File this one under AWESOME. Researchers at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology unveiled a robot suit designed to assist farmers reduce the effort of their backbreaking work.
Researchers hope to have the technology in use in 2 years and develop it into a product and begin selling it in four years.
The suit, which is secured with belts, consists of a resin framework with eight motors to assist the movements of the knees, elbows, lower back and shoulders, making farm work easier.
When pulling out a Japanese radish, for example, about 20 kilograms [44 lbs.] of instantaneous pressure is exerted on the knees and lower back, but when using the robot suit, only about half the force is used.
This is one ingenious way to deal with the issue of farm labor. While we in America engage in a heated, racially charged dialogue about illegal immigration, the Japanese just create robots (or at least suits) that do the work for us.
