首页|Researchers Submit Patent Application, 'Walk-About Exoskeleton', for Approval (U SPTO 20240227162)
Researchers Submit Patent Application, 'Walk-About Exoskeleton', for Approval (U SPTO 20240227162)
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News editors obtained the following quote from the background information suppli ed by the inventors:“A wide variety of exoskeleton, humanoid, robotic arms, and other robots or robotic systems exist whichperform tasks in a variety of situa tions and applications. Robotic exoskeletons in particular are wearableelectrom echanical devices that have been developed as augmentative devices to assist, en hance, oramplify the physical performance of the wearer or as orthotic devices for gait rehabilitation or locomotionassistance. Robotic exoskeletons have pote ntial applications in multiple different fields and may be usedby a variety of different operators. While many exoskeleton systems comprise an upper body exosk eletonportion supported by a lower body exoskeleton portion (e.g., one comprisi ng two legs) that interfaces withthe lower body of a human operator upon the op erator donning the exoskeleton, lower body exoskeletonsare often complex in the ir configuration by comprising multiple actuatable joints to facilitate movement inmultiple degrees of freedom that resemble as closely as possible the kinemat ics of the human operator due to these being physically coupled to the human ope rator, namely to the legs of the human operator. Thislevel of complexity within a lower body exoskeleton portion in many instances is not necessary. Indeed,th ere are many instances where the types of amplified or assisted movements and/or maneuvers that ahuman operator may need to perform with the lower body exoskel eton portion in order to complete one ormore tasks with the upper body exoskele ton are simple, thus rendering a complex lower body exoskeletonportion unnecess ary in that it possesses a much greater capability than what is needed. Another way ofstating this is that a complex exoskeleton may possess actuatable joints, degrees of freedom and variouscomponents, elements and systems needed to opera te the lower body exoskeleton portion as it is interfacedwith a human operator that are only there due to the complex configuration of the lower body exoskeleton to enable the human interface. However, in reality, such complexities may be overkill for many tasksthat need to be carried out using the upper body exoskel eton portion. While a complex lower bodyexoskeleton portion can certainly perfo rm simple amplified or movements and/or maneuvers, such asserving as a support for the upper exoskeleton portion as interfaced with an upper body of the user,facilitating amplified lifting, squatting, bending over, walking from one locati on to another, etc. by theoperator, it likely does these utilizing all availabl e systems, components, degrees of freedom, etc. withinthe lower body exoskeleto n portion. In addition, it is recognized that in some instances a lower body exoskeleton portion may merely serve as a support for the upper exoskeleton portion , such as for a task thatcan be undertaken and accomplished using only the uppe r body exoskeleton portion. A complex lowerbody exoskeleton can be costly and c an also be cumbersome, particularly when performing lower bodymovements and/or maneuvers, such as walking, squatting, and even standing for an extended period oftime due to the direct interfacing of the lower body exoskeleton with the hum an operator.”
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