Over the years, companies have come up with some innovative, if not always successful, products designed to help people get from one place to another at speeds somewhere between walking and driving. One of the most infamous in the past decade is the Segway, a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transportation vehicle that was unveiled in 2001.

 

Honda — best known for its cars and other vehicles, but also a technology R&D company that has introduced products like the humanoid robot ASIMO — is taking a somewhat different approach to personal transportation. The company began development of what it refers to as a “walking assist device” in 1999, and introduced a “stride management system” this past April. Now, the company has unveiled a second generation of this system.

 

Unlike the Segway, which is intended for otherwise able-bodied people who simply want a faster way to get around than walking, Honda’s (News - Alert) personal transportation products are intended for “people with weakened leg muscles, due to reasons such as aging,” the company said in a Friday news release.

 

Since April, researchers at Honda R&D Co.’s Fundamental Technology Research Center in Sayama, Saitama, Japan, have been busy improving upon the stride management system. Testing of a second-generation prototype begins this month at Honda’s Saitama Factory.

 

Honda described the new system as “experimental walking assist device that helps support bodyweight to reduce the load on an individual's legs while walking, going up and down stairs, and in a semi-crouching position.” The company further elaborated that this device is suited for people who can walk unassisted, but would befit from additional leg/body support while performing tasks.

 

How does it work? Honda said the device “reduces the load on leg muscles and joints (in the hip, knees, and ankles) by supporting a portion of the person's bodyweight.” It consists of a seat, frame and shoes built integrated into a structure that an individual can put on by “wearing shoes and lifting the seat into position.” Technology developed by Honda provides a mechanism to direct “assisting force toward the user’s center of gravity,” and also to “control the assist force in concert with the movement of the legs.”

 

The company said this new device provides “natural assistance” for performing motions in a variety of different postures.

 

In a Friday report, Associated Press described Honda’s device as “a bicycle seat connected by mechanical frames to a pair of shoes,” designed to “support bodyweight, reduce stress on the knees and help people get up steps and stay in crouching positions.”

 

AP said Honda indicated it envisions the device being used by factory workers. It could also help people stand in long line, or assist those who make deliveries on foot.

 

An AP reporter tried out the device and said “it does take some getting used to. But I could sense how it supported my moves, pushing up on my bottom when I squatted and pushing at my soles to help lift my legs when I walked.”

 

Honda hasn’t yet decided on commercial production plans, or potential pricing, for the device. AP noted that such a product likely will have significant market potential in Japan, which has one of the most rapidly aging populations in the world.