An exoskeleton is an external skeleton that allows a person to perform truly fantastic actions: lift weights, fly, run at great speed, make gigantic jumps, etc. And if you think that only the main characters of Iron Man or Avatar possess such devices, then you are deeply mistaken. They have been available to mankind since the 60s. last century; Moreover, you can learn how to assemble an exoskeleton with your own hands! However, first things first.
Exoskeleton: Acquaintance
Today you can well get yourself an exoskeleton - Ekso Bionics and Hybrid Assistive Limb (Japan), Indego (USA), ReWalk (Israel) produce similar products. But only if you have an extra 75-120 thousand euros. In Russia, so far, only medical exoskeletons are produced. They are designed and manufactured by the Exoatlet company.
The first exoskeleton was made by scientists of the corporations General Electric and United States Military in the sixties of the last century. It was called Hardiman and could freely lift into the air a load of extremely equal to 110 kg. The person who put on this device in the process experienced a load, as when lifting 4.5 kg! Only Hardiman himself weighed 680 kg. Therefore, he was not in great demand.
All exoskeletons are divided into three types:
fully robotic;
for hands;
- for legs.
Modern robotic suits weigh from 5 to 30 kg and above. They are both active and passive (working only on the command of the operator). By purpose, exoskeletons are divided into military, medical, industrial and space. Consider the most wonderful of them.
The most impressive exoskeletons of our time
Of course, it will not work, of course, to assemble such exoskeletons with your own hands at home in the near future, but it is worth getting to know them:
- DM (Dream machine) . This is a fully automatic hydraulic exoskeleton that is controlled by the voice of its operator. The device weighs 21 kg and is capable of supporting a person weighing up to a centner. So far, it is used for the rehabilitation of patients who cannot walk due to central nervous system diseases or other neuromuscular diseases. The approximate cost is 7 million rubles.
- Ekso GT . The mission of this exoskeleton is the same as the previous one - it helps people with pathologies of the motor functions of the legs. The characteristics are similar to the previous one, the price is 7.5 million rubles.
- ReWalk . It is called to give motion to people with paralysis of the lower extremities again. The device weighs 25 kg and is able to work without recharging for 3 hours. The exoskeleton is available in Europe and the United States in an amount equivalent to 3.5 million rubles.
- Rex . Today, this device can also be bought in Russia for 9 million rubles. The exoskeleton gives people with leg paralysis not only independent walking, but also the opportunity to get up / sit down, turn around, go moonwalking, go down the stairs, etc. The REX is controlled by a joystick, capable of functioning without recharging all day.
- HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) . There are two options - for arms and for arms / legs / torso. This invention allows the operator to lift weight 5 times heavier than the limit for humans. Also used for the rehabilitation of paralyzed people. This exoskeleton weighs only 12 kg, and its charging lasts for 1.0-1.5 hours.
How to make an exoskeleton with your own hands: James Hacksmith Hobson
The first and so far the only person who managed to construct an exoskeleton in off-laboratory conditions is Canadian engineer James Hobson. The inventor has assembled a device that allows him to freely lift 78-kilogram cinder blocks into the air. Its exoskeleton works on pneumatic cylinders that supply energy to the compressor, and the device is controlled using the remote control.
The Canadian does not keep his invention a secret. How to assemble an exoskeleton with your own hands according to his example, you can find on the engineer’s website and on his YouTube channel. However, note that the severity of the weight lifted by such an exoskeleton rests solely with the spine of the operator.
DIY exoskeleton: an approximate diagram
There is no detailed instruction that allows you to assemble an exoskeleton at home in the lung. However, it is clear that he will need:
- frame, characterized by strength and mobility;
- hydraulic pistons;
- pressure chambers;
- vacuum pumps;
- source of power;
- strong tubes capable of withstanding high pressure;
- control computer;
- Sensors
- software that allows you to send and convert information from sensors for the desired valve operation.
How this composition will approximately work:
- One pump should increase the pressure in the system, the other - reduce.
- The operation of the valves depends on the pressure in the pressure chambers, the increase / decrease of which will control the system.
- The location of the sensors (against the movement of the limbs): six - arms, four - back, three - legs, two feet (total more than 30).
- Computer software should eliminate pressure on the sensors.
- Sensor signals must be divided into conditional (information from them is useful if the unconditional sensor does not "talk" about the pressure it is experiencing) and unconditional. The conditionality / unconditionality of these elements can be determined, for example, by an accelerometer.
- The hands of the exoskeleton - three-fingered, separated from the wrist of the operator - to exclude injuries and give extra strength.
- The power source is selected after assembly and trial testing of the exoskeleton.
Robotic suits, so far only in the field of rehabilitation, are already beginning to enter our lives. Inventors are emerging capable of constructing such a device outside the laboratory. It is possible that in the near future, any student will be able to assemble the Stalker exoskeleton with his own hands. It is already possible to predict that the future lies with such systems.