Wearable Motocycle

Skele-Cycle: Thirty-six pneumatic muscles control this wearable motorcycle, taking commands from the rider’s body movements. Nick Kaloterakis; design © Jake Loniak at Art Center College of Design

Popsci

Invention: Exoskeleton power steering

Last year saw the first handful of prototype robotic exoskeletons go on sale to the public – with the most advanced being the full-body HAL robot suit made by Japanese firm Cyberdyne.

The technology is still far from mature, however, and one of the biggest problems facing the builders of the strength-boosting outfits is how they know how to help the wearer.

HAL and most other suits use electrodes to measure the electrical activity in a person's muscles. That information is used to ensure a suit helps rather than hinders – by moving in just the same way as the user but with greater strength.

Cyberdyne claims that HAL can magnify a person's strength by between two and 10 times.

But this technique can have difficulties measuring and interpreting electrical activity in the body – in particular, the way electrical activity varies between individuals, and the confusing electrical signals given off by many muscles in one part of the body moving at once.

Now Japanese car giant Honda is patenting a different approach for its own exoskeletons. The company's suit senses the force and velocity of a limb in motion and then attempts to match the movement using whatever force is necessary.

The approach is similar to that used in the electric power steering of cars, where sensors detect the motion of the steering wheel and translate that to the car's wheels using servos.

The approach should be easier to implement and more reliable for a varied user base than monitoring muscles' electrical activity, Honda's patent claims.

The patented idea may already be in use in this spindly lower-body exoskeleton that is designed to assist walking and crouching in elderly or weakened people. Sensors in shoes detect the wearer's movements and help the system take some of the load.

Newscientist

Disneyland for Dudes: Playing With Backhoes, ATVs, Weapons

Think of it as a testosterone-soaked sandbox: a German amusement park where, instead of standing in line to ride on roller coasters, you get to play with big, loud machines. For 219 euros, patrons can spend the day operating 29-ton Liebherr backhoes and 32-ton Komatsu front-end loaders, off-roading through the woods in a Mercedes-built Unimog, peeling out in a Suzuki SUV, and slinging some mud on quad bikes. The brainchild of Alexander Bammer, a former IT honcho, Männerspielplatz (literally "men's playground") began seven years ago as a one-off corporate promotion with a handful of rented earthmovers at a construction site near Kassel in central Germany. The event struck a chord with pasty execs who loved getting in touch with their inner ditchdigger. "Most men these days don't work on a construction site; they work at a desk," Bammer says. "They dream about experiences like this." So in 2004, he decided to open Männerspielplatz, just outside Kassel, as a 17-acre one-stop shop for man fantasy (slogan: "We fulfill men's dreams!").
Wired

Human canon patent

Human cannon: Fire fighters, police or special forces can only climb ladders to get onto roofs so fast. So US defence research agency DARPA patented the idea of firing them up there using a circus-inspired cannon. They say a compressed-air powered launcher 4 metres high could fire someone onto the top of a five storey building in less than 2 seconds.

ultra light platform shoes

Architects Arne van Herk and Sabien de Kleijn often mix art, design and architecture in their work. They use all sort of methods during the design process, experimenting with foam-rubber objects, flexible pieces of furniture and ultra-light, half-metre-high platform shoes.

The Hypergravity Fit-N-Flex Olympic Professional

fitness-paradise

Bicycle for space training

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute is exploring the concept of a bike-like centrifuge to be used by astronauts for inflight resistance-training exercise.

The Space Cycle recreates various levels of gravity ranging from Earth gravity to five times Earth’s gravity. The speed of rotation determines the level of gravitational force.

There's two participants: one on a bike and the other on a platform. As one person pedals, the cycle moves in a circular motion around a centralized pole. The motion generates pressure on the rider, forcing him against the seat in a manner similar to the effect of gravity on Earth. On the platform, the other person performs squat exercises.

"Space Cycle is an artificial gravity exercise gym," said Dr. Vincent J. Caiozzo at NSBRI. "The platform can be fitted with a treadmill, bike or any kind of exercise equipment and provides an environment for exercise under normal, Earth-like loading conditions."

Now if the local gym could get one of those, i might consider investing in a membership (to watch the live show.)