The live version of the mechanical police? A new generation of robots to help disabled people walk
The patient is wearing a robot suit made by Ekso Bionics
The New York Times website recently published an article saying that a number of companies and research laboratories are working on the development of wearable robots, with the aim of helping disabled people, or making human bodies superhuman. Among them, a company called Ekso Bionics has made a robot suit that can help disabled people learn to walk at an alarming speed. For now, the price of this robot suit is too high, but Ekso's goal is to one day let it enter the public life.
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When Joey Abicca poked a metal crutch on the ground with his right arm, several small engines began to revolve around his left leg, resulting in raising this leg forward Power; and when he does the same thing with his left arm, the engine starts to spin again, allowing his right leg to take a step. The crunchy sound of metal texture in this process sounds like something from the movie "RoboCop".
Abica is a 17-year-old boy from San Diego, California. Basically, what he wears is indeed a robot. This bionics suit includes a mechanical sling wrapped around his leg, as well as a metal "muscle" that can help him complete most walking movements. This suit is controlled by a computer on his back and a pair of crutches in his hand, the latter looks like a futuristic ski pole.
The mechanical legs are controlled by the computer on the user's back
Since an accident related to earth-moving equipment that caused damage to Abigail ’s spine nerve three years ago, he has not been able to walk on his own, and this company is called Ekso Bionics. The set made wanted to change this situation. "It's amazing-I like the feeling of being able to stand up again." Abica said. He recently came to the company's headquarters in Richmond, California and put on this suit. "Even if you can only stand upright, it is already a remarkable thing."
In addition to Ekso Bionics, several other companies and research laboratories are working on the development of wearable robots, with the aim of helping people with disabilities, or turning human bodies into superhumans. In 2010, Raytheon released a military suit that was designed to reduce the damage caused by overweight loads to soldiers. In Israel, a company called Argo Medical Technologies has also produced a robot suit to help people with lower limb paralysis walk again.
Ekso Bionics claims that it is the first company to launch a stand-alone robot suit. This suit does not have any peripherals, such as a power supply. Although suits for people with disabilities are currently only used in rehabilitation centers, the company is planning to one day wear this wearable robot suit on sidewalks, shopping centers and even forests.
Ekso was founded seven years ago by several engineers in Berkeley, California. Its name comes from the English word "exoskeleton" (exoskeleton). The company ’s initial source of funding was the US military. It then collaborated with the University of California, Berkeley and military contractor Lockheed Martin to jointly develop a device called Hulc whose function is to allow soldiers to load up to 200 pounds Equipment (about 91 kg) traverses complex terrain.
Ekso began selling exoskeletons in February this year. This product is used in physical therapy to help people get rid of wheelchairs and use the lower body to prevent muscle necrosis caused by long-term inactivity. In the United States, about 15 rehabilitation centers are currently using this kit, the price of each set is 140,000 US dollars, in addition to an annual service contract of 10,000 US dollars.
Ekso's bionics set uses aluminum and titanium to make a metal frame. This is a robot set that uses batteries to power it. It weighs about 50 pounds (about 23 kilograms). For now, people with disabilities cannot use this suit independently. The battery life of the suit is three hours, and then the physiotherapy expert needs to replace the battery. In addition, this suit also ensures that the patient will not fall; Ekso said that hundreds of patients have been walking with this suit, and no one has fallen.
The Ekso Bionics robot set weighs approximately 23 kg
The application of Ekso's suit is not limited to helping people walk again. The latest version released last month added walking modes of different difficulty levels to challenge patients who have made good physical recovery in the rehabilitation center. In the first mode, the patient must first learn how to walk with the suit. In this mode, the physiotherapist sets the patient ’s walking length and pace, and presses a button on a computer to trigger each step. In the second mode, the patient can use the buttons on the crutches to trigger each step. In the third mode of the highest level, once the patient learns how to wear this suit to maintain body balance, then the suit can only be triggered by moving the body's center of gravity.
Eythor Bender, CEO of Ekso Bionics, said that using this robot suit can learn to walk at an amazing speed. Bender worked at Ossur, a company specializing in the production of artificial limbs. "Some patients have been unable to walk for many years," he said in an interview. "(But after using the robot suit) they can walk on their own within two days."
Yoky Matsuoka, a former head of innovation and innovation at Google and currently serving as vice president of Nest Thermostat, said that for exoskeletons, this product has come out of science fiction and turned into a commercial reality. Already mature. She pointed out that battery technology has made significant improvements, materials such as plastics and carbonized fibers have become lighter and lighter, and durability is also increasing; at the same time, robotic systems have become easier to control.
"In the past ten years, advances in certain materials and technologies have allowed us to produce robots that are truly human safe and human friendly." Matsuoka said. However, the cost of such equipment for medical purposes is still an obstacle, because the sales volume of such special equipment is small, so it is difficult to drive down the price. But she pointed out that if the military widely uses this equipment, it will help to change this situation.
To some extent, Ekso's robot suit may have to clear some regulatory obstacles. The current version of the Ekso package does not need to be regulated, but if this company wants to launch a family version of the package for personal use, then it is likely that it will have to first obtain regulatory approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Ekso ’s regulatory affairs leader John Tugwell said.
Esko hopes that this suit can really start to enter the public life in the next few years. Russ Angold, one of the company ’s founders and the current chief technology officer, predicts that, like today ’s smartphones, the exoskeleton will become smaller and smaller, and its functions It will become stronger and stronger, and the price will be affordable to more people, thus becoming part of people's daily life.
"Our ultimate dream is that when we hang out in REI and other sporting goods stores, we can find the exoskeleton in the store." Angled said. "They are like tomorrow's jeans (that can be seen everywhere)."
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