HAL Exoskeleton Assisted Mountain Climbing

OzPeter writes "The Age is reporting that two experienced mountain climbers will wear Japanese HAL exoskeletons to assist in carrying a quadriplegic and a muscular dystrophy sufferer to the summit of a Swiss mountain. Although they will be starting only 280 meters below the summit, it will still be an impressive feat." Slashdot covered the HAL exoskeleton late last year.

Great Name Choice

[eldavojohn]

Let's hope that the HAL suits don't consider the quadriplegic a threat to the mission [wikipedia.org]. Might see the suit eject the body in an effort to achieve success and reach the top.

Re:Great Name Choice

[MindStalker]

Generally the 5th member stays intack, you may or may not have feeling in this extremity, but as it operates on hormons and blood it still works.

Re:Great Name Choice

[Anonymous Coward]

This is false. The penis is neurologically controlled by a small region on the lower spinal cord. Even if disconnected from the brain it can still function. However, if the region is damaged, then no, it won't work. The human male brain only has indirect control of erection. But adept use of the imagination can achieve high levels of erectile manipulation.

Re:Great Name Choice

[c_forq]

Isn't this agreeing with the parent?

Re:Great Name Choice

[iron-kurton]

Anyone see that the company is named Cyberdine? Next we'll get Skynet...

Re:Great Name Choice

[edinjapan]

To late http://www.loralskynet.com/ [loralskynet.com]

Re:Great Name Choice

[SmashMacFly]

Skynet [skynet.be] is the name of the most important internet provider in Belgium, part of the Belgacom [belgacoml.be] company which is the former national phone company.

Re:Great Name Choice

[tbo]

Let's hope that the HAL suits don't consider the quadriplegic a threat to the mission.

I think we have bigger problems. The company making HAL is Cyberdyne [wikipedia.org]. We may never know who launches the first strike.

For safety's sake

[amliebsch]

I hope they remember to bring a spare AE-35 unit.

Re:For safety's sake

[quokkapox]

Or one of these [therawfeed.com].

Re:For safety's sake

[Illbay]

Well, I hope that they don't fall for that old "replace the AE-35 Unit" ruse!

Extreme conditions

[jimmyhat3939]

This seems like a great test and demonstration of this kind of technology in a relatively extreme environment. I know several people on SlashDot have argued that the machinery wouldn't be able to handle the kinds of conditions you might confront when needing to rescue someone or in a war. This is exactly the kind of demonstration they need to do to push this kind of project forward.

Re:$1 million dollar man finally arrives...

[MadUndergrad]

......but we don't want to spend a lot of money.

The $6 dollar man finally arrives...

workit harder better faster stronger

[z4pp4]

...parent's comment kinda like reminds me of this [ungrounded.net]

wtf?

[rilister]

"Sankai's venture company Cyberdyne"....

let me get this straight. A robot called "HAL" developed by Cyberdyne?
For pities sake: stop this evil genius now! Before we have to go back in time and do it!

I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave.

[MikeSty]

I'm afraid I can't do that, rilister.

Re:wtf?

[bobcat7677]

HAL and Cyberdyne... I'm curious, does this professor guy have a really sick sense of humor, or does he just like to test fate?

Re:wtf?

[elrous0]

stop this evil genius now! Before we have to go back in time and do it!

Don't worry, we'll just send Reese back. No one likes him and he'll do anything to get laid. It's the perfect way to finally get rid of him.

-Eric

Ummm.

[Skiron]

"Although they will be starting only 280 meters below the summit"

Might as well find the nearest hill where they live and save all the expense.

Re:Ummm.

[EvilGrin5000]

From TFA...

Uchida - left paralysed from the neck down after a spinal cord injury in a 1983 traffic accident - will make the final ascent to the 4,164-metre peak with the help of alpinist Ken Noguchi, 33.
He would carry Uchida on his back with the aid of a robot known as HAL, Saigo said.
Uchida had wanted to go up the Swiss Alps because a photo of the Matterhorn helped buoy his spirits during his convalescence, Saigo said.
However, when he finally went to Switzerland in 1998 he could get no closer than

Re:Ummm.

[krnpimpsta]

Might as well find the nearest hill where they live and save all the expense.

I think the point is that these disabled people will get to experience some of the hiking experience as well as seeing the summit.
I suppose they could also see the summit via some other means.. maybe by helicoptor? Or from space? Or in a picture?

Why do people bother to run a marathon? It's easier to drive.

Mountain rubbish

[EmbeddedJanitor]

A low altitude hill climb would also be far easier to clean up after, film etc, but I guess does not have the same wow factor. Most high altitude missions leave behind a huge mess. I have visions of the HAL mission leaving a trail of spent AA batteries.

This mission is too important to jeopardize it

[digitaldc]

The HAL mission was deemed a success for the simple fact that the mountainclimbers were wearing full face masks all the way up and back.

Nerves of steel

[rehtonAesoohC]

I think I would be extremely nervous riding on the back of someone who was wearing a battery powered machine in freezing cold temperatures...

"Uhh, hold on here, my HAL is frozen solid."
Or...
"Uh oh, my HAL is out of juice... I guess you're rolling back down."

Re:Nerves of steel

[susano_otter]

Once again, Slashdot imagines a problem the engineers in question could not possibly have forseen! One cannot help but wonder how the Apollo program could ever have succeeded, without Slashdot to catch the mistakes and fill in the gaps. Yay Slashdot!

Why the HAL?

[TechnoGuyRob]

Why are they requiring a HAL Exoskeleton to make the climb? My father is an experienced mountain climber, and I know that one could very easily scale 280 meters in less than an hour; carrying a passenger will obviously complicate things quite a bit, but is additional (very expensive, I might add) technology truly necessary? According to the article, "Using HAL, someone who could normally lift 100 kilograms at a leg press machine could lift 180 kilograms"--not an amazing improvement.

Nonetheless, the climbe

Re:Why the HAL?

[rilister]

80% increase in muscle strength "not an amazing achievement"?!

Anyone who's been through physical rehabilitation probably wouldn't agree with that...

Re:Why the HAL?

[dmatos]

Sure, you can leg-press 180kg instead of 100 when wearing the suit. It's too bad the suit weighs 100kg :(

(Just kidding. Info elsewhere states that it weighs 21kg, so there is a net benefit)

Re:Why the HAL?

[Helish]

You have to realise that with proper training and nutrition you could do exactly the same in 6 months time. This are not impressive numbers, mostly the leg press, I can leg press 240kg with ease, but I can only (I assume it's similar to deadlift what they are talking about) lift 120kg. This numbers are very midcore. The only difference is that the machine doesn't get tired over a period of time.

Re:Why the HAL?

[somersault]

"The only difference is that the machine doesn't get tired over a period of time."

well, it does need batteries. Also I think that likely this suit always gives an 80kg improvement, rather than an 80% increase as someone else mentioned, so it would always help, but as you say, exercising helps too (but isnt instantaneous). For someone who could only lift 20kg because of disability or injury though, for example, the extra 80kg boost would be rather useful. I should read TFA >_>

Re:Why the HAL?

[hey!]

According to the article, "Using HAL, someone who could normally lift 100 kilograms at a leg press machine could lift 180 kilograms"--not an amazing improvement.

It's pretty amazing if the person wearing it has anything like the level of control he has over his unenhanced leg.

Re:Why the HAL?

[Daniel_Staal]

Best reason is to stress-test the equipment. It's not such a big project that if the system fails anyone is in danger, but it is quite a bit more extreme a test than anything the system has faced so far.

It's not really to demonstrate that they can get people up the mountain, or even to actually get people up the mountain. It is to demonstrate that the HAL system will work on a mountain.

And they will learn where it is good and where it is bad. Useful goals, on an early generation of potential tech.

Re:Why the HAL?

[zardo]

I was thinking about this earlier. If you made a suit that assisted in lifting 10 times your normal capacity, it would be inherently dangerous. Twice your normal capacity is not likely to kill you as easily. It would be a pretty simple trick to make the thing lift more, just put in a different gear ratio, or a variable speed/torque transmission where you need it.

The real use of this, which they don't mention, is war fighting. You know those Japanese are obsessed with mecha destroying each other, and the t

Re:Our army dosen't care about protecting soldiers

[zardo]

Kevlar is kevlar. The thickest kevlar could be stopped by a handgun. Try stopping a AP round with any body armor. An exo skeleton could wear hard bodied synthetics, designed to deflect a bullet more often than a dead stop.

I appreciate your political rant. Really.

Re:Our army dosen't care about protecting soldiers

[zardo]

I think you're a liar, a moron and a hot head. Look at my comment you fool, I said hard composite armor is the way to go. You could wear the thickest armor you could find, it would slow your running speed the heavier you get, making you ineffective at doing what you're there for.

You could sit in a tank all day for what good it would do you. Why not have the fam send you a big steel box to sit in?

The future will be light, hard composites. As the bullet strikes it, it pivots to a higher relative angle as

What are you lifting, DAVE?

[the_REAL_sam]

http://www.2001halslegacy.com/ [2001halslegacy.com]

Cue Robocop Music

[Testicon]

It's Robocop in the making...

Impressive feat? I think not...

[XxtraLarGe]

Man, those Japanese are way behind. Stephen Hawking already did this back in 1997! [theonion.com]

They've got a long way to go

[Wootzor von Leetenha]

if those HAL suits were any good, the quadroplegic and muscular distrophic patient would be walking themselves up the mountain

Re:They've got a long way to go

[davidsyes]

Now, that would be ONE HAL of a FEET, wouldn't it?

Re:They've got a long way to go

[ScrewMaster]

That's HALarious, buddy, just HALarious.

Re:They've got a long way to go

[davidsyes]

I wish to HAL I'd thought of THAT one, too!

Now, I hope you have one HAL of a day, man!

hehe image word: musical

Wake up and smell the ashes

[jrmiller84]

How long before we have an HEV suit ;)

Re:Wake up and smell the ashes

[slashbob22]

Not long now Mr Freeman.

Hurry up!

[hentaidan]

From the FAQ:

Q. Can we go to the bathroom or take a bath with HAL ?

A. We are researching it now.

For the love of god, please hurry up!

Re:Hurry up!

[distributed]

hmmm... I understand straight, gay, lesbian etc. but taking a bath with an intelligent computer... is there a term for such stuff ? What if HAL prefers his own kind ?

Re:Hurry up!

[lysergic.acid]

Robosexuals?

"Stay away from our women! You've got metal fever, boy! Metal fever!" -- Bender

I'm sorry Dave...

[noidentity]

...I'm afraid I can't let you climb that mountain.

Call it OW instead of HAL "Overhyped Wench"

[elrous0]

Call me when it can make the climb alone. How exactly do we know this thing isn't just a bunch of pieces of plastic attached to this strong climber's body?

-Eric

"Overhyped Wench"?!?

[Locke2005]

No, Pamela Anderson is an overhyped wench... this would be an overhyped winch!

Pffffffttttttttt!!!!!

[pedalman]

Too little, too late: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://toyc hest.diamondcomics.com/toys/02_03/edward-scissorha nds.jpg&imgrefurl=http://toychest.diamondcomics.co m/toys/02_03/31_ed_scissorhands_11inch.htm&h=296&w =200&sz=11&tbnid=lwfjCVmTQCkJ:&tbnh=111&tbnw=75&pr ev=/images%3Fq%3Dedward%2Bscissorhands%26hl%3Den%2 6lr%3D&start=3&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2 [google.com]

Nice I guess..

[Digital Pizza]

.. but it'd be better if the exoskeleton was directly worn/used by the quadrapelegic and MS sufferer.

Re:Nice I guess..

[eltonito]

.. but it'd be better if the exoskeleton was directly worn/used by the quadrapelegic and MS sufferer

Gee, overstate the obvious, will ya?

Clearly the ultimate goal of this is to improve the mobility of folks who are disabled, but they first need to grasp basic concepts before tackling the complex challenges the disabled have. It's difficult to develop interactive and predictive motion assist on test subjects who have limited motion. Then there are the myriad of challenges with the nature of disabilities -

This summary reads like a James Watt quote...

[brian0918]

"I have a black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple. And we have talent."

--James Watt, Secrety of the Interior under Reagan, describing his staff to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on September 21, 1983; this comment led directly to his forced resignation.

Re:This summary reads like a James Watt quote...

[Anonymous Coward]

What's wrong with that? What if he'd said, "I have a nigger, a bitch, two kikes and a gimp".

Re:This summary reads like a James Watt quote...

[susano_otter]

And this anecdote reads like a textbook example of "politically incorrect".

Sounds like Secretary Watt vastly overestimated the U.S.C.C.'s sense of humor. His resignation was probably for the best, even if Reagan could've used a man of his talent.

Oblig. Futurama quote

[UnknowingFool]

Bite my shiny metal ass!

Re:Oblig. Futurama quote

[JJman]

frikin lasers!

Yes there are easier tests

[Mr. Freeman]

Of course the suit isn't necessary, the entire point of the operation is to demonstrate the suit's capabilities.

And no you don't actually need the mountain to show what the suit can do, but it looks a lot better than just lifting a bunch of weights in a laboratory.

Also, can we please stop with all of the HAL jokes. I think they got old about 5 minutes after this story was posted.

Terminate them while we have the chance

[rebootconrad]

Using HAL, someone who could normally lift 100 kilograms at a leg press machine could lift 180 kilograms, Cyberdyne said.

Is it just me, or does it sound like a bad idea to start messing with technology produced by the Cyberdyne Corporation [wikipedia.org]...? Anyone up for a little time travel?

Impressive but...

[e4g4]

...for the quadriplegic's sake, I'll be more interested in seeing the quadriplegic wear the suit and climb the mountain.

Sponteneous, Disparate Group-Think

[Jerk City Troll]

It is interesting that thousands, possibly tens of thousands of people all thought the exact same thing as they read this article summary.

Errr

[Simon Garlick]

I note that there is no mention of getting the cripples DOWN from the mountain top...

Re:Errr

[Cyno01]

Gravity? I am going to hell...

Nixon's Back!

[The Mechani]

The suit shown in TFA looks strikingly reminiscent of what Nixon wore in one of the Futureama episodes!

Cyberdine? RUN!!!!!!!!

[1nhuman]

Tsukuba University engineering professor Yoshiyuki Sankai developed HAL to help its operator perform tasks a normal human would not be strong enough to perform otherwise, according to the web page of Sankai's venture company Cyberdyne.

Wait a minute... Cyberdyne? WTF? Remember these guys?

1984-1991 Cyberdyne Systems Corporation is formed to study the uncovered remains of the Terminator and further cybernetic and artificial intelligence research. Miles Dyson serves as the chief inventor responsible for a rev

What's the quadriplegic doing?

[Cunk]

They're giving this quadriplegic too much credit. To say he's going to "scale the heights" is a little off the mark. The guy in the HAL is doing all the scaling.

But anyway I'm glad the piggyback rider will get a chance to see something he wouldn't otherwise be able to see. Unless someone drove him up. Or he took a helicopter. Or maybe a tram.

Back in the middle ages

[suv4x4]

Where people deemed their protection and strength more important than mobility. Maybe it really is.

Or maybe just those suits brought a lot of money for the guys developing them.

Helps soldiers unload without offloading...

[davidsyes]

Now, that could augment the MILES or ALICE packs for soliders ummm soldiers humping huge 150 lb packs on their bodies.

New wince-inducing DOD-targeted adverts from drug-OD'd marketing contractors:

"Enemy closing ing? Gotta take a shit on the run? Adjust your servos and just squat a bit. Might need a mirror and an extender accessory, though... But, we have that extension in beta...It's called "MILES Behind, and ALICE Hind Loader"

Gives a new take on the German word that sounds like "Hingerlader"... Just twist t