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posted by chromas on Wednesday August 07 2019, @01:20PM   Printer-friendly
from the strap-on dept.

Robot tail developed to balance out human body and stop people from falling over

The strap-on appendage, known as Arque, has been developed by researchers at Keio University in Japan.

[...] The tail can be be adjusted to fit whoever is wearing it by adding or removing modular "vertebrae", the Fast Company reports .

Small weights can also be inserted inside each vertebrae to help offset the wearer's weight.

[...] Artificial muscles inside the robotic tail control its movement by contracting and expanding using an external pressurised air system that resembles a lawn mower or giant vacuum.

Because the prototype tail has to remain tethered to this system, the wearer is not able to move very far using it.

[...] The tail was presented last week at the 2019 SIGGRAPH conference in Los Angeles , which focuses on graphics, gaming, and emerging technology.


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  • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday August 07 2019, @06:30PM (1 child)

    by hemocyanin (186) on Wednesday August 07 2019, @06:30PM (#877178) Journal

    Hmmm -- I think the "happy tail" is better. At least you wouldn't be tripping over pneumatic lines and carting around an air compressor.

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  • (Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday August 07 2019, @08:52PM

    by captain normal (2205) on Wednesday August 07 2019, @08:52PM (#877223)

    Does it wag when you see a friend or a pretty woman?

    --
    Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--