A Lightweight Soft Exosuit for Gait Assistance

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=eU897nPqUCM

Targeting a specific set of applications where a wearer needs some partial assistance from a robot, Researchers from the Harvard Biodesign Lab (http://biodesign.seas.harvard.edu) are pursuing a new paradigm: the use of soft clothing-like exosuits. An exosuit does not contain any rigid elements, so the wearer's bone structure must sustain all the compressive forces normally encountered by the body -- plus the forces generated by the exosuit. The suit, which is composed primarily of specially designed fabrics, can be significantly lighter than an exoskeleton since it does not contain a rigid structure. It also provides minimal restrictions to the wearer's motions, avoiding problems relating to joint misalignment. Ongoing work to optimize the suit design and make it portable is funded by DARPA's Warrior Web Program.

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