Exoskeleton must be rough and inconvenient? Soft XoSoft is simply a clear stream in the machine world.

With the development of modern medicine and the advancement of technology, the life expectancy of modern people has become much longer than that of the predecessors. In the past century, the average life expectancy of Europeans has almost doubled. With the increase in life expectancy, more and more elderly people begin to suffer from mild to moderate disability - innate chronic conditions and acquired damage make people suffer from various levels of walking disorders at a younger age. At present, there are 3.2 million wheelchair users in Europe, and another 4 million people must rely on outside assistance in the process of walking.

Although these people with independent walking obstacles can rely on a variety of auxiliary equipment, the auxiliary equipment currently on the market is generally too cumbersome and too complicated to help them achieve autonomous movement in a complete sense, and it is even less likely to support the autonomy of the legs. activity. Be aware that leg activity is the only way to avoid further shrinkage.

The good news is that in February of this year, under the guidance of the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, a cross-disciplinary international research team began to develop a software bionic exoskeleton XoSoft that can be worn like pants. Nine organizations from seven European Union countries participated in this groundbreaking private R&D project, and they wanted to develop a fully functional prototype by 2019.

These nine organizations include universities and research institutes such as the University of Limerick in Ireland, the University of Applied Sciences in Saxony, and the Italian Institute of Science. In addition, they have received help from organizations in five other areas, including robotics, bioengineering, environmental intelligence and design, including some highly skilled clinicians in rehabilitation, geriatrics and prosthetic applications. .

Now let's go back to the XoSoft product. Compared with the SarcosXOS2 military exoskeleton developed by Raytheon and the Ekso Works developed by Ekso Bionics, the biggest difference is that it is soft. Yes, it is as soft as a regular pair of jeans. By wearing this jeans-like lower extremity exoskeleton, the ability of the elderly and the disabled to exercise their own activities can be greatly improved, and the health and quality of life will be improved to some extent. This exoskeleton uses advanced textile fabrics and smart materials to create sensors and rigid joints. The built-in sensor senses the user's movements and intentions, allowing control of the various units for real-time analysis, and then providing appropriate assistance through actuators. . In other words, what form of assistance the exoskeleton provides depends entirely on the user's needs at some point .

Everything is step by step

As mentioned above, this multinational research team plans to develop a fully functional XoSoft product prototype by 2019, which means that their development cycle is only three years. So, how do they control the R&D process in such a short period of time? The witty little editor from XoSoft has reached a XoSoft work plan (see above).

As you can see from the above picture, XoSoft's research team divided their work plans into nine major steps. The first step is to analyze user requirements, design system specific specifications, and lay the foundation for subsequent research activities. The second step is user-oriented product design, which includes four sub-steps: based on smart materials and textile fabrics. Device design, actuator technology development, system control technology development to identify user actions and intentions, overall aggregation in the laboratory environment, and establishment of a monitoring feedback system; followed by the seventh step, in which the R&D team will again Verify the user's needs, and then evaluate the maturity of the product prototype in clinical and home tests; the eighth step is to involve the general public in product promotion and advertising promotion in the later stage of research and development; the ninth step is project management and cooperation co-ordination.

The nine steps are interlocking and the logic is clear. XoSoft is also painstaking. It is no wonder that the EU and Switzerland are willing to throw 5.4 million euros on this project.