Introducing EduExo

EduExo is an information platform on wearable robotics technology.  The organization is currently developing the first-ever robotic exoskeleton development kit.  The goal is to make exoskeleton technology more accessible.  The intent is for an affordable STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) kit for students, teachers, makers and tech enthusiasts.  A DIY educational & entertainment platform that introduces people to exoskeleton technology.

In its current design, the EduExo kit will consist of three main parts:

• Components to assemble an elbow exoskeleton.
• A handbook that introduces robotic exoskeletons.
• Instructions on translating the user’s movements to digital space.

More details:

Taken from the EduExo January newsletter:

“The EduExo development has been going on for about a year as a side project. With the beginning of this year, we finally have more time to commit and now aim to push the project in the next few months. So far, prototypes of almost all components have been developed and are currently undergoing testing and improvements.

One task right now is to develop a suitable hardware design that combines an affordable price with sufficient performance and complexity to be an appropriate learning platform. In addition, the exercises of the tutorial have to be designed, tested and finally included in the handbook. Also, the theoretical parts of the handbook are currently being written and illustrated to present the knowledge in an accessible way…”

– EduExo Newsletter, January 2017

Getting involved?

This newsletter (such as the one above), will be used to regularly provide development and project related information.  You can subscribe to the newsletter at EduExo.com.  For more regular updates, don’t forget to join EduExo’s Facebook or Twitter accounts.  The social media platforms will have information posted more often, but with less background information.

You can help to evaluate the device (beta testing) in a few months.  Again, simply sign up to EduExo’s mailing list or social media channels and a call will be sent out when the team is ready.  The Exoskeleton Report team is simply dying to see what the EduExo team is putting together!

Sponsorship

The EduExo team is open to cooperations and sponsorships, although there isn’t a dedicated program for the latter just yet.  Another possibility that the team is looking at is to crowdfund the project, which will, of course, provide a chance for everyone to own one of the first EduExo kits.

About EduExo

The EduExo project was initiated by Volker Bartenbach from the Sensory-Motor Systems Lab at ETH in Zürich, Switzerland.  Volker recently passed his Ph.D. defense and already has multiple exoskeleton projects under his belt.  Camila Shirota, a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University is an advisor for science and technology and Christopher Spunk, Ph.D. in robotics from the University of Freiburg, Germany is an advisor for robotics and virtual reality.

For updates and much more on the team, visit EduExo’s About Us page.

Conclusion

The amount of time and effort to put a development kit together is not a joke.  The Exoskeleton Report started working on a handbook for wearable exoskeletons but all efforts were put on hold after just making the first six pages.  For EduExo, a handbook on exoskeleton technology is just one part of the entire kit.  Impressive!  The EduExo team hopes to have development finished in 2017 and offer the kit to interested users, schools and universities.