Good news!
"... Years of research ... has led to the first comprehensive open-source exoskeleton framework, made freely available to anyone worldwide. It will help overcome several huge obstacles for potential exoskeleton developers and researchers. ...
team has already helped children with cerebral palsy keep up with their friends and helped patients with gait disorders and disabilities optimize their rehabilitation. That research has resulted in millions of dollars in grant money and launched a spin-off that brought a robotic ankle device to the market. Lerner and his students also have been awarded nine patents related to the development of these exoskeletons. ..."
From the abstract:
"Although the field of wearable robotic exoskeletons is rapidly expanding, there are several barriers to entry that discourage many from pursuing research in this area, ultimately hindering growth.
Chief among these is the lengthy and costly development process to get an exoskeleton from conception to implementation and the necessity for a broad set of expertise.
In addition, many exoskeletons are designed for a specific utility and are confined to the laboratory environment, limiting the flexibility of the designed system to adapt to answer new questions and explore new domains.
To address these barriers, we present OpenExo, an open-source modular untethered exoskeleton framework that provides access to all aspects of the design process, including software, electronics, hardware, and control schemes.
To demonstrate the utility of this exoskeleton framework, we performed benchtop and experimental validation testing with the system across multiple configurations, including hip-only incline assistance, ankle-only indoor and outdoor assistance, hip-and-ankle load carriage assistance, and elbow-only weightlifting assistance.
All aspects of the software architecture, electrical components, hip and Bowden-cable transmission designs, and control schemes are freely available for other researchers to access, use, and modify when looking to address research questions in the field of wearable exoskeletons.
Our hope is that OpenExo will accelerate the development and testing of new exoskeleton designs and control schemes while simultaneously encouraging others, including those who would have been turned away from entering the field, to explore new and unique research questions."
How robots are making first steps happen (original news release)
OpenExo: An open-source modular exoskeleton to augment human function (no public access)
OpenExo: An Open-Source Modular Exoskeleton to Augment Human Function (preprint, open access)
Example configurations
