• foodandart@lemmy.zip
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    3 days ago

    100 lbs with one robotic arm? Can you currently carry 100 pounds on one side of your body? If not… uhh, having an arm attached to you that can carry 100 pounds will be meaningless. The REST of you has to have the strength to carry the arm and the 100 pounds.

    Unless it’s like some exoskeleton armature you climb into.

    • Aeao@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I’m assuming for 100 lbs it could be as easy as attaching the arm to a belt to shift weight to the hips.

      I carry heavy things a lot and I wear a leather belt (I made myself) I regularly rest edges of boxes on the edge of my belt while walking to shift weight to my hips and it’s crazy how much easier that is.

      No complicated contraption just resting a box on the edge of my belt.

      So a robotic arm with a belt rig? It would be easy to shift weight. You could lift super human amounts.

  • CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social
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    3 days ago

    So, robotic limbs kind of exist to a degree in the prototype stage, but like, a robot arm by itself isnt going to let you casually lift 100lbs regardless of how advanced the arm itself is, unless you also have a spine, legs and attachment for that arm capable of handling that lifting too, or some kind of wearable exoskeleton to take the weight off those areas

    • XeroxCool@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      A huge part of lifting things as a normal human is finger strength. 100lbs is fairly casual to support with your body if you bypass the need for fingers and don’t have to maneuver it. I have these furniture lifting straps that go over the base of your forearm (near elbow), go under the furniture like a wardrobe, then up to another person’s forearms. The was at which your forearms can lift feels like magic once you take the pain out of your fingers. I’ve used these with several people and all give the same response. I highly recommend getting them.

      So while I’m not saying an arm could lift a car, many objects in our lives are movable because, at the upper limit, they’re kind of movable by humans already. I know you picked that weight at random, but the need for more of a brace than just the arm is more for the device’s own support rather than a limit of an average human body. And of course the size and shape of the object matters a lot too. But if it’s something where the weight can be supported well by your legs and core in some configuration, that’s not a lot of weight. Something like a pair of arms for equal support and a brace that extends to the waist would be manageable

      • Aeao@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        I was thinking that. I have a thick belt and I rest heavy boxes on the edge of the belt while varying them. Shifting the weight to my legs and hips. A lot easier.

  • zlatiah@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I think it’s close? Like 5-20 years close for commercially available robotics prosthetics systems (probably still need doctor’s prescriptions for it though)

    • We already have pretty well-established prosthetics systems at the moment
    • China and Japan (esp China) have some pretty exciting robotics breakthroughs, see the hilarious robotics Olympics from China recently
    • However, China isn’t the best at manufacturing QC yet, so widespread deployment may take a few years from above
  • TheFogan@programming.dev
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    3 days ago

    Isn’t the obvious problem whatever your arm lifts, the rest of your body has to support? an “arm” alone attached to a frail human body would pretty quickly hit its limits, and lifting 1000 lbs is basically giant exo skelleton level.

      • TheFogan@programming.dev
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        2 days ago

        Don’t think I’ve ever really watched it, but yeah his legs and arms were both enhanced, but if he were to ever do something like pick up a car or something, you’d likely expect his spine to snap unless he used some kind of leverage.

  • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
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    3 days ago

    Powered exoskeletons do exist. IDK if most prosthesises are particularly sturdy, the connection to the body (i.e. arm/leg stump) would be a weak point that’s difficult to overcome and most people are probably more interested in fine control.

  • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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    3 days ago

    Not yet, no.

    Current state of the art accessible to a customer is way off from that. Exoskeletons are maybe ten to fifteen years out from being something that’s going to be really ready for prime time, as an optimistic guesstimate. But that won’t be personal gear unless you’re very wealthy.

    Honestly, because of how much demand there will be in industrial settings, I don’t expect it to reach a level where the average person can just run out and buy one in any of our lifetimes. Maybe a generation after that? Two? But it is possible that it will within that time frame, but I expect they’ll be absurdly expensive if so. Like high end sports car expensive, if you want them to be worth a damn.

    Besides, the spare arm idea is limited in use, as others have said, by the ergonomics of it. A robot arm still needs to be securely attached to you, and the rest of your body has to compensate for the weight and motion. Even with super light materials, you won’t get them lighter than your meat arm unless you want them weak

  • erin@piefed.blahaj.zone
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    3 days ago

    robotic prosthesis already exist. exoskeletons exist, but are very limited and not really practically useful outside of very specific use cases. robotic arms do a substantial amount of work in manufacturing, just not attached to people. remember, a robotic arm might be able to lift a load, but that arm just passes the lobe on to your shoulder, back, and legs. you still need to balance the forces in your body. an infinitely strong arm in isolation would have very limited use without a full robotic skeleton to support it. so yes, these things exist, but no, not in the sci fi manner you’re thinking (nor would they be useful if they did exist). we have the technology, but physics in the real world is quite pesky.