The Guardian: “The robot suit providing hope of a walking cure”
Professors Terry Ellis, Louis Awad, and Ken Holt assist researchers at the Harvard Biodesign Lab – working experts in electronics, mechanical engineering, materials science and neurology – to create an ingenious, low-tech way to boost walking: the soft exosuit.
“Designing robotic devices that target specific joints just hadn’t been done before,” says Harvard Professor Conor Walsh. “People had only looked at constructing a full-leg exoskeleton. We are targeting just one joint, not a whole leg. Crucially, in the case of strokes, it is the one that is often most badly impaired. Also, we have managed to keep our materials very light and easily wearable. Simple is best. That is our mantra.”