DARPA Funds Soft Robotics Exosuit

 Exosuits  

A research team at Harvard is developing next generation soft wearable robots that use innovative textiles to provide a more conformable, unobtrusive and compliant means to interface to the human body. These robots will augment the capabilities of healthy individuals in addition to assisting those with muscle weakness or patients who suffer from physical or neurological disorders.

DARPA has awarded a $2.9 contract to the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University to further develop the Soft Exosuit, a “wearable robot.”

It will be worn comfortably under clothing  to enable soldiers to walk longer distances, reduce fatigue, and minimize risk of injury when carrying heavy loads.

"While the idea of a wearable robot is not new, our design approach certainly is."

The development is part of DARPA’s Warrior Web program, which seeks to develop technologies to prevent and reduce musculoskeletal injuries for military personnel, but the technologies could also have civilian applications, including first responders, athletes, and the disabled.

The lightweight device is designed to replace power-hungry battery packs and rigid components that can interfere with natural joint movement, as in heavier exoskeleton systems.

“While the idea of a wearable robot is not new, our design approach certainly is,” said Conor Walsh, an Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and founder of the Harvard Biodesign Lab.

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It is made of soft, functional textiles woven together into a piece of smart clothing that is pulled on like a pair of pants and intended to be worn under a soldier’s regular gear. The suit mimics the action of the leg muscles and tendons when a person walks, and provides small but carefully timed assistance at the joints of the leg without restricting the wearer’s movement.

The current prototype uses a low-power microprocessor and network of supple strain sensors that act as the “brain” and “nervous system” of the Soft Exosuit, continuously monitoring various data signals, including the suit tension, the position of the wearer (e.g., walking, running, crouched), and more.

According to the team,

In addition to our work on basic research and system development, we are highly interested in pursuing applications of our soft wearable robots. Through our DARPA funded work, we are interested in developing exosuits that can assist soldiers walking while carrying heavy loads. Our belief is we can create passive and active systems that offload the high forces in the muscles and tendons in the leg – thus reducing the risk of injury and increasing the walking efficiency of the wearer. Another translational focus of our group is on gait assistance for medical applications. We foresee soft exosuits being able to restore mobility on patients with muscle weakness (e.g. elderly) or who suffer from a neurological disease such as a Stroke. Beyond our active systems, we envision translational potential in the area of sports and recreation where fully passive soft suits with structured functional textiles can provide small amounts of assistance during walking, hiking, running and other activities. 

Collaborators include researchers at Boston University’s College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Harvard postdocs, and Boston-based New Balance.




SOURCE  Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science

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