NEW YORK (Kyodo) Honda Motor Co. said Wednesday an experimental device designed to reduce muscle fatigue for workers at auto assembly plants will be displayed at the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York.
The "Why Design Now?" exhibition, part of the museum's National Design Triennial, will run from Friday to next Jan. 9. It will showcase machinery, clothes and other works designed to solve some of society's most urgent human and environmental problems.
Honda said the museum asked it to provide one of its Bodyweight Support Assist devices for display. The device consists of a seat, frame and shoes and uses balance-control technologies developed for ASIMO, Honda's humanoid robot, to ease the load on leg muscles and joints while walking, Honda said.
The device is actually in use at Honda's vehicle assembly plant in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, because it can reduce the fatigue of workers, who usually need to stand for long hours.
