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Some day devices will be readily available to help wheel chair bound people walk again. Watch the video at the link to see a paralyzed man walk with the help of an exoskeleton.
A 22-year-old paraplegic college graduate, paralyzed since a 2007 car crash, used an exoskeleton to walk across the stage Saturday to receive his diploma.
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Raytheon, a US defense contractor, has made great strides in developing effective exoskeletons. Its new model, the XOS 2, recently went on public display in Salt Lake City. Dave Freeman of CrunchGear was there for the demo:
Sarcos has been working with automation for years (including the fountain at the Bellagio), and the XOS2 uses hydraulics to enable a wearer to lift massive amounts of weight without feeling the strain. More importantly, the person wearing the suit can lift these weights repetitively without feeling the strain. The XOS 2 has a quite impressive 17:1 lifting ratio, so when the person wearing the suit lifts 170 pounds, they only need to exert enough force to lift 10 pounds.
At the link, you can watch two videos of the XOS 2 in action.
Link | Product Site | Photo: CrunchGear
Previously on Neatorama:
Infantry Exoskeleton Carries 200 Pounds
Powered Exoskeleton Can Lift 220 Pounds
Functional Exoskeleton for the Disabled
Hayden Allen hasn’t walked in five years, but in this video, he’s able to move around using a new type of exoskeleton called REX:
Called REX, short for “robotic exoskeleton”, the legs weigh 38 kg (84lb) and are individually made for each user.
The first pair is expected to sell for $150,000 (£97,600) the equivalent cost of 20 standard wheelchairs.
The inventors claim that due to the upright and mobile nature of their creation, users will not suffer the burns, scrapes and bladder infections that can come with wheelchair use.
One of the great features of this design, as you can see in the video, is that it’s fairly easy for a wheelchair user to mount the exoskeleton by him/herself.
Lockheed Martin’s Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) is an actuated exoskeleton that helps a soldier carry up to 200 pounds of weight on its frame. It senses the direction that the user wants to move, and then moves in it. In the links, you find a video from the company showing the HULC in action.
Link |YouTube Video | Image: Lockheed Martin
Panasonic subsidiary Activelink is developing the “Dual Arm Amplification Robot” — an exoskeleton that allows the user to lift heavy weights. It hopes to have to have a working model by 2015, which can then be used for disaster relief or industrial assembly. It is equipped with direct force feedback, which allows the user to feel the impact of its movements, and thus better control the machine.
Link via Popular Science
