About the Team
Team WPAL participated in the Global Innovation Challenge 2024Global Innovation Challenge 2024 Living Assistance Robot Contest.
This is the third time for Team WPAL to participate in this contest, following GIC2021 and GIC2023.
Team WPAL is a Japanese based team centered on Fujita Medical University.
The robot used, WPAL (Wearable power-Assist Locomotor), was jointly developed by TMU and Tomei Brace Co. It is approximately 100 cm in height, weighs approximately 13 kg, and can walk at a maximum speed of 1.3 km/h. The robot is controlled by a switch attached to the walker.
The robot is unique in that the actuators are located on the inside of both lower limbs of the pilot. The structure is very stable and not susceptible to left-right sway.
The controller and battery are mounted on the walker, making the pilot's naves a lightweight, simple external bone robot. Another important feature of this robot is that it can be worn while seated in a car chair. In order to meet the challenge of Task 3, the robot has been modified to allow the pilot to use both hands freely.
The pilot is Takuya Kishimoto.
He suffered a 12th thoracic spinal cord injury in 2018 and uses a car chair.
He decided to participate in the contest on short notice and has been training with WPAL since this year, challenging Task 1 Toilet, Task 2 Naves, Task 3 Obstetrics, Task 4 Fulling and Task 4 Laundry.
