A powered suit is a device that is worn by humans to help carry heavy objects.Originally worn by soldiers in the science fiction novel "Starship Troopers" published in 1959, similar technology will appear in subsequent science fiction works.In reality, it seems that American companies first proposed a device that assists human work using flood control at work sites in the 1960s.Although this was not practical, from around 2000, electric powered suits using motors began to attract attention in the field of long-term care.The famous one is HAL by Professor Yoshiyuki Sankai of University of Tsukuba, but it was necessary to install a large battery pack because the motor is powered by electricity.

　The powered suit developed by Associate Professor Kurita this time can support human movement without using electric power by using pneumatic artificial muscles of Dia Industry.The air pump attached to the sole of the foot makes it possible to use it as power by supplying the impact of walking as air pressure to the artificial muscle.Currently, those that support the movement of the hip joint during walking are being developed.
Using the same principle, some have been devised to improve the running speed by supporting the calf when running, and to improve the throwing speed by supporting the pectoralis major muscle when throwing baseball.In the future, we will verify in what situations support is possible while fine-tuning various pumps and artificial muscles and examining the parts to be attached.