Soft Exosuit Gains $3 Million Funding From DARPA

Wyss Institute has managed to snag a cool $3 million funding from the folks over at DARPA in order to develop their unique Soft Exosuit even further. Just what is the Soft Exosuit all about? Well, this is basically a biologically inspired smart suit which can be worn right under clothing, and it could play a huge role in helping soldiers on the ground to march a whole lot farther, at the same time without tiring them out. Not only that, it would also enable soldiers to bear heavy loads in a safer manner.

This would mean that the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University will hopefully put in more effort in developing their wearable Soft Exosuit which might eventually be “recruited” into DARPA’s Warrior Web program that has the main aim of preventing and reducing musculoskeletal injuries for military personnel. Apart from that, the Soft Exosuit might also make the jump to help out everyday folks like you and I who might need a bionic boost of sorts in our everyday lives.

The lightweight Soft Exosuit will be a whole lot more power efficient since it does not have the cons of traditional, heavier exoskeleton systems that include power intensive battery packs and rigid components which could prove to be an obstacle to natural joint movement. The Soft Exosuit would require one to wear it around the lower half of the body using a range of webbing straps that carry a low-power microprocessor and a network of supple strain sensors.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Medical, Robots
Tags: darpa, exoskeleton