Hydraulic-powered power suits that help the wearer lift and carry heavy objects, or move around with ease, have been around for years, but a team of Chinese researchers recently launched a new and unusual model inspired by the mythological centaur.
The aptly-named ‘Centaur’ power suit is essentially a bipedal robot that attaches to the wearer’s back, walking up behind them as an extra pair of legs. These robotic legs follow the user’s movements and respond naturally to changes in direction and speed. But as cool as that sounds, it doesn’t seem very useful.
According to the creators of Centaur, the difference between this bipedal robot and conventional powersuits is huge. While most power suits are designed to attach to the wearer’s body and limbs, assisting their movements, the Centaur acts as an extra pair of legs, which presents a series of advantages: the robotic legs can take on any burden completely, and they are less likely to impede the wearer’s movements.
The Centaur uses a flexible coupling mechanism to attach to the wearer’s back. It consists of a nonlinear spring that, when subjected to small forces, maintains firm stability and remains soft and comfortable even when a larger force is applied to the power suit. According to researchers, thanks to the unique attachment mechanism, the forces generated by the movements of the wearer and the robot are effectively separated.
If the scientists behind the Centaur power suit are to be believed, the metabolic costs of walking with a load of approximately 20 kg on one’s back are reduced by approximately 35% when using the suit, which is significantly better than the savings of the average exoskeleton (between 5 and 12 per cent). Scientists explained that the robot not only bears the weight of the load, but also provides the force to move forward, significantly reducing the burden of walking.
Although fully autonomous robots powered by AI seem to be the future most people are envisioning these days, the team behind the Centaur believes in a world where humans handle the navigation and robots do the heavy lifting. Their unique approach combines the strengths of both humans and robots for maximum efficiency.
The Centaur power suit recently went viral online, but the feedback from the general public has been mostly negative.
“No way. Try falling while running with luggage. This will land on your body and break your spine,” one person commented.
“So, it’s like a rickshaw, but with legs instead of tires?” another person wrote.
