To Market
From: Technology Review - Jan/Feb 2011 - page 14, 15

Assistive Robots help patients out of wheelchairs

Stand Alone
Rex Bionics - Unlike other exoskeletons, this one doesn’t require crutches or
a backpack; two giant legs support and lift the user, who controls the system
with joysticks. While bulkier than the other systems, it allows wearers to
ascend steps and ramps. 

Source:
http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/26614/


Fancy Footwork
iWalk - This prosthetic actively senses the wearer’s position and uses a
motorized spring to imitate how the ankle, calf muscle, and Achilles tendon
work to push off the ground. The result is a more natural gait and less
pressure on the hips and back. 

Source:
http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/26615/


Torso Control
Argo - Rewalk features stabilizing crutches, motorized gears that move the
legs, and a computer-equipped backpack holding a battery that powers the
device for three to four hours. Motion sensors and onboard processing monitor
the wearer’s upper-body movements and center of gravity; when the person
shifts his or her torso, the device steps appropriately. 

Source:
http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/26616/


Sensitive Soles
Berkeley Bionics - Attached with clips and Velcro straps, these motorized leg
supports and foot sensors enable paraplegics to move themselves between
sitting and standing positions, walk in a straight line, and turn. Crutches
help stabilize the walker. Sensors in the foot pads tell the supports how to
flex the knees in a natural manner, allowing wearers to move over mixed
terrain. The system draws power from batteries carried in a backpack. 

Source:
http://www.technologyreview.com/tomarket/26618/

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Printing Electronic Skin - Page 84

University of California researchers are making sheets of speedy, low-power
transistor arrays for sensors that match human skin's sensitivity. 

Ali Javey, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the
University of California, Berkeley, has turned flexible sheets of
silicon-germanium nanowires (7 by 7 cm) into pressure sensors that are as
sensitive as human skin, which can detect even the tiny force exerted by a
fly when it lands on your arm. His "electronic skin" can be made to cover
large areas, and it requires very little power. Sheets of the skin could
bring a sense of touch to prosthetics, and they could be incorporated into
probes used in minimally invasive surgical procedures, providing tactile
feedback that would help doctors navigate better. 

Source:
http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/26942/

Links:
Ali Javey
http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/javey.html

Javey Research Group
http://nano.eecs.berkeley.edu/