Assistive exoskeleton to help elderly manage daily life

“A wearable exoskeleton for an aging population of the future is now being developed at the University of Gävle under the EXO-LEGS research project . The assistive robot will promote better balance and give wearers strength to move around more easily to manage their daily lives,” says Gurvinder Virk, Professor of Robotics.

You do not need to stop being active

Professor Gurvinder Virk’s team at the University of Gävle are at the final developmental phase of building a lower-body exoskeleton. The exoskeleton will help the elderly to stand and walk, keeping their balance and thereby be able to continue living in their homes as they are accustomed to.

“The Exo-Legs once worn will give self-confidence, support and be a help in performing normal daily tasks. The exoskeleton developed will provide 30% power needed for moving around to elderly persons so mobility tasks are easier to perform,” says Gurvinder Virk.

Exo-Legs

Exo-Legs are the so-called exoskeletons for the lower body that will facilitate greater freedom of movement for the elderly via sensors at the hips, thighs and feet able to detect when the human limbs start moving so that the exoskeleton can be operated in a symbiotic manner like artificial muscles to support the human motions by providing power to move the hip, knee and ankle joints.

The aim has been to design different exoskeleton models (Basic, Standard and Deluxe), from a simple one with fundamental mobility support for daily activity, to more advanced motion functionalities like stair climbing and walking on ramps.

“We are testing the Basic prototype exoskeleton developed on end users in Gävle who have been involved in the project from the start. Sweden is at the forefront of these developments to support elderly persons to stay independent and active for as long as possible.”

An aging population

The elderly population of the world is expanding and the pressures and costs of health care are increasing. In twenty years time it is calculated that ten percent of the population will be eighty years old or more.

People want to live in environments that they are accustomed to, and there will be a need for support when they run out of energy and illness affects their mobility. People all over the world are now focusing on how one can develop mobility aids.

“What we have today is walking frames or wheelchairs. They are cheap aids but the costs increase when one has to convert the building where there are stairs and other obstacles – these then become very expensive.”

The crucial requirements

When researchers have asked the elderly what the most important mobility requirement is in their daily life, the answer has been to be able to stand, to walk and to do sit-to-stand transfers and vice versa.

The subjects have emphasised that they want the mobility exoskeleton to be practical, easy to use, with a good fit, easy to put on and take off and be light.

“It is very important that the exoskeleton can also help elderly people to regain self-confidence after a fall, for example.

The worst thing about the first fall is that one loses his/her self-confidence and as a result life more sedentary and it can be the beginning of the 'downward spiral',” says Gurvinder Virk.

Safety

A hindrance has been missing safety requirements, because industrial robots (for which safety standards existed for a long time) have been designed to keep robots and people apart. Now, for new service robots that are physically attached to people are concerned, new safety regulations have recently been published as an ISO standard (ISO 13482).

“We are obliged to follow these new safety standards that in turn help us to develop the new exoskeleton robots that fulfil those demands for safety.”

Safety in the world of machines is so clearly defined, that if the unit develops a single fault then it must not be able to cause harm. ISO 13482 specifies a low power exoskeleton which states that the person wearing the exoskeleton must be able to resist the exoskeleton, in order words if the person is stronger than the exoskeleton then it is inherently safe.

“We provide a wearable robot that provides 30% power and the human provides 70% power and so it is safe. With these issues in mind it still remains for us to design mobility exoskeletons which are lighter and cheaper.”

Will cost between SEK 20,000 and SEK 30,000

The plan is to have the first, lightest and most flexible consumer product on the market at the end of the year.

“It will be only for assisting one joint such as the hip, and be very light; the cost is expected to be between SEK 20,000 and SEK 30,000. After that we are making plans for a hip-knee model that will cost approx. SEK 50,000.”

Subsequently one will increase the complexity to provide physical assistance to all three joints (hip, knee and ankle).

“As long as the product is affordable then it will be in demand. The aim is to go into mass production within three years. In comparison, the medical skeletons on the market at present cost between $100,000 and $200,000.”

Workshop 17^th March 2016

On the 17^th of March two workshops will be held for the Exo-Legs project at University of Gävle where the results of the project will be presented.

The project is a collaboration between universities and businesses in Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Great Britain and Germany and brings together potential customers, businesses and research organisations within the EU.

It is the final phase of the project that was initiated by Gävle Municipality and was started in 2012 by Professor Gurvinder Virk’s team.

Unique for the project:

 Designed as a consumer product for the elderly

 Patented software with universal controls in a modular way

 The mechanics; that sensors respond to human movement

 Adapts to the user, easy to modify for greater or lesser effect

 Light and cheap

Gurvinder Virk Singh

Gurvinder Virk Singh is a Professor and researcher in robotics. He has worked within robot research since 1995 and been involved in many international projects; projects where a new type of mobile robots have been developed. this include legged robots, robots that can climb walls for applications such as nuclear power stations and in volcano environments.

Most of these projects have focused on how one gets a robot to move from one place to another. So that when the issue arose at the University of Gävle, about helping people to become more mobile then it was a natural sequel.

Gurvinder Virk uses his technical expertise and experience that he has accumulated in over twenty-five years of robot research mainly in the UK.

Now the present EXO-LEGS project; to create greater mobility for elderly people, with the help of assistive exoskeleton robots attached to their bodies.

For more information, please contact:
Gurvinder Virk Singh, Professor of Robotics at the University of Gävle
Tel: 026-64 87 04
Email: gurvinder.virk@hig.se

Text: Douglas Öhrbom
Photo: Ove Wall