New robotic exoskeleton aims to help farmers combat age, mutant plants

Well, it looks like there's been yet another development in the exoskeleton arms race between the US and Japan, with this latest entrant from the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology promising to help farmers and gardeners deal better with old age and increasingly unwieldy crops. This one weighs in at a somewhat hefty 55 pounds but, like most such exoskeletons, it's able to offload most of its own weight thanks to the use of eight motors and 16 sensors, which also, of course, help to give its wearer some super-strength. Better still, the researchers say the suit could be available in as soon as three years, and cost somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000.

[Via Engadget German]

[eggothewaffle @ Jan 13th 2009 9:56PM]

Is it solar/bitterness powered?

[zed @ Jan 13th 2009 9:56PM]

1up

[Flashpoint @ Jan 13th 2009 9:57PM]

Looks like that guy is getting humped some type of cyborg dog

[Thunda Chunky @ Jan 13th 2009 11:57PM]

Why is that dude from Heroes farming?

[STINK @ Jan 13th 2009 9:57PM]

What? No jump boots?

[ryanrule @ Jan 13th 2009 10:08PM]

we american have one too.
we plan to use ours for killins though

[GaryZ @ Jan 13th 2009 10:12PM]

just imagine when skynet gains self-awareness, everyone wearing this would be...

[7egend @ Jan 14th 2009 7:40AM]

Really? Another Skynet comment? How many times you going to beat that dead horse till you realize it's dead...

[z-man @ Jan 13th 2009 10:13PM]

What the hell kind of farmer can afford a five to ten THOUSAND dollar exoskeleton ?

[Pyro @ Jan 13th 2009 10:17PM]

ummm... farm equipment is ungodly expensive

5-10k for a suit to help aging farmers (since no young people want to go into this field which is a dman shame btw) is a small price to pay.

[scott @ Jan 13th 2009 10:37PM]

you'd be surprised how wealthy some farmers are.

[Timerider @ Jan 13th 2009 11:34PM]

A combine costs as much as a house. But I still don't see an old farmer buying a high-tech, expensive device that he's never heard of.

[ImaYam @ Jan 14th 2009 12:06AM]

@ Scott

....Depending on what the deale.... errr.. 'farmer' decides to grow!

[Ayman @ Jan 14th 2009 2:44AM]

dont worry the cost will be allocated the final product....
does anyone want a $5000 tomato?

how about $6000 apple?

[Shinigami @ Jan 14th 2009 2:54AM]

What kind of farmer would buy this thing? The same guy that shouts that his farm belongs to him and he will not give it away to anyone, and then shoots rifle at "invaders"...

[Nadool @ Jan 14th 2009 3:30AM]

@Ayman

This is Engadget! People would pay $6000 for any Apple!

/stab

[umm....hello??? @ Jan 14th 2009 2:05PM]

Clark Kent works on a farm....if the rest of us want to be Superman we just need some meteor rock...

[solarpos @ Jan 13th 2009 10:15PM]

Won't we be farming in space aboard some elevator style spindle ala William Gibson/Tricia Sullivan novel?

[Game_playa @ Jan 13th 2009 10:15PM]

Can the motors help in super fast se.. Nevermind

[Blacknimbus @ Jan 13th 2009 10:16PM]

Or, you could just eat the mutant spinach and harvest the rest of the veggies with your giant Popeye arms.

[crashoverride @ Jan 13th 2009 10:16PM]

So this is Robotech/Macross-the Farmer Saga?

[LauraJune @ Jan 13th 2009 10:20PM]

Dear Jobstaxi spammer:

You're banned.

Bye bye.

[Tankyu @ Jan 13th 2009 11:49PM]

You're my hero!

[AbsoluteZero @ Jan 13th 2009 10:36PM]

Hopefully the Japanese never find out our secret program to put googly eyes on all those unwieldy crops. You know, bring em down to our level. Won't need no stinkin exoskeleton.

[ED @ Jan 13th 2009 10:40PM]

1. Invent robotic exoskeleton
2. Create mutant plants
3. Combine the above with Japanese farmers
4. ...
5. Profit!
6. (optional) Welcome our new cyberplant overlords.

[gonintendo @ Jan 13th 2009 10:41PM]

You forgot the '???'

[ED @ Jan 13th 2009 10:43PM]

attention self: lern2punctuation
(? and . are so close on the keyboard)
@gonintendo
thanks :D

for those who can't put 2 and 2 together:
1. Invent robotic exoskeleton
2. Create mutant plants
3. Combine the above with Japanese farmers
4. ???
5. Profit!
6. (optional) Welcome our new cyberplant overlords.

[Simon @ Jan 13th 2009 10:46PM]

I cant wait until some pot farmers get busted with one of these. i wonder what the cops would think?

[Tony @ Jan 14th 2009 12:30AM]

Oh, do they think now?

[linuxamp @ Jan 13th 2009 10:46PM]

Looks heavy. Probably need someone already wearing an exosuit to help your put on your exosuit.

[John @ Jan 14th 2009 1:40PM]

I think if I was a farmer I'd wait till the next version of this. Everything gets smaller in the future. ^__^

[Agent .25i @ Jan 13th 2009 10:53PM]

I'm waiting for the exo-suit from Aliens.

[Ayman @ Jan 14th 2009 2:45AM]

then you would be truly old and fighting mutant plants

[sinai @ Jan 13th 2009 11:26PM]

japanese gordon freeman, amirite?

[Nadool @ Jan 14th 2009 3:31AM]

Gordon Fleeman?

Sorry it was too easy >.<

[Timerider @ Jan 13th 2009 11:32PM]

Bwahaha! Weeds shall fear my super-strength!

Maybe you could pull up trees?

[Paul @ Jan 21st 2009 1:39PM]

Hey the exorobot thing is supposed to save the planet, not rip up trees!! sorry bout the spelling. I can't stop laughing yet. The guy looks like he's trying to do a terd!

[x3qt0r @ Jan 13th 2009 11:44PM]

Maximum Rice.

[GenBanks @ Jan 14th 2009 10:43AM]

Crysis: Rice Cultivation

[Bleak Outlook @ Jan 13th 2009 11:48PM]

On a real farm it wont be long before you get stuck in the mud

[Plothole @ Jan 14th 2009 4:44AM]

I imagine that problem could be solved by using a larger sole.

[Logboy @ Jan 13th 2009 11:53PM]

What's Hiro doing with Tin Pots on his arms and legs?

[redleader158 @ Jan 14th 2009 12:02AM]

Obviously not as sexy as the HAL suit, but this looks like it packs more muscle.

But can it play Crysis? (I'm sorry. I had to do that... brace for lowest ranked)

[SnuggleBunny @ Jan 14th 2009 12:34AM]

So is it just me, or upon closer examination do those gray and black cylinders look like DVD/CD-R 50 Pack Cases?? I mean for 5-10k I would be pissed if it looked like it was created using s*** from a Best Buy dumpster.

[Shyam D @ Jan 14th 2009 12:47AM]

These Exoskeletons are great and all, but when it comes to enhancing the human body, we've never developed something that is purely beneficial. Everything has had it's consequences, so the main consequences I could see here are the vast increases in strain on our skeleton. Has anyone done a study to measure this kind of impact?

[yrag @ Jan 14th 2009 1:37AM]

He looks like the coffee can version of a one man band.

Hmmm, since it's already a Japanese invention, I think they'll need to send it to Korea to be miniaturized, Germany to be stylized and China to be manufactured. I'm just saying.

[dervheid @ Jan 14th 2009 3:05AM]

Oh great.
They really do plan on working us all until we drop.
And then some more.

[CTU_Bauer @ Jan 14th 2009 3:10AM]

I for one welcome our new robotic-inbread-crop-growing overlords.

[leo @ Jan 14th 2009 3:35AM]

watch out! them there be triffids!

[superhobo @ Jan 14th 2009 3:52AM]

Japanese people have been commuting in mecha suits for decades now.

Source: Anime (they're based on true stories)