Credit: ETH Zurich / Alessandro Della Bella

Millions of people worldwide rely on orthotics, prosthetics, wheelchairs and other assistive devices to improve their quality of life. In the United States alone, there are more than 1.6 million people with limb amputations. The World Health Organization estimates the number of wheelchair users to be about 65 million people worldwide.

It is important to improve the daily lives of people with disabilities or physical weaknesses, and allow them to be more independent. Unfortunately, current assistive technology does not fully address their needs. Wheelchairs cannot climb stairs; arm prostheses do not enable versatile hand functions. Powered support devices have limited battery life. The list goes on and on.

Many people need help climbing stairs. Credit: ETH Zurich/Alessandro Della Bella.

People with disabilities are often disappointed with their devices’ performance, and choose not to use them. The main objection is that designs ignore user needs, such as individual preferences for device appearance, sizing and fitting for comfort and function, effort and time required to put on and take off, and device durability and weight.

Beyond the design issues, these tools are expensive. Cost shuts many people out of using them, regardless of how well they work.“ And stairs, steep ramps, narrow doorways and low tables can make the use of assistive technologies very cumbersome or even impossible.

It is an industry ripe for innovation. To encourage this work, I have founded a new kind of competition promoting the development of useful technologies. In the Paralympics, parathletes aim to achieve maximum performance in sporting challenges. In our new contest, the Cybathlon, people with physical disabilities will compete against each other at tasks of daily life, with the aid of advanced assistive devices – including robotic ones.

Focusing on teamwork and technology

In the Cybathlon, what’s being tested is not just the abilities of human athletes, nor only the equipment they use. Rather, it’s their symbiosis, balancing good technical performance of the device, and its control by the athlete.

Competitors will face off in six disciplines, for people with either limb amputations or limb paralysis of varying degrees, such as occurs after a spinal cord injury. We’ll organize a race focused on each of these technologies: powered leg prostheses, powered arm prostheses, functional electrical stimulation (FES) driven bikes, powered wheelchairs, and powered exoskeletons. The sixth competition is a racing game with virtual avatars controlled by brain-computer interfaces.

Teams work together: a pilot in control, with others supporting and operating the technology. Credit: ETH Zurich/Alessandro Della Bella.

We ran test sessions in July 2015, and have slated the full competition for October 8 in Zurich. The devices involved can be prototypes developed by research labs or companies, or commercially available products. Competitors will be called pilots, as they must control a device that enhances their mobility.

Competing teams each consist of a pilot, scientists and technology providers, making the Cybathlon also a competition among companies and research laboratories. As a result there are two awards for each competition’s winning team: a medal for the pilot and a cup for the company or lab that made the device.

The six competitions

The competitions will simulate challenges people with disabilities face in daily life – situations that non-disabled people don’t think twice about but that can be insurmountable for others.

Powered prosthetic legs Most leg prostheses require their users to swing the artificial leg just so, to properly align the knee, lower leg and foot. And they cannot transfer muscular power through the knee, using thigh muscles to help climb stairs, for example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4klZXwE3-tI

One of the best unpowered-knee prostheses, offering a quite symmetrical gait compared to most devices.

Powered leg prostheses can provide that missing power, but they are difficult to control unless the motor understands how the user wants to move. And even the best batteries are either too heavy or too short-lived to be a real solution. Our race will challenge pilots with above-knee amputations to use powered prosthetic legs to walk up and down stairs, stand up from a seated position, and otherwise navigate a complicated environment.

Powered hands and arms Two-handed jobs, requiring either strength (like carrying a heavy box) or specific fine motor skills (like opening a small jar of jam) are challenging with even the best upper-arm prostheses. As a result, up to 60 percent of people with upper-limb amputation don’t use their prosthetic device very much or even at all. People are much less likely to reject more advanced devices, like body-powered or electric ones. Pilots with amputations at or above the lower arm will use motorized prosthetic hands and arms to complete various household and food preparation tasks.

Assisted cycling People with complete paraplegia don’t lose their muscles; they just lose the ability to control them. A technology called functional electrical stimulation (FES) can restore some of this function, sending electricity into otherwise dormant nerves to activate muscles. FES technology has been used for decades. But the systems take a long time to set up, don’t produce much muscle force, and tire out muscles quickly.

Surgically implanted systems give more specific control of particular muscles and higher force output. But they are expensive and invasive, and carry more risks than external FES devices that are merely strapped to a person’s body. For these reasons, doctors and patients don’t often use FES technology.

In the Cybathlon, pilots with complete paraplegia will compete in a bike race, using FES devices to fire their leg muscles to drive the pedals.

Helping cyclists pedal with functional electrical stimulation.

Powered wheelchairs Despite the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws and regulations, public buildings are still hard to enter and navigate in wheelchairs. Most outdoor devices are too bulky and not agile enough for indoor use; commercial indoor wheelchairs can’t travel over uneven terrain or steps. So-called intelligent or smart wheelchairs, which can autonomously navigate in known environments have been available for decades, but are very expensive and used by relatively few people.

Wheelchairs are becoming more powerful, but often their control systems are neither as effective nor as comfortable as they could be. To push development of these functions, pilots with paralysis will take powered wheelchairs through an obstacle course with ramps, stairs, bends, doors and uneven terrain.

Powered wheelchair racing.

Powered exoskeletons An alternative to wheelchairs are exoskeletal devices that help people walk. However, batteries only last a few hours, and the equipment is very bulky and heavy. Most of the commercially available multi-joint exoskeletons weigh between 46 and 62 pounds (21–28 kg). One device, called “REX” weighs nearly 88 pounds!

Current commercial systems are so limited that they can’t even climb slopes or stairs. An obstacle course will test pilots’ and teams’ abilities to develop systems that can move through difficult areas.

Moving with powered exoskeletons.

Navigating by brain power In the brain-computer interface (BCI) race, pilots with paralysis of all four limbs will control a virtual avatar in a racing game displayed on a computer screen. The best pilots will be able to make their brain signals emit three different commands to overcome three different kinds of virtual obstacles. BCI technology is becoming more popular, but most systems take a long time to set up, can be uncomfortable, and don’t function well outside the lab. That has prevented its broad use in daily life.

Racing with brain power alone.

Pushing the boundaries of the possible

The Cybathlon will bring together people with disabilities or physical weaknesses, researchers and developers, governments and other agencies that fund services and research. It will also showcase the importance of this work to the general public. Our hope is that over time, these devices will become more affordable and more functional.

Unlike the Paralympic Games, pilots can use any technical aids they need, as long as they are safe. That enables people with more severe disabilities to compete. The goal is not to be the fastest or the strongest participant; rather it’s to be the most skilled pilot who can use advanced technologies to best overcome the challenges of everyday life.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

If you liked this article, you may also want to read:

• Tickets for Cybathlon now on sale
• New video shows bionic athletes rehearsing for upcoming Cybathlon competition
• Exoskeletons: From helping people walk to controlling robots in space
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• Are skintight suits the future of robotic exoskeletons?
• Robots Podcast #215: Human 2.0: Exoskeletons and Orthoses, with Hugh Herr

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Source: Wyss Institute at Harvard University

In the Disruptive Podcast series, Terrence McNally speaks directly with Wyss Institute researchers, exploring what motivates them and how they envision our future as might be impacted by their disruptive technologies. In part 3 of the Disruptive: Bioinspired Robotics episode, Wyss Core Faculty Member Conor Walsh discusses how a wearable robotic exosuit or soft robotic glove could assist people with mobility impairments, as well as how the goal to create real-world applications drives his research approach.

Walsh is the founder of the Harvard Biodesign Lab, which brings together researchers from the engineering, industrial design, apparel, clinical and business communities to develop new technologies and translate them to industrial partners. His research focuses on applying disruptive technologies to the development of robotic devices for augmenting and restoring human performance. His current research interests include new approaches to design, manufacture and control of wearable robotic devices and characterizing their performance through biomechanical and physiological studies.

He leads a team of researchers on the DARPA Warrior Web project to develop a soft exosuit that can assist with locomotion that can perform small levels of assistance to a wearer. The exosuit’s function is based on a detailed understanding of human walking and is soft and pliable, unlike traditional exoskeletons that use rigid components. The long term goal is to develop fully portable wearable robots to assist the disabled and able-bodied and further the scientific understanding of how humans interact with such machines.

Source: Wyss Institute at Harvard University

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• Robots Podcast #180: Soft Robotics Toolkit, with Donal Holland
• Two new soft robotics competitions announced by Soft Robotics Toolkit
  
• Body-enhancing exoskeletons could be stepping into industrial trials next year
• Robots Podcast #182: Supernumerary limbs, with Federico Parietti
•  Robot Startup Series #7: Interview with Soft Robotics’ Carl Vause
• ShanghAI Lectures 2013, Lecture 6 – Soft Robotics and Bioinspiration II

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Ekso Bionics Holdings (OTCBB:EKSO):

In an alternative public offering in January, 2014, Ekso Bionics, a Delaware corporation headquartered in Richmond, California became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ekso Bionics Holdings, a Nevada corporation. The new holding company changed its name from PN Med Group which was listed on the over-the-counter stock exchange as EKSO. Simultaneously the new company completed a $30.3 million private placement. The launch price was $2.50 per share.

Since then, Ekso has split off its technology development into a separate division chartered to further intellectual property through engineering contracts and research grants including the DoD and Lockheed (which has licensed Ekso’s HULC military version of exoskeleton) and collaborated with 3D Systems to debut the first ever 3D-printed hybrid robotic suit.

Since 2005, Ekso Bionics has researched and developed robotic exoskeletons, AKA wearable robots, to augment human strength, endurance and mobility. The company’s first commercially available product (called Ekso) has helped thousands of people living with paralysis take millions of steps not otherwise possible.

Medtech SAS (EPA:ROSA):

In November, 2013, Medtech SAS, launched an IPO worth approximately $27 million (€20 million) at a launch price of €26.75 with the ticker symbol ROSA. The stock is listed on Euronext Paris (EPA) Exchange.

Medtech is a France-based company that manufactures medical robots for surgical assistance. The Company’s main product, the ROSA, combines neurosurgical planning software, navigation and robotic functions, haptic technology and visualization capabilities for both cranial neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery.

Cyberdyne Inc (TYO:7779):

Not really an IPO, but notable anyway, on March 26, 2014, Cyberdyne let its stock be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at a price of ¥3,700 ($36.06) with the ticker symbol of 7779. The stock launched with a flurry of publicity from scary to straightforward. Cyberdyne, after all, was the name of Skynet of the Terminator series of Arnold Schwarzenegger movies and HAL, the name of Cyberdyne’s line of exoskeletons, was the name of the computer in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Subsequent to the launch, in a private placement of approximately $1 million dollars, 304,200 privately held shares were sold to raise funds needed for the acquisition of fixed assets and investment in a subsidiary.

Cyberdyne was established in June 2004 as a spin-off from the University of Tsukuba to build a strong research and development organization to provide technology and treatment methods in the field of physical movement and rehabilitation therapy. Working with insurers (healthcare and worker’s compensation) in Germany and Japan, Cyberdyne has developed a complete line of exoskeleton products (HAL) for brain and mobility disabilities as well as non-medical purposes such as eldercare and worker assistance devices.

When we imagine the future of warfare, we often envision a battlefield where humanoid robots and other machines fight alongside or in the place of human soldiers. From the droids of Star Wars to The Terminator’s cyborg soldiers, robots play a prominent role in our collective vision of future combat.

While science fiction is populated with anthropomorphic and sometimes malevolent robots that can seem remarkably human, in the real world, robots are simply programmable machines that can sense and interact with their environment. From this point of view, most advanced weapons systems are robotic, including cruise missiles, drones, and air and missile defense systems.

Are we at the beginning of an inevitable process leading to the rise of “killer robots” predicted by science fiction, or can robots actually make war less destructive?¹ What comes next in the advancement of military robots?

Developing Robotic Weapons

So far, autonomous robots have played a marginal role in warfare. Recently, however, the use of drones to counter the improvised explosive device (IED) threat in Iraq and carry out aerial bombing campaigns in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia has elevated military robots to a more prominent role in U.S. military operations.^(a)

As the U.S. winds down its counterinsurgency campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, the most important robotic systems used in these conflicts will be far less in demand. These include IED hunters and unmanned aerial vehicles such as Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk surveillance drones and General Atomics’ armed Predator and Reaper drones. In fact, the Department of Defense plans to slash these drones’ numbers due to both their inability to survive in contested airspaces and general budgetary pressures.

Instead, there will be a greater focus on developing robotic systems for shorter but more massive air campaigns against more sophisticated adversaries with modern air defense systems, like Libya, Syria, China, or Russia. The Pentagon will likely continue its efforts to build global precision strike capability, allowing rapid deployment of unmanned weapons that can attack anywhere in the world within an hour.^(b) In addition, there will be a continuing focus on technologies and capabilities relevant for low-intensity conflicts like the ongoing War on Terror.

As for the development of robot soldiers, despite decades of intensive research and continuous breakthroughs in robotics, the progress in creating autonomous military robots has been surprisingly slow. Several projects funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have resulted in humanoid robot prototypes, but they lack the portable power source and intelligence that would allow them to act beyond very limited non-combat roles.

The most promising advancements have been the Navy’s X-47 drone, which recently mastered the art of landing on aircraft carriers, and humanoid robot prototypes such as DARPA’s rescue robot Atlas.^(c)

The Cyborgization of Human Soldiers

Another approach to implementing robotic weapons systems is to combine them with humans, whose bodies could be augmented with robotic technology. This concept offers the best of both worlds: the quick reaction times, precision, and strength of robotic systems and the control and superior cognitive abilities of humans.

DARPA’s Land Warrior and its successor projects (Objective Force Warrior, Future Force Warrior, and now Warrior Web) aim to equip soldiers with wearable computers, advanced communications gear, helmet visors with night vision and head-up-display, and robotic exoskeletons for improved mobility. While the potential may be vast, such human enhancement has suffered the same setbacks and slow progress as the development of other robotic systems. The gear is still too heavy, and the exoskeletons that could enable soldiers to carry more and move faster lack a sufficient power source.

At the same time, there has been remarkable progress in neuroscience with respect to mapping and manipulating the human brain.² Though not currently employed, a number of technologies have potential military applications. A technique called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been shown to enhance the concentration and alertness of human test subjects.³ EEGs embedded in helmets might one day enable soldiers to control weapons through the power of thought. A research project at Duke University showed that a monkey with an implanted brain chip could control a robotic arm, and researchers at Brown University created the first wireless brain-computer interface in March.^(d)

The ultimate goal of some in the Pentagon is to develop “super soldiers” who could be deployed anywhere in the world within hours and remain in the field for extended periods of time. Their bodies and performance could potentially be enhanced through nanosensors that constantly monitor their medical status, embedded nanoneedles that release drugs when needed, and possibly even nanorobots that can quickly heal wounds in the field.^(e)

These “super soldiers” might be supported by a range of robotic devices and weapons systems, including robotic dogs to carry their gear, drones to resupply them, and robotic platforms from which to call in long-range precision strikes. The soldiers could one day assign robot helpers specific missions that they could then carry out with little human supervision.^(f)

Ethical Concerns And Scientific Unknowns

The use of military robots raises both ethical and tactical concerns. Will they be able to distinguish targets and use force proportionately? Will soldiers be willing to fight alongside completely autonomous robots? Could robots one day entirely replace humans and human-operated systems on the battlefield? What role might robots play in non-traditional wars such as the war on terror or the fight against transnational organized crime? These questions, along with other unknowns, have led United Nations Special Rapporteur Christof Heyns, Human Rights Watch, and other critics to call for a ban on autonomous military robots.⁴

Critics are also concerned that advanced artificial intelligence (AI) could develop in directions not anticipated by scientists. Because of this unpredictability, the US military has indicated that it will never remove humans from the decision loop completely. While unmanned weapons systems will become gradually more autonomous so that they can carry out very specific missions with less human direction, they may never entirely replace human soldiers on the battlefield.

The technological augmentation and modification of human soldiers raises even more troubling ethical issues than the development of autonomous robots.⁵ Since millions of dollars could go into technologically upgrading the body and mind of a single soldier, would the soldier be allowed to quit military service? What does it mean for an egalitarian and democratic society to provide certain individuals with superhuman abilities? While enhancing human soldiers may have its benefits, it opens up a web of ethical, political, and legal dilemmas.

What’s Next

Although truly autonomous military robots with strong artificial intelligence could potentially be built and deployed within the next twenty years, there are great doubts about their military usefulness and legality. Fully autonomous robots could easily turn out to be uncontrollable weapons. Furthermore, the difficult budgetary climate will not change in the foreseeable future, which means that the U.S. military has to focus its research and acquisition on the projects relevant to the most likely military needs. Instead of designing robots for war, the Pentagon may aim to enhance and even cyborgize soldiers while further developing human-operated robotic systems. Under the most likely scenarios, it may not be the Pentagon’s robots we should be worried about, but rather the changes in humans that military technology will inaugurate.