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This is amazing. I built one to help my nephew walk, and now selling commercially ( http://trexorobotics.com )

I am fed-up at the lack of options available to individuals. People thought that everyone will get an exoskeleton and be able to walk with it everywhere. But the industry ran into many challenges.

A big one that many dont understand is getting insurance coverage. The way the US healthcare system is designed, it will only cover restoration of mobility, not a restoration of function. So, from their perspective, a wheelchair and some pain meds can do the job easily.

I believe that they key is to start with children, this is where you have families desperate for a solution, higher costs due to them growing and spending their entire life in a wheelchair, and the option to truly have a life changing impact.

But things are changing, people are starting to notice the work that we are doing. We need a lot more people building exoskeletons and similar powered orthotics!!

> So, from their perspective, a wheelchair and some pain meds can do the job easily.

And not even a good wheelchair. For my wife recently diagnosed with MS, they would only approve of a basic, featureless, uncomfortable one after I would pay the $3000 deductible plus 20% coinsurance. Instead, I got a light-weight folding electric wheelchair with nearly full-day worth of battery (15 miles), with a spare battery, adjustable headrest for $1300 off Amazon. Add an octopus-tripod fan with 10hr battery, golf-cart umbrella, bendable cane holder, bottle holder, and an A/C fan jacket for a total of $200 and now she is able to spend a few hours out with our kids at museums, aquariums, and zoos.

It was literally cheaper for me to buy all of this cash than try to spend 40+ hours getting insurance approval.

I absolutely love how practical and solid your product is. I cannot comment on the pricing because I have no idea what your costs/market is but if my kid needed $999/mo to walk, I would do literally anything to be able to afford it. Hopefully the costs keep coming down for those with a smaller budget. Good luck!

Talk about impactful work. I wonder how many lives you've changed.

Well done. This is something close to miracle tech, at least for the people wearing it.

I can't help but feel curious whether they're a viable alternative to wheelchairs, or if it's a temporary feeling (kind of like riding on a rollercoaster, in that you go and do it for the experience and then return to your normal life). But that's just my ignorance talking.

Also, fuck the US insurance system. You won't find many topics that make me talk that way, but as I get older it feels something closer to pure evil. I've met so many people who have been screwed over by that system (and personally experienced my share of it).

There's a woman I've been texting with who I met at a gas station. She was clearly in distress, so my wife and I offered her a ride home. To cut a long story short, she spent her fourth of july miserable, and when I raised the idea of getting prozac or some sort of antidepressant (my own "miracle tech"), she said "Oh, I used to be on that. I can't afford it because no insurance" and I practically flipped my phone onto the concrete. She could be living a normal and happy life.

I can't imagine how much worse it is for parents who otherwise need to spend $thousands for alternative solutions like this. If you can make it in any way affordable, it'll change countless lives, I'm certain.

I was looking at the videos, and realized that maybe we don't need small exo-bones (societal expectations and normalcy aside), maybe it's easier to go the other way and make exo-robots, since they'd be bigger with more room for batteries, could balance on their own and a human could be sitting/standing inside, driving the legs with some input method - either with legs, or hand gestures.

I'm picturing the robot in Avatar [1], but with an open top and much less threatening and not weaponized [2], like big robotic pants. If I were to quit my job, it would be to make human robot minotaurs a reality, but then again, what do I know about robots?

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6ttDZFmGqg

[2] https://www.pcmag.com/news/toyotas-latest-humanoid-robot-can...

I had thought when the Segway came out that a wheelchair version would follow shortly afterward where a person without functional legs could get on a saddle and move around quickly and at a typical human height so things on shelves aren't such a problem.

Segway hit the market 20 years ago and it still has not happened. I get that there are a number of complications (getting on and off is a challenge), but it seems like it should be solvable. The technology has only improved over the years, especially the batteries. This should be doable.

A big issue for industry is medical certification too. Have you done yours? An exoskeleton like yours falls under Class II medical device and would require, at the minimum, a 510(k) notification to be filed.
Congrats on the amazing product! A minor note on the website:

https://imgur.com/I6KA5uQ

That's too much getting in my face without giving me a chance to browse.

If I'm visiting the website, I'm probably going to be able to answer some of those questions without having these distracting offers thrown into my face immediately.

Great work!

FYI, your "Team" link in the footer is not loading properly.

I don't have anything to add, but your product looks fantastic and I can only imagine the joy it brings to patients and families. Nice work!
I have a family member who needs something exactly like Trexo but for an adult. Are you able to make them for adults?
What a truly awesome product and mission. Inspiring, to say the least. Are you hiring software engineers?
Incredible story - the tech looks brilliant. What a contribution to your nephew, sibling and the world.
>The way the US healthcare system is designed, it will only cover restoration of mobility, not a restoration of function.

You'll find that countries with socialized medicine won't cover more than that either. It's too expensive, regardless of whether your covered privately or publicly. Socialized medicine is typically much harsher on keeping costs down as well.

Your Team page is giving a 404, was really curious !

Great job. This is truly Amazing.

I've always wondered about these devices. How do they work? Like they detect muscle contraction and amplify the motion? Or is it a purely mechanical device?
Just wanted to say thanks for building this.
Inspiring. You’re doing amazing work.
I'm curious why it is so expensive though. Its works out to $36k paid over 3 years to own it.
I've been making my own, purely as a pipe-dream to have some hope of walking again, it's not easy but I'm hoping it'll be a better fit than consumer ones, and probably cheaper.

I feel like we've made leaps and bounds in prosthetics this past decade but orthotics and exoskeletons haven't been following the trend for some reason. As an engineer I imagine there are some significant design constraints that make it hard but seeing what we're capable of doing in any other industry I can't help but feel the problem has to be something other than purely technical limitations. The price is also a big issue, 10k for the cheapest exoskeletons, 150k for the one in this article.

My understanding is its the same thing limiting everything else. Power. Batteries more specifically. We just don't have a way to power anything for very long that doesn't have a cable attached to a wall attached to a power station. Honestly the ability for humans (and other living creatures) to just DO SO MUCH on just a little bio mass each day is astounding.
Video of the exoskeleton in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yBfUcFRZ-I
The research and engineering of new mobility aids is fine, but the inventor/CEO's quote, "Ten years from now, there will be no, or far fewer, wheelchairs" belies an attitude strongly criticized by many in the disability community. And in the video footage he says, "wheelchairs are an anomaly, men and women, human beings are meant to be upright". Imagine saying "Bicycles an anomaly—humans are meant to be upright, not in some aero-dynamic tucked position." Deriding one form mobility tech (an asset to more than 10,000,000 people) to promote another potential one is disappointing.

The Exoskeleton's Hidden Burden [0] is a good article that includes the history of exoskeleton development (goes back to 19th c. Russia):

[0] https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/08/exosk...

I have a 3.5 year-old and just had twins. A story like this makes me feel very warm inside. Being a relatively new father, I'm beginning to understand the unconditional love and sacrifice that grows when you have kids. I commend this father for doing this. He is a modern day hero.
I am not a robotics expert, and I've always wanted to ask one...

Why do these designs always have the actuators mounted directly at the joints?

Why not have some high modulus yarn transfer the joint loads (ala a bike brake cable, say with high modulus aramid?)? One could keep the actuators near the center of mass (or a trolley that follows it around), and keep the suit fairly minimal.

What I don't understand is why this is not more common. I plan to build one for when my parents are unable to walk around independently.

Who wants to call a nurse everytime they need to go to the bathroom? An exoskeleton gives you some autonomy and dignity. The fact it is so uncommon despite a growing aging population with stash of money is a mystery to me

This is inspiring. The cost can be brought down through use of soft and/or lightweight materials. For example, the use of textile based actuators. Good examples in link below:

https://biodesign.seas.harvard.edu/soft-exosuits

These things are not for the near term so really impressed by this story.

Boston Dynamics should be making one of these. It fits really well with their expertise and is much better for them to be making these rather than robots that get sent to wars.
Just want to flag that, in addition to all this fun and exciting new tech for disabilities, we really do just need better basics.

As the partner of a wheelchair user, these exoskeletons are a great toy to have on the horizon – but the promise of this has been around for a long time, and while the hope of a better future is exciting, we need change on a much quicker time scale than this. (Not saying people shouldn't be working on this – it's rad that they are).

On a day-to-day level, my partner would much more benefit from:

- A better wheelchair (this will mean something different for every body – for them, someone who uses a wheelchair for chronic pain, an exoskeleton wouldn't even help – much more useful would be a wheelchair where every bump of pavement doesn't rattle your whole body).

- More accessible shops and public spaces. We don't really get to go out much – most often blockades include cracked sidewalks, friend's houses that require a step (or stairs), and inaccessible shops.

- Better safety nets for those with disabilities (it's VERY expensive to be disabled in America – consider how much more these exoskeletons will cost than already expensive wheelchairs).

tl;dr These technologies are exciting and deserve attention and energy – just keep in mind that the notion that these emerging technologies will someday wipe out all of wheelchair users' problems in one fell swoop is both false and does nothing for the many millions prevented from participating in society right now. We need better access today.

Just by the way, the EduExo folks have a kickstarter that closes in 25 hours and is $1000 short of their funding goal:

"EduExo Pro: A Robotic Exoskeleton Kit for STEM Education The EduExo Pro is an Arduino-powered educational robotics kit that enables you to build your own wearable robotic exoskeleton."

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/auxivo/eduexo-pro-a-rob...

They had a previous kickstarter that did quite well:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1485976654/eduexo-the-f...

One of my favorite movies "Edge of Tomorrow" has dope exoskeletons, and while its a movie - thats where this is heading...

I am surprised Boston Dynamics hasnt made one! If you converted the agility of Atlas into an exoskeleton, that would be pretty interesting...

> has a genetic neurological condition that means his nerves do not send enough signals to his legs

I wonder if anyone has tried amplifying those signals.

I know this is unrelated, but the closed caption's text accuracy is embarrassingly poor for an organization of Reuter's stature.
This is cool, but it's better to just build with accessibility-first thinking. We'll all be disabled some day. Better to self-advocate now rather than when we need it. How many buildings could you make wheelchair accessible for the cost of one robot suit?
Are there any global crowdfunding projects that try to bring tech like this to more people?
This is incredible! There's something really appealing and enabling about becoming an "exoskeleton pilot".
The father in the picture at first glance gave me Tony Stark with an iron man suit prototype vibes. Anyone else?
Starting an exoskeleton company: 10 years + $$$

Smile on father's face watching his son stand upright: priceless!

How come they don’t open source this?
> "Ten years from now, there will be no, or far fewer, wheelchairs," he said.

I wonder how much money he'll put on that.

What a commendable act made by the father. He didn't settle in making his son sit on a wheelchair throughout his own life. Instead, he built an exoskeleton to let his son experience how to walk.
All I can see is another dark pattern in GDPR avoidance (note, doesn't help a bit, this is still illegal since it is opt out instead of opt in and doubly so since it is next to impossible to opt out).
That's a father threat really loves his son. 99% of other parents do nothing to get their handicapped child out of their chair.
In today's culture wouldn't this be considered "ableist"? Aren't we internalizing the idea of being "disabled" to this kid and thus dehumanizing him by building a machine that "corrects" his inability to walk?

I've seen similar arguments from the deaf community about hearing restoration as "correcting" something when nothing is "wrong".

FWIW I think this invention is awesome.

This is kind of dangerous. Something like this that is not tested can pretty much kill you if it fails in anyway. You’ll just fall to the ground from about 5 ft, which is often enough to do something bad to your skull.