/ News
Power Jacket MK3 leaps from comic book pages into reality
In recent years Japan has erected life-sized statues of giant robots like Tetsujin-28 go (Gigantor) and a Gundam mobile suit, but statues can't defend the island nation from kaiju attack. Perhaps that is why Sagawa Electronics is bridging the gap between fantasy and reality with a working robotic exoskeleton it calls the Power Jacket MK3 that mimics your every move. And it says it will produce up to five of them for about US$123,000 apiece.
The Power Jacket MK3 is kept light thanks to a combination of aluminum and carbon fiber in its frame. It weighs just 25 kg (55 lb) despite being 2.25 m (7 ft 4 in) tall. The suit uses a master-slave system where your arms and legs are strapped to motorized joints that, when moved, drive the motion of the suit's corresponding limbs.
The suit contains a total of 14 servo motors (8 of which were designed by the team). Currently its arms are capable of lifting about 15 kg (33 lb), but for safety reasons they are limiting it to just 2 kg (4.4 lb).
The suit's construction is robust enough to handle a quick jog, and the hands are delicate enough to pick up an egg without cracking it. The company plans to showcase the suit publicly at Wonder Festival 2013 later this month, and has created a comic to help flesh out its story. Like theKuratas mecha and 4-m tall biped robot, it's a novelty project that's more fun than it is practical, but we're ok with that.
Watch the ghastly "Scarface Santaro" present the suit in this humorous demonstration video (which thankfully has English subtitles):
That's not the only giant exoskeleton in town
Another giant suit project by Team Skeletonics preceded the Power Jacket MK3 by a couple of years. It was developed between 2010 and 2011, and could be easily confused with the Power Jacket MK3. However, we're told the two projects are unrelated, and besides, the Skeletonics (Skeleton + Mechanics) suit is human-powered only.
The Skeletonics suit uses a series of interconnected linkages to move the arms. You simply strap yourself in, and the suit mimics your movements (only the gripper hands are motorized). It stands 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) tall and weighs 25 kg (55 lb). As cool as it is, there's an even bigger and better version on its way.
Team Skeletonics is currently working on a motorized suit called the Exonnecs that it says will stand 3.5 meters (11 ft 5 in) tall and weigh 200 kg (440 lb). Not only that, but it will transform from an upright walking mode to a ground-based vehicle mode capable of traveling up to 80 km/h (50 mph)!
Sadly we'll have to wait a bit longer before we can see the Exonnecs in action, but you can watch a demonstration of the Skeletonics suit in this video:
Real exoskeletons are on the march
The above two examples are fun, but they have more in common with animatronic movie props than real exoskeletons. Several companies are currently developing suits that can significantly augment human strength, like Cyberdyne's HAL and Lockheed Martin's HULC. Check out Gizmag's coverage of exoskeletons to learn more about the state of the art in this promising field of wearable robotics.
Source: http://www.gizmag.com/power-jacket-mk3-jumps-off-the-pages-of-comic-books-into-real-life/28189/
/ About us
Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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