Robots for rehab: Toyota robot keeps elderly walking

Robot outer skeletons (exoskeletons) help people walk again after strokes & accidents. Toyota & Honda are big players in the emerging technology.

REABILITATION & ROBOTS

Robots for rehab: Toyota robot keeps elderly walking

12/04/2017
Reuters

TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp said it will commercialise rehabilitation robots later this year

Toyota will make its robotic walk assist system available for rent.

This means that Toyota will be joining Honda Motor Co in marketing mobility devices for Japan's ageing population.

A decade after Toyota began developing rehabilitation robots, the world's No.2 automaker on Wednesday said the system would be ready to hit the market by the end of 2017.

This is two years after Honda launched a similar device.

HOW MUCH DO THESE COST? WHAT DO THEY DO?

Hospitals and other care providers would be able to rent the system.

The system is designed for patients with lower limb paralysis. 

The system rents for 350,000 yen (110,000 baht) per month plus an initial fee of 1 million yen.

"The (system) will help to provide assistance to the elderly by enabling them to live more independent lives and to also provide support for their caregivers," Toyota said in a company statement.

JAPAN: 25%+ OVER AGE 65 IN 2015

Japan is greying faster than the rest of the world.

The number of people aged 65 or older accounts for 26.7% of the population in 2015.

This dwarfs the global average of about 8.5%.

Demand for aged-care services has boomed recently. 

The shrinking working population means that fewer able-bodied adults are available to look after the elderly.

ROBOTS FOR ASSISTANCE IS GROWING MARKET

Globally, sales of robots for elderly and handicap assistance will total about 37,500 units in 2016-2019, and are expected to increase substantially within the next 20 years.

This is according to the International Federation of Robotics.

AUTOMAKERS ARE MAJOR INVESTORS IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)

In 2015, Honda launched a rental service for its mobility contraption.

Worn around the waist and attached to the thighs, it helps patients improve their stride and walk.

Such systems are a new frontier for major automakers, which are already competing to develop self-driving cars with an eye on the elderly as a major future market.

Toyota has invested heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) as part of its push into self-driving cars, and has said it may become a maker of AI robots to help the elderly.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/1231563/toyota-robot-to-keep-elderly-mobile-one-step-at-a-time

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