A disabled Japanese man on Friday embarked on an ambitious trip that will take him to a medieval French World Heritage site with the help of a cutting-edge robotic suit.
Seiji Uchida, 49, who lost the ability to walk in a car accident 28 years ago, said his trip to the picturesque abbey of Mont Saint Michel, set on a rocky islet in Normandy, will be only the beginning of his dream.
DREAM
Photo: AFP
“Right now, I cannot stand on my own feet without help,” Uchida said at Tokyo’s Narita airport before his departure for France.
“But I will never give up on the hope of someday walking on my own feet, no matter how many years it takes.”
As part of a project that is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, Uchida — paralyzed from his waist down and in one hand — will be carried up a hill at Mont Saint Michel by a man wearing a robot suit, called the Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL).
Battery-powered HAL, which detects muscle impulses to anticipate and support the user’s body movements, was originally designed to help the elderly with mobility and manual work and to assist hospital-carers lift patients for treatment.
The specially-designed suit will enable Uchida’s carrier to bear an 80kg load, whereas Uchida only weighs 45kg.
The suit, which amplifies the muscle power of its wearer’s legs, has a pannier that Uchida will hold on to.
Uchida, a father of two sets of twins — six years old and 20 months old, is traveling with his four children and wife, accompanied by his support team.
CHALLENGE
“I want to show my children the challenge I have taken on,” he said.
A full-body model of HAL, being developed by Tsukuba University professor Yoshiyuki Sankai, assists both arms and legs, and allows users to carry a load of up to 70kg with one arm.
DETERMINATION
Uchida and a support team used an earlier version of the suit in an unsuccessful attempt to conquer the 4,164m Breithorn peak in Switzerland in 2006, when climbers wearing the robo-suits carried Uchida.
Uchida said he wants to visit the rocky tidal island of Mont Saint Michel, where a steep and narrow trail leads to an abbey and former fortress, to “prove that it is possible for disabled people to visit the world’s historic sites without relying on facilities like elevators.”
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