About the Team
Team WPAL participated in the Living Assistance Robot Award 2021. Team WPAL is a team based in Japan that conducts its research mainly at Fujita Health University. Therobot used is up to about 85 cm tall and weighs about 13 kg. It can walk at a maximumspeed of 1.3 km/h. The robot is controlled by switches attached to a walker. Theactuator being placed between the pilot’s lower limbs is one of its unique features,giving it a very stable structure against side-to-side disturbance. The controls andbatteries are mounted on the walker, making the equipment that pilot wears lightweightand simple.
The pilot was Takefumi Hayashi. Mr. Hayashi lives in a wheelchair due to L1 spinalcord damage. He had been using WPAL for rehabilitation for a long time, and afterpracticing, he attempted tasks 1 to 4 this time.
