[url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20018972-1.html]Source[/url]
[quote]Amanda Boxtel, who was paralyzed in a skiing accident in 1992, walks across the stage at a press conference in San Francisco, while Berkeley Bionics CEO Eythor Bender (right) and an assistant look on.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)
Amanda Boxtel hasn't walked since a skiing accident left her paralyzed nearly two decades ago.
In the video below, she stands and walks for the first time in 18 years using eLegs, a 45-pound wearable robotic exoskeleton aimed at getting paraplegics out of their wheelchairs and onto their feet. It's an amazing sight.
"To take my first step in the eLegs was just astounding," Boxtel says with tears in her eyes, "because I bent my knee for the first time in 18 years and I placed my heel on the ground. And then I transferred my weight. And then I took another step. And another one. And it was so natural, and that was what really gripped me."
More paraplegics may be following in Boxtel's bionic footsteps. Berkeley Bionics unveiled the eLegs at a press conference in San Francisco today, saying clinical trials of the steel and carbon fiber suit will start next year at select U.S. rehabilitation clinics, with a limited release scheduled during the second half of the year.
The battery-powered, rechargeable system includes a backpack-mounted controller, robotic legs with motorized hips and knee joints, and crutches that employ a gesture-based human-machine interface and sensors to observe the wearer's gestures and respond accordingly. Velcro straps, backpack-style clips, and shoulder straps secure eLegs to users over their clothing and everyday shoes.
As with the [url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20010850-1.html]Robotic Exoskeleton (Rex)[/url], a $150,000 robotic suit that recently made its public debut in New Zealand, users of the eLegs must have adequate body strength and functionality to transfer themselves from their wheelchair into the device. Also, they have to be between 5-feet, 2-inches tall and 6-feet, 4-inches tall and weigh 220 pounds or less to fit into the device.
Berkeley Bionics says its current eLegs system stays charged for more than six hours, and allows users to walk in a straight line at speeds in excess of 2 mph, stand from a sitting position, stand for an extended period of time, and sit down from a standing position. Within a year, the company hopes wearers will also be able to make tight and wide turns. Berkeley Bionics CEO Eythor Bender says the company is hoping to make the eLegs system available for around $50,000--about half the cost of current high-end wheelchairs.
eLegs are built in the legacy Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC), a robotic exoskeleton created by Berkeley Bionics and Lockheed Martin to give soldiers superhuman strength to carry loads up to 200 pounds for extended periods.
But Rex and eLegs are just two of the promising robotic contraptions enabling wheelchair users to do the improbable. Argo Medical Technologies' ReWalk robotic suit (which looks a lot like eLegs) is currently undergoing clinical trials in the U.S. The Israeli company says it expects to have the suit through the FDA approval process and on the market in 12 to 18 months.[/quote]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcM0ruq28dc[/media]
[img]http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2010/10/07/elegs-2_1_540x360.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2010/10/07/elegs-5_1_540x360.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2010/10/07/elegs-1.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2010/10/07/elegs-10_1.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2010/10/07/elegs-11_1.jpg[/img]
Do they move at a decent speed? The last pair they created made you move like a plod.
it's nice to see less fortuned people being allowed to walk.
Now put one on Usain Bolt and break the land speed record
March forward? You get it? Because they can't actually march.
I see the joke in the thread title. Nice ninja pun there, sir.
[editline]07:15PM[/editline]
oh my fucking god are you serious rampageturke
Wow, I cried a little when she screamed "IM DOING IT!" in the video.
Reminds me of last night. My last pickup line was "Hey, my foots asleep." I waltzed up to this chick in a wheel-chair, and then I realised what I was about to say.
I was at a symposium on human augmentation last week at the TU Delft. One of the speakers was professor H. Kazerooni, who's the director of the Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory. He told all about this technology and the HULC. Really interesting and awesome stuff.
I'd paint my device Spartan green :v:
I was surprised at how small exoskeletons are getting but then I noticed the power cord. We really need a more efficient fuel source otherwise cyborgs will be tethered like bumper cars.
[QUOTE=Devodiere;25315145]I was surprised at how small exoskeletons are getting but then I noticed the power cord. We really need a more efficient fuel source otherwise cyborgs will be tethered like bumper cars.[/QUOTE]
That was a tether, in case they fell. Notice that they did it outside and in the room without the tether.
[editline]09:33AM[/editline]
Also, never look at youtube comments, it'll just make you mad.
That's amazing, I really want to get into prosthetics.
Badass way to kick down a door.
..."Whoa... Where's the door?"
Power Armor came a step closer.
[IMG]http://searchingforbillyedelin.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/jp-grandmas-boy5.jpg[/IMG]
oH YeaH WeLl I hAve RobOt EarS
[QUOTE=Hmn30;25309141]Wow, I cried a little when she screamed "IM DOING IT!" in the video.[/QUOTE]
Same here.
Looks a little slow and cumbersome. I give it 3 years before it can move at normal walking speed.
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