LG Showcasing Wearable Robot CLOi SuitBot At IFA 2018

LG Electronics has revealed that it is going to introduce its first wearable robot at IFA 2018 in Berlin, Germany. The product is described to be “human-centric” and it is expected to join all of the previously announced service robots by the South Korean tech company.

LG’s wearable robot is called CLOi SuitBot. Because it is wearable, it is not something that can walk and navigate around spaces by itself. Instead, it will only work when a person is wearing it. What the CLOi SuitBot does is provide support as well as enhance the user’s legs for better mobility and enhanced lower limb strength.

LG’s CLOi SuitBot is designed to be worn over a pair of pants. It fits comfortably because its sandal-type shoes and automatic adjustment feature ensure that the wearer can easily get in and out of it. Meanwhile, its naturally rotating joints enable the wearer to move in a more relaxed and natural way while walking, standing or working.

LG developed the machine in collaboration with SG Robotics, a startup that’s been studying how wearable robots can improve the quality of life. Since last year, LG has been very interested in developing robots that can help humans overcome the limitations of their bodies in everyday life.

The CLOi SuitBot is the eighth product to join LG’s robot portfolio. The company is confident that the device will be useful in medical and industrial settings due to the fact that it compensates for humans’ limited muscle strength in various situations, Korea Herald reports.

So far, LG’s robot platform is composed of cleaning robots, lawn-mowing robots, household robots, food-service robots, shopping robots, porter robots, and robots that guide people. The introduction of the CLOi SuitBot at IFA 2018, which runs from Aug. 31 to Sept. 5, will expand the platform to include lower body strength-enhancing robots.

LG saw to it that its new robot will have a means to communicate with its other robots. The CLOi SuitBot has a feature that lets it connect to LG’s service robots so they could form a smart working network that shares information and tools needed at working areas for manufacturing, logistics, distribution, and the like.

“LG CLOi SuitBot is evidence of our full commitment to expanding our portfolio of service robots that deliver tangible convenience and innovation in our lives,” LG’s Home Appliance & Air Solution Company President Song Dae-hyun said. “It’s just one example of a wide range of revolutionary AI products designed to interact with users to dramatically elevate user convenience and create new opportunities to advance our robotics initiative into a next-gen growth engine.”