IRON MAN TURNING INTO REALITY

Nothing transforms scientific gurus into excited SciFi geeks quicker than the mention of a robotic exoskeleton. Iron Man, RoboTECH, Exosquad, Starship Troopers (the book), Neon Genesis Evangelion, Aliens and a thousand other pieces of entertainment have convinced us of one thing: robotic suits = awesome. Professor Yushiyuki Sankai, founder of the Japanese robotics company Cyberdyne, is unabashedly a fan of science fiction, and he now sits on the cusp of bringing that awesomeness into our everyday lives.

Cyberdyne has developed Robotic Suit HAL, a 50 lb exoskeleton that easily fits over an adult body and augments strength and stability. HAL, short for Hybrid Assistive Limb, completely supports its own weight and balances itself, allowing the user to move freely and lift objects two to ten times heavier than he or she could alone. The glowing discs in the diagram are actually motors providing the necessary forces. Its rechargeable 100 Volt ACDC power source will run for five hours for normal activity. Sensors along joints read motor neuron impulses telling HAL when and how to move. No complicated controls are necessary. This means that anyone can strap on HAL and be walking about in just a few minutes.

Much has been made of Cyberdyne’s and Professor Sankai’s accomplishments. He’s recently made rounds of interviews in Japan, and was the focus of several major news stories. In the following video, make sure to wait, or skip ahead, to watch the actual performance of HAL as it moves and lifts.

The Cyborg Race

Cyberdyne isn’t the only major corporation developing robotic suits or cyborg technology. Industrial giant Honda has produced a pair of mechanical legs. The MIT Biomechatronics Lab has done abundant research in the field and produced several prosthetics. Sarcos Inc. has been working on robotic suits for years with varying degrees of success. Each of these companies, and others, have made progress comparable to Cyberdyne.

What sets Prof. Sankai’s accomplishments apart is the readiness of his product, and his own unique character. First, the Robotic Suit HAL is already available to select users in Japan. While the exact figures of that rental agreement ($1300/month or perhaps $4200 to buy) are not confirmed, the Cyberdyne website does say sales are beginning. A branch of the company was just opened in Amsterdam, and sales in the EU are set to begin soon. While most other companies are still perfecting their prototypes, Cyberdyne seems ready to produce the first commercially widespread cybernetic device.

“Some countries produce art and some countries produce agriculture, but Japan lacks the basic foundation for such things. So the people here improve technology.” —Prof. Yoshiyuki Sankai, 2008

Just as impressive as HAL, however, is Sankai’s vision for the future. His work is largely inspired by his love of science fiction (such as the book I, Robot and the cartoon Cyborg 009). Sankai has a strong national pride, but with such an idealized background, it is no wonder that Sankai has insisted that his robotic suits will never be developed for military use. The intended consumer will be stroke victims, disabled people, and industrial workers. The same sensors that detect motor neuron signals on the skin’s surface (an amazing feat in of itself) may be adapted to monitor vital signs and eventually help protect the user or call for help in case of emergencies. A vocabulary of complex movements can already be programmed into HAL in cases where users no longer have motor neuron signals to direct the device.

The 14th annual International Conference on Advanced Robotics (ICAR) is coming soon in June 2009, and Prof. Sankai is one of the invited speakers. Considering Cyberdyne’s goal of making hundreds of HALs available in the upcoming year, we can hope for new details concerning its costs and availability. We should also expect to hear more about Sankai’s vision on how humanity can be assisted, augmented, and improved by a little touch of awesomeness.

“By developing technology people are trying to take part in their own evolution.” —Prof. Yoshiyuki Sankai, 2008

solar power in LA

The Solar Power International 2010 just finished at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This is probably the largest get together of people in the solar industry in the United States. The top vendors from all over the world were present.

Among the many interesting developments, many new product technologies, many new solutions focused on cost reduction, and many lessons learned along the way.

In the new developments, there are a number of new product entries, especially in the concentrating solar panel area. As a subset of the Concentrating Solar category, there are a group of products which are similar to conventional solar panels, but use a lens like a magnifying glass to concentrate the sun’s light on a small patch of silicon that converts light to electricity. This approach has been around for a while, but in the past has had thermal problems due to the heat that is produced. Remember setting a dry leaf on fire with a magnifying glass when you were a kid? Same thing.

The cost of the optics have come down and combined with the reduced cost of the silicon used, makes this type of concentrating solar more competitive. But this type of concentrating solar technology requires 2 axis solar tracking with a fair amount of precision in order for the optics to do their job properly.

So there are a lot of new tracking systems coming into the market as well. Large array trackers with high angular precision and high force from vendors like Bonfiglioli of Italy, Sener and TGB Group of Spain. These systems are generally high reduction ring gears with a precision worm and spur output in the final stage. Once again, a major mechatronic challenge in the middle of solar technology. To say nothing of the incredible mechatronics required to manufacture solar panels.

There are five or six vendors who have built and installed these CPV systems have an interesting advantage. They are reporting efficiencies of 22% and higher. This is really amazing considering that the conventional photovoltaics are are typically in the range of 12% and thin film are 8%. These are very significant developments in making the technology more cost effective.

And the forecast growth for solar in the US continues to be, well, “sunny”. Sales of solar products in the US are expected to double again next year. Which is amazing.

Its hard not to get excited about it. But there is an important truth to be considered. Solar Energy is still highly government subsidized. The history of solar energy is built largely through the “Feed In Tariff”. This is a mechanism where the utility company agrees to pay a premium price for electricity generated with photovoltaic equipment.

In the early years of 2000 the Spanish government set the highest Feed In Tariffs in all of Europe. This caused a massive influx of companies to ramp up to manufacture and install huge amounts of equipment. And therein lies the problem. Spain has too much capacity and not enough demand.

Germany, which has relatively poor sunlight, has led the entire EU in solar installations. German PV engineering and capacity are well know around the world. But what’s different about the situation in Germany is that the feed in tariff is being reduced gradually to allow the industry to adjust to demand that is not subsidized.

There are 2 lessons here that are very important. We must be careful to not “overbuild” based on enthusiasm. And we must protect American interests by purchasing domestic products. And currently, our political leaders do not appear to be paying attention to either of these issues.