Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Father builds exoskeleton to help wheelchair-bound son walk

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 200 posts

Re: Father builds exoskeleton to help wheelchair-bound son walk

#171

Post by gattilorenz »

ad404b8a372f2b9 wrote: post #7
caturopath wrote: post #2

> "Ten years from now, there will be no, or far fewer, wheelchairs," he said. I wonder how much money he'll put on that.

I share your skepticism but I wouldn't question the conviction of a guy who built a company and worked on this project for 10 years to help his son walk again.

Me neither, but that's only true for the richest part of the world, while a majority of the population will still have to deal with wheelchairs (and in many places I imagine self-built ones).

Not being snarky, I appreciate a lot what he's doing, and I hope he will succeed in his quest. There's just a glimpse of sadness when I realize that solving the problem in the first world doesn't mean it will be solved for good (same with vaccines, we hope/expect to have solved the COVID problem soon, but it won't actually be the case for a majority of the world population).

Re: Father builds exoskeleton to help wheelchair-bound son walk

#172

Post by KONAir »

R0b0t1 wrote: post #154
KONAir wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

-I have next to no clue what I am talking about- Wouldn't a "wheelchair as powerbank" be the best solution to get people as mobile as possible?

It's not bad. Then you just have the issue of the cost of the batteries. It's possible to have the device be corded and stay within a room or set of rooms.

I meant more like wheel(?) shop to shop, do the shopping on foot so it charges while wheeling.

Is wheeling the verb for it anyway?

Re: Father builds exoskeleton to help wheelchair-bound son walk

#173

Post by perilunar »

Just by the way, the EduExo folks have a kickstarter that closes in 25 hours and is $1000 short of their funding goal:

"EduExo Pro: A Robotic Exoskeleton Kit for STEM Education The EduExo Pro is an Arduino-powered educational robotics kit that enables you to build your own wearable robotic exoskeleton."

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/auxivo/eduexo-pro-a-rob...

They had a previous kickstarter that did quite well:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1485976654/eduexo-the-f...

Re: Father builds exoskeleton to help wheelchair-bound son walk

#174

Post by tremon »

parsecs wrote: post #122
jcun4128 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> bike brake cable Funny you mention that, this guy [1] made an actuator/arm recently doing that technique. Does work but accuracy/flex can be a problem. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahSS5HUylT8

Curious, could one apply fancy control theory and modern computing at the problem and fix most of the accuracy and flex problem? Position feedback with integrated sensors can be very compact and highly accurate, and human muscle seem to also use feedback control for holding position..

The human system doesn't use single-muscle feedback for holding position though; it requires flexing both the push and pull muscles and coordinating the strength between them; positional information is relayed not just from the muscles, but the surrounding skin as well.

Re: Father builds exoskeleton to help wheelchair-bound son walk

#175

Post by azernik »

sandworm101 wrote: post #71
the_lonely_road wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding is its the same thing limiting everything else. Power. Batteries more specifically. We just don't have a way to power anything for very long that doesn't have a cable attached to a wall attached to a power station. Honestly the ability for humans (and other living creatures) to just DO SO MUCH on just a little bio mass each day is astounding.

>> Power. Batteries more specifically. We just don't have a way to power anything There is progress. Japan has been developing assistance exoskeletons as an answer to elder care problems: power assist devices to allow not-strong people to lift/carry elderly people. Interestingly, much development has gone into pneumatic devices as they are inherently more waterproof than electric. "In Japan, the commercialization of…

That's less about progress, and more about finding applications where it's not a limitation.

Innophys suit has a compressed-air tank with limited endurance, built to be periodically refilled from a stationary compressed-air system on job sites (since those are common in many industrial settings). Notably, their ad copy says: "Simply fill it with air using the supplied pump and it is ready for use. Therefore it can be used anytime, anywhere, for an unlimited amount of time, easily. When the assistive power weakens, just add more air." i.e. you're expected to be able to pump the thing (they include a hand pump as a last resort!) at any time.

The AWN-03, for its part has one set of high-power motors for when it's connected to AC power and a lower-power motor for battery operation; that Panasonic division, in the 5 years since that story was written, discontinued that product and defined down the problem to less power-hungry assist modes, namely short assistance during particularly strenuous motions.

Re: Father builds exoskeleton to help wheelchair-bound son walk

#176

Post by TheAdamAndChe »

tremon wrote: post #174
parsecs wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious, could one apply fancy control theory and modern computing at the problem and fix most of the accuracy and flex problem? Position feedback with integrated sensors can be very compact and highly accurate, and human muscle seem to also use feedback control for holding position..

The human system doesn't use single-muscle feedback for holding position though; it requires flexing both the push and pull muscles and coordinating the strength between them; positional information is relayed not just from the muscles, but the surrounding skin as well.

The constant muscle tone is largely to help bones stay in ball-and-socket joints. Presumably, such tone wouldn't be necessary with other kinds of joints.

Re: Father builds exoskeleton to help wheelchair-bound son walk

#177

Post by throwaway-571 »

hnthrowaway353 wrote: post #136
agumonkey wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well i'm dumbfounded, I'd honestly thought an exoskeleton would make people like her happier i never meant to deny your own experience, I was mostly sad about the high cost and limits of a wheel chair.

UC San Francisco used to run disability inspiration porn ads showing a plodding exoskeleton that would go about maybe 1 mi/day? My wife would joke that in the time it would take the exoskeleton to get her to the front door, she could used her power chair to walk to Starbucks, order breakfast, and bring it home. Has society put limits on what she can do in her chair due to crappy architecture, yes. Would a practical e…

What about an exoskeleton with retractable wheels, that had motion powered or rollerblade style? I remember seeing a video of a robot that switched from quadruped/hexapod walking motion to sway like a rollerblade / skater.

Re: Father builds exoskeleton to help wheelchair-bound son walk

#178

Post by throwaway-571 »

hnthrowaway353 wrote: post #136
agumonkey wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well i'm dumbfounded, I'd honestly thought an exoskeleton would make people like her happier i never meant to deny your own experience, I was mostly sad about the high cost and limits of a wheel chair.

UC San Francisco used to run disability inspiration porn ads showing a plodding exoskeleton that would go about maybe 1 mi/day? My wife would joke that in the time it would take the exoskeleton to get her to the front door, she could used her power chair to walk to Starbucks, order breakfast, and bring it home. Has society put limits on what she can do in her chair due to crappy architecture, yes. Would a practical e…

Have you looked at the robots out of boston dynamics? They look more mobile than a lot of non-handicapped people. Maybe another avenue is smart physical assistants instead of just exoskeletons, "i, Robot (2004)" style.

Re: Father builds exoskeleton to help wheelchair-bound son walk

#179

Post by myth_drannon »

sholladay wrote: post #143
manmeet wrote: post #63

This is amazing. I built one to help my nephew walk, and now selling commercially ( http://trexorobotics.com ) I am fed-up at the lack of options available to individuals. People thought that everyone will get an exoskeleton and be able to walk with it everywhere. But the industry ran into many challenges. A big one that many dont understand is getting insurance coverage. The way the US healthcare system is designed,…

I have a family member who needs something exactly like Trexo but for an adult. Are you able to make them for adults?

There are plenty of exoskeletons trainers for adults, Trexo novelty (well there is another device company in Sweden - Made For Movement ) is that they are targeting kids.
Post reply on HN