• Question: Have any of you ever considered building an exoskeleton using electric/hydraulic actuators to augment a humans strength and agility and using surface electromyography to potentially control the suit

    Asked by Archie Brown to Andrew, Lizzie, Nick, Sonia on 22 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Elizabeth Kapasa

      Elizabeth Kapasa answered on 22 Jun 2015:

      Fantastic question! There are already exoskeletons although I’m not sure if they use surface electromyography… maybe you should find out!

      Normally we try to restore the body to a healthy natural state though, not augment or enhance humans. It is pretty cool though!

    • Photo: Andrew Phillips

      Andrew Phillips answered on 22 Jun 2015:

      It’s something we have looked at and continue to investigated. One of the big problems with exoskeletons is the weight of the batteries or fuel source needed to power them. We are looking at whether they can be made to be more efficient. I think in the future you’ll see them being used to help people in factories where the power can be taken from a cable, but it will be a little while till we’ll see there more widespread use. Some of the smart artificial limbs are already powered – they’re a bit like an exoskeleton.

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