Era of exoskeletons
EVER since the first Ironman movie came out in 2008, it has fuelled visions of special suits that people could wear to improve their strength. While a suit that can allow you to fly may still be the stuff of science fiction, exoskeletons that can help in the battlefield, in the factory floor and in everyday life is dawning upon us.
MILITARY
Just last month it was reported that the US military has signed a nearly US$7 million contract with Lockheed Martin to develop ONYX, an exoskeleton suit soldiers can wear over their army uniforms which will increase their strength.
The technology for ONYX is being licenced from a Canadian company called B-TEMIA which originally developed the technology to help people with osteoarthritis, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease become more mobile.
B-TEMIA’s first product, a motorised walking assistive device called Keeogo, was designed for individuals who have limited walking endurance or mobility issues such as difficulty walking more than a few steps, climbing stairs, carrying an object for a short distance or standing in line for a long period of time.
That same medical technology, of course, can be applied for military and industrial uses. For the US military, the idea is to use this technology to help soldiers bogged down by heavy gear to move more efficiently.
Each exoskeleton is expected to cost in the tens of thousands of US dollars. The Keeogo is sold in Canada for C$39,000 or US$30,000 (RM125,0000). It’s hard to imagine that a military-grade version of the exoskeleton would actually cost less.
Apparently, the US is not the only country looking at exoskeletons to turn their military personnel into super soldiers. Reuters has reported that both Russia and China are looking at exoskeletons for their armed forces too.
INDUSTRIAL
Many manufacturers now use machines and robots but it’s still not possible to run a whole factory without any humans. Perhaps someday this will be possible but currently humans still play a vital role in the production line.
Ford is taking the lead in making life a little bit easier for its workers and enhancing their productivity at the same time. Just over a year ago, Ford began experimenting with two EksoVest exoskeletons made by a US-based company called Ekso Bionics, in two of its factories.
Unlike the Keeogo, the EksoVests are not motorised. Instead what it does is offer “passive assistance” by way of arm support for up to about 6kg. It was designed to be comfortable enough to wear while providing free arm movement thanks to its lightweight construction.
The clever technology provides more arm support the higher a person reaches. In doing so, it takes the strain off the arm. This will make a lot of difference in a factory where the same movement is done literally hundreds of times a day.
Today, Ford has up to 75 EksoVests being used in 15 of its factories around the world. That’s not a lot but it’s still testing the technology. One could imagine a time in the near future when all of its assembly-line workers use such a device.
“Collaboratively working with Ford enabled us to test and refine early prototypes of the EksoVest based on insights directly from their production line workers,” Ekso Bionics co-founder Russ Angold said in a Ford press release. “The end result is a wearable tool that reduces the strain on a worker’s body, reducing the likelihood of injury, and helping them feel better at the end of the day, thus increasing both productivity and morale.”
MEDICAL
Beyond military and industrial use are the prospects of helping physically-disabled people regain lost abilities. Progress in this area is more advanced than most people realise. Early this year, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a robotic exoskeleton made by a Japanese company called Cyberdyne that’s able to take signals from the brain to execute movement.
The lower body device, dubbed Hybrid Assisted Limb or HAL, uses sensors to detect bioelectric signals sent from the brain to the muscles. In other words, the exoskeleton works with the bioelectric signals of the wearer’s nervous system to know when and how to move.
The FDA-approved version for Americans is known as HAL for Medical Use and it was designed to help restore mobility and independence for people with lower limb disabilities. It is superior to other exoskeletons in that it solves the disconnect between the wearer’s intention to move and the muscle movements that may or may not happen. HAL for Medical Use resolves that because it can detect and understand the wearer’s brain’s bioelectric signals. One could easily imagine such technology someday being advanced enough to help the paraplegic walk again.