The Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne is developing a mechanical device capable of catching any falls from people who are victims of loss of balance.
When we hear “exoskeleton”, we think more of a kind of armor for soldiers. But the field of possibilities is wide for this type of device. Researchers from Scuola Sant’Anna (Italy) and the Polytechnic School of Lausanne (Switzerland) have designed a prototype for the elderly suffering from loss of balance.
The first tests were carried out on eight able-bodied people, with an average age of 69 years, and two amputee patients, each time on a treadmill. They show promising results, which scientists published this Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports. The researchers are particularly satisfied with the ease of customization of the device.
“This work paves the way for a new generation of exoskeletons that will be truly effective in everyday life thanks to their ability to increase the movement of users and make their mobility more stable and safe”, explains Nicola Vitiello, professor at La Scuola Sant’Anna.
A different trajectory
Most often, developing exoskeletons are designed to accompany and strengthen movement. This is the case with the military, who want to improve the physical capabilities of soldiers, but also with devices designed to help people with motor disabilities to stand or walk.
Here, the exoskeleton was designed, on the other hand, to spot unexpected errors in trajectory or stability, during a slide for example, and to correct them by putting the legs of its carriers back on the right track.
Miniaturization
It consists of a sort of harness fixed at waist level and attached to the shoulders, from which articulated leggings emerge. In the event of abnormal movement, the central computer detects an abnormality, and the motors start to directly correct the posture.
(Credits: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne)
For the moment, the prototype is not very ergonomic, in particular by its size and its weight, around 5 kg. Now that the proof of concept has been confirmed by their study, the researchers will look at improving this inconvenience. “The next step will be to make the exoskeleton more discreet and portable to the outside world, and to test it in real life,” say scientists from the École polytechnique de Lausanne.
.
