
The robotic suit, called HAL, which stands for hybrid assistive limb, weighs about 23 kg.
According to the company, sensors in the suit pick up weak biopotential signals on the skin when the wearer tries to move his or her limbs. These sensors then activate either of the two power units for the upper or the lower body to move the wearer's limbs.
In addition to helping people with disabilities to walk and perform other physical tasks, HAL can also be used to lighten the load on workers performing heavy manual work, a Cyberdyne official said.
The product comes with a rechargeable 100-volt battery pack that powers the suit for about two hours and 40 minutes, the official added.
Monthly rental fees for the biped model will likely be around ¥200,000 or less for health organizations and ¥100,000 or less for individual customers.
The company said that it has received inquiries about the suit from several hundred people, including muscular dystrophy sufferers.
"We want to take our business worldwide," said professor Sankai, president of Cyberdyne.
