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> このほか、体につけると普通の３０％ぐらいの力で重い物を持つことができる機械もあります。([source](http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10011229751000/k10011229751000.html))  
>  In addition, there were also machines which could lift/hold heavy things
> with about 30% of the regular strength, when you wear them on your body.

My main issue with this sentence is that my translation ACTUALLY wants to say
"robots which can MAKE (it so that) you use only 30% of the strength you
usually need...".

However, "to make X to Y" and "strength (case X) compared to strength
(default)" are components which aren't represented by anything I could
identify as a suitable equivalent in the Japanese original sentence. Well, at
least 普通 **の** could hint at an implicit reference to the default case, but
I'm not sure about it.

体につけると普通の３０％ぐらいの力で重い物を持つことができる seems to modify 機械. But then, the reference
point of ３０％ぐらいの力で seems to be the machine itself, at least from a syntactical
perspective. And this wouldn't make much sense, as a machine can't lift
something with only 30% of the power required to lift it. It can help YOU to
use only 30% of your strength, because the machine takes on the other 70%. But
it can't meddle with physics itself, can it?

Since 体につける definitely must refer to the person wearing the machine, there is
indeed something hinting that the subject of 持つことができる is a person. But there
isn't much besides that, and I still wonder whether there any other explicit
syntactical elements showing us that the subject of 持つことができる is a person, and
not the machine to which the full block 体につけると普通の３０％ぐらいの力で重い物を持つことができる is
attributed.
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meaning
このほか、体につけると普通の３０％ぐらいの力で重い物を持つことができる機械もあります
The syntax seems explained in the comment. Other than syntax, I think a
machine is this kind of thing.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ktHCa.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ktHCa.jpg)
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kimi Tanaka, cool! I'll elevate my comment to an answer.

The subject of the subclause is absent. It's not the machine; it's the user of
the machine or "you." To keep the English as close to the Japanese as
possible, it's an "attach-it-to-your-body-and-you-can-lift-heavy-things-
with-3‌​0%-of-your-usual-str‌​ength machine."
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Japanese relative clauses lack relative pronouns such as "which", "that", etc.
So before you get fully used to them, they can look fairly ambiguous. What
you're seeing here is an "adverbial head" type relative clause, which is
discussed [here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/39551/5010).

Here are some simpler examples. Haven't you seen similar expressions?

>   * 寿司が楽しめるレストラン  
>  a restaurant {at which / where} people can enjoy sushi  
>  (× a restaurant that can enjoy sushi)
>   * ビーチが見える部屋  
>  a room from which you can see the beach  
>  a room which allows you to see the beach  
>  (× a room which can see the beach)
>   * 手紙を書くペン  
>  a pen with which you write a letter  
>  a pen to write a letter with  
>  (× a pen which is writing a letter)
>   * 食べると頭が良くなるパン  
>  bread with which you get smarter upon eating  
>  bread which makes you smarter when you eat it  
>  (× bread that eats something and gets smarter)
>

As you can see, in each example, the subject of the relative clause is omitted
("you", "I", "he", "people" or whatever depending on the context). The
modified noun at the end works neither as the subject nor the object of the
relative clause; instead, it plays an adverbial role (レストラン **で** 寿司が楽しめる, 部屋
**から** ビーチが見える, **ペンで** 字を書く). The interpretations marked with × are
"technically" possible, but we know they are wrong because we have common
sense.

体につけると重い物を持つことができる機械 is almost the same as the last example above. A literal
translation is "a machine with which one can carry heavy things upon wearing",
but I think "a wearable machine which enables you to carry heavy things" is
one of the good translation approaches.

Of course this sentence is referring to a so-called [powered
exoskeleton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_exoskeleton).
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