Arm Yourself with Knowledge

For the engineer that dreams of helping people to overcome their physical disabilities, or even acquire superhuman powers like Iron Man, exoskeletons are one of the most promising technologies to explore. But while that may be fine for those working at large, well-funded organizations, the cost and complexity of exoskeletons keeps them out of the hands of nearly all hobbyists, students, and academic researchers. Even if the sticker shock alone were not enough to make them inaccessible, the wide range of expertise needed for their proper operation would greatly limit who can create new technologies with them.

But between a reduction in the cost of the underlying technologies and some clever design work, the team at Auxivo is helping to change this present paradigm. They have developed an advanced exoskeleton kit called the EduExo Pro that makes the technology far more accessible. Created for educational and research settings, the EduExo Pro is customizable, so it can be adapted to fit a wide range of use cases. And the price tag is far lower than existing technologies, so even individual hobbyists can get in on the action.

A kit consists of two primary components, a handbook that teaches key exoskeleton concepts, and a do-it-yourself kit with all the parts needed to build a functional exoskeleton arm. The 180-page handbook starts with basics like human anatomy and electronics, then works its way up to control systems and even how the exoskeleton can be incorporated into video games or academic research projects.

The handbook also contains the step-by-step instructions that are needed to assemble the hardware components found in the kit. These components include a two-degree-of-freedom shoulder joint and a one-degree-of-freedom elbow joint, motors and springs to provide movement assistance, force and electromyography sensors for feedback, and an Arduino development board to control the electronic components. Leveraging an Arduino, in particular, makes the system immediately familiar and simple to program for the hobbyist and academic researcher alike.

EduExo is presently available in multiple versions. The EduExo Maker is free and open-source, and consists of a PDF handbook, STL files for 3D printing, and a list of components that are needed to assemble a simple elbow exoskeleton. For about $380, the EduExo Lite contains a hardcopy of the handbook, as well as all of the components that are required to build an elbow exoskeleton. The most advanced kit, the EduExo Pro, is just over $2,000 and contains everything needed to build an advanced, full-arm exoskeleton.

The accessibility and low starting price point of this kit could help to make exoskeleton technologies much more widely available, and that is great news for assistive devices and beyond. If you are interested in the EduExo kits, you can find more information on Auxivo's website.