The exoskeleton built by Delft students seems promising. Paraplegic patient Ruben de Sain, who tests the suit extensively for the students, managed to climb stairs with it, get up from a deep sofa, walk up a slope and across a rough terrain. That bodes well for the future.
The TU Delft student team participated with their Project MARCH in the Cybathlon Experience, a competition for bionic para-athletes in Germany. Together with Ruben de Sain, they braved the four everyday 'obstacles' set out in a course at the RehaCare fair in Düsseldorf with their self-built and designed exoskeleton within the time limit. This secured second place in the competition, in which both academic and commercial teams took part.
Daily use
After a year of designing and building, this competition was the students' ultimate test of their exoskeleton's applicability in everyday life. Although the team was not so much going for the win. 'We are of course proud of this second place, but more important is that by successfully completing all four parts we have shown that the exoskeleton as a tool for everyday use is getting closer and closer,' says Donald Dingemanse, team manager and Industrial Design student at TU Delft in a press release.
Ruben de Sain already tested the exoskeleton in Delft at the end of August. There he showed he could walk with the robot suit, something that made national news. After these first steps were a fact, the students started an intensive training programme for the Cybathlon Experience together with Ruben. 'We started with stair climbing, when that succeeded we continued with the incline. So step by step we trained all parts,' says Dingemanse. 'Points of attention from those trainings were well analysed and the robotic suit was then optimised step by step.'
Future
'A year ago, we started designing a completely new user-friendly exoskeleton. The fact that we got this far in such a short time shows the potential of this technology and promises a lot for the future,' says Dingemanse. Ruben de Sain also thinks that exoskeletons have a promising future. 'The student team Project MARCH is showing what improvements are already possible in just one year. Who knows where we will then be in a few years if these developments are continued? The future that such an exoskeleton offers, that's something we have to go for,' says Ruben. For paraplegic patients, this new medical technology development not only means an improvement in mobility, but it also offers benefits for the user's physical and mental condition. 'Walking also contributes to overall mental and physical fitness and has a beneficial effect on additional complications of paraplegia, such as bladder and bowel problems,' says Ilse van Nes, rehabilitation physician at Sint Maartenskliniek, where Ruben de Sain previously underwent a rehabilitation programme using a commercial exoskeleton.
Cybathlon 2020
Meanwhile, the next Cybathlon in Zurich has been announced, taking place in 2020. With this competition as a dot on the horizon, Project MARCH students will continue to work on new developments of the exoskeleton in the coming years. Every year, a new group of TU Delft students designs and builds an exoskeleton. In this way, Project MARCH hopes to get ever closer to their final goal: giving back full mobility to people with spinal cord injury.
The students' exoskeleton consists of a number of essential components:
- Aluminium hip structure: it is designed to fit perfectly with the 'pilot's' lower back, which is achieved by the customised joints with padding.
- Electronics: the brain and battery of the exoskeleton are placed inside the backpack.
- Input device: this is integrated into the handle of the stool and provides the pilot with intuitive control. Using two buttons and a screen, the pilot can switch between two different movements.
- 3D printed hoods: hoods printed with the Multi Jet Fusion protect the electronics attached to the frame below. They also carry the weight of the piloiot when he puts on the suit.
- Compact joint; a 1:101 gear ratio, a motor and absolute encoders for precision control combine to ensure that the MARCH II's joints are capable of delivering high forces, which are required to perform stair climbing and other movements.
- Fixtures and attachment: multiple attachments ensure the safety and comfort of the pilot while moving with the exoskeleton.
- Foot soles: the foot soles are moulded to the shape of the pilot's feet. This eliminates the risk of blisters and slipping.
By: Kelly Bakker
Source + photo: TU Delft
