"IRON MAN" ROBOT SUIT Cyberdyne: HAL in 2009 (PHOTOS) (VIDEO)

Ever dream of being Iron Man? Well, that dream might not be as far fetched as you might think. Cyberdyne, a Japanese company founded Professor Sankai, creator of the "Robot Suit", has developed a real life Iron Man exoskeleton called HAL. While this name might take remind you of a certain evil robot from 2001: A Space Odessey, HAL actually stands for Hybrid Assistive Limb Suit.

The Post Chronicle reports on the development of Cyberdyne's robot:

The 'Iron-Man' robot suit from Cyberdyne. The idea of melding human flesh and bone with robotic parts is something more than a few people have looked into...Cyberdyne is a Japanese robotics company, and HAL is Hybrid Assistive Limb, designed to help people with weak muscles or disabilities.

The purpose of HAL? Cyberdyne explains specifically whoHAL is for:

"HAL" is expected to be applied in various fields such as rehabilitation support and physical training support in medical field, ADL support for disabled people, heavy labour support at factories, and rescue support at disaster sites, as well as in the entertainment field.

The Scientific American expands on the abilities of the "Real-Life Iron Man":

CYBERDYNE...designed the HAL exoskeleton primarily to enhance the wearer's existing physical capabilities 10-fold. The exoskeleton detects--via a sensor attached to the wearer's skin--brain signals sent to muscles to get them moving. The exoskeleton's computer analyzes these signals to determine how it must move (and with how much force) to assist the wearer. The company claims on its Web site that the device can also operate autonomously (based on data stored in its computer), which is key when used by people suffering spinal cord injuries or physical disabilities resulting from strokes or other disorders.

Interested in having your own HAL? The Post Chronicle reports that the HAL is going into production and will be available soon in Japan for around $4,200 while the Scientific American claims that the HAL exoskeleton is already available but only for rent in Japan for around $1,300 a month. THe Cyberdyne cite states that HAL is in fact currently available for Japanese residents, for varying costs depending on region, and that HAL will soon be available to consumers in the European Union.

Breakdown of how the HAL suit helps:

MORE PHOTOS:

WATCH:

Comments

[FireGeithner]

07:48 AM on 04/21/2009

Picture HAL on the toilet.

[Simpletruthiness]

03:30 PM on 04/15/2009

Wow.

[liminal67]

11:36 AM on 04/15/2009

Where’s Tony Stark when we need him!

A week ago New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed civil fraud charges against J. Ezra Merkin a Madoff middleman. Merkin, may have, dumped huge amounts of investors' money into the $65 billion Ponzi scheme, through the giant hedge fund Cerberus, basically a huge feeder fund.

Cerberus?.... My first question is who invests their money with a company who’s named after the three-headed dog guardian of Hell? Not me! The message is clear!

And what about the “Iron Man” super-villain named… ah.. “Cerebrus” (a combination of the words: Cerberus and Cerebrum). Here’s a brief overview of "Iron man's" ultimate nemesis; Cerebrus was an immense super computer spanning almost the entire surface of Earth. It possessed advanced analytical and multi-tasking abilities, coordinating and regulating virtually every facet of life on Earth, from power plants to agriculture to transportation. It utilized a number of human servants, mostly men, all of whom have had their original personality, morals and memories erased to better serve its will. The Human race rapidly became completely dependent on Cerebrus, zombie-like slaves of the machine incapable of thinking or caring for themselves!

Hmm... it does sound familiar…

Where’s Tony Stark when we need him! And where's Tony's hedge fund? I mean he was a billionaire, he must have done something with all that money.... that's what we need...A super-hero investment group... Stark/Wayne investments...Sounds good!

http://pitchbendpost.blogspot.com/

[Clavis]

11:10 AM on 04/15/2009

Is there a version with tentacles?

[DaveVDave]

12:33 PM on 04/15/2009

:) that's hilarious, good one I was just thinking the same thing!!

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[mjtaylor22]

10:16 AM on 04/15/2009

once again china is kicking our butt in technology, a concept from our comics for decades, developed over there first.
why doe sit seem tht all Americans make now is debt, we do not cure disease just let the pharmaceutical companies give our citizens worse side effcets than whatever disease or pain or medical condition we are tryign to recover from.
and soem liek it this way, thye want a return to the old ways. like advancement inmedicine is a bad thing
argh

[GregJL]

11:05 AM on 04/15/2009

You know, most Japanese REALLY hate being called Chinese.

[ipv4]

02:02 PM on 04/15/2009

You do realize how ignorant you sound right now?

[MetalCanuck]

09:48 AM on 04/15/2009

CYBERDYN!!

ISn't that the company that makes the Terminator in the future!!:)

We have to stop them!!

[DaveVDave]

12:57 PM on 04/15/2009

That is funny too. I hope we can stop them!!

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[plooger]

05:23 PM on 04/15/2009

Seriously. The parallels are a little creepy. Cyberdyne producing a human-robot hybrid.

[protagonia]

09:29 AM on 04/15/2009

No military applications in the near future for this, right?

[JBS]

09:44 AM on 04/15/2009

If memory serves, Cyberdyne is also the name of the corporation that creates SkyNet and sends the terminator back in time to kill Sarah Conner

... so I wouldn't discount the possibility of future military applications.

[mairs]

01:59 PM on 04/15/2009

Oh of course not. Who would think of such a thing. ;/

[boredwell]

07:05 AM on 04/15/2009

But what colors does it come in?

[Alanito]

04:52 AM on 04/15/2009

"The Scientific American expands on the abilities of the "Real-Life Iron Man":"

Yeah, next we will see articles in magazines like The Time and The Newsweek.

[frantaylor]

12:57 AM on 04/15/2009

They should get Sigourney Weaver to model it.

Yowza!

[domingueza]

12:18 PM on 04/15/2009

I was just remembering that part in the second Alien movie when she "wears" the robot...
Does it come with a Bishop (the droid in the movie, no disrespect) included?

[chameleon14850]

10:23 PM on 04/14/2009

For Glen Rast, I beleieve it was Robert Anson Heinlein who wrote "Starship Troopers", and you're right, the movie does the book no justice. Nanoo Nanoo

[GlenRast]

09:55 PM on 04/14/2009

Despite the constant HAL references the writer seems to have missed that Cyberdyne is the fictional compony in the Terminator 2 movie that develops the AI that nukes humankind and takes over the planet.

The suit as military hardware has been used in a few sci fi books such as Asimov's Starship Troopers.

Note: Asimov's novella .bears little if any resemblance to the movies of the same name.

[GlenRast]

10:01 PM on 04/14/2009

oops forgot to spell check

--world's worst speller----

[Q2]

10:34 PM on 04/14/2009

Seriously who would name their company Cyberdyne. And then go on to make robots. Do they want Linda Hamilton to blow the place up or what??

[PCMinistry]

06:21 PM on 04/14/2009

Well, it won't be long til people find a horribly violent way to use this. Crimes will no doubt be perpetrated by people in HAL suits who can rip open your car door.

[Jimbo23]

06:37 PM on 04/14/2009

How is that more effective than just using a gun? Until they get better hand units and a way to make it go fast I'm not going to worry about any super villain types popping up. I'm sure the military is all over it though. Imagine how much more armor and weapons you could pile on a soldier with one of these on.

[JBS]

09:47 AM on 04/15/2009

With the exoskeleton suit you could carry a lot bigger gun ... perhaps even the BFG9000.

[Tommygun264]

06:56 PM on 04/14/2009

And the crossbow was such a terribly destructive device that it would make the prospect of waging war too terrible to be considered.

[theone718]

06:05 PM on 04/14/2009

Doesn't look nearly as cool, but we will get there.

[OkieIntellectual]

05:03 PM on 04/14/2009

Sarah Connor is NOT amused. :)

[PCMinistry]

06:20 PM on 04/14/2009

LMAO!

[benji85]

09:25 PM on 04/14/2009

it's the first step to making a T888

[wedgie]

06:21 PM on 04/14/2009

Very good.