Text | Kevin She
Source | Intelligent Relativity (aixdlun)
In "Avengers 4", Iron Man, Tony Starr, who has been with us for many years Ke still left us in reluctance (not a spoiler). The image of Iron Man once saved Marvel from collapse. He is also the leader who opened the door to the science fiction world for many people.
How many people, especially boys, after watching Iron Man, fantasize about when they can own such a set of mechas. Today, this dream is getting closer and closer to us.
Exoskeleton equipment has been implemented in many fields
Iron Man’s armor is actually a set of exoskeleton wearable equipment, which can also be called wearable robots. This type of equipment is very important to technology. The requirements are very high and require the integration of artificial intelligence, sensing, mobile control, information, energy, drive systems, etc.
Exoskeleton robots can provide power for wearers and have a wide range of applications. Many relatively mature products have appeared at home and abroad.
In actual implementation, exoskeleton equipment is mainly distributed in two directions, one is the augmentation type and the other is the auxiliary type. The former is mainly used in the military and industrial fields, while the latter is more common in the medical field.
The concept of exoskeleton robots first came from the military field. Around 2000, the U.S. military came up with the idea of ??cultivating super soldiers, and "exoskeleton robots" were proposed at this time.
The U.S. military hopes to use this type of exoskeleton wearable device to improve the individual capabilities of soldiers, which will be amplified by external machinery to improve their speed, jumping, strength, etc.
Currently, the more famous military exoskeleton robots include Raytheon’s XOS and Lockheed Martin’s human exoskeleton load-bearing system.
In recent years, domestic attention has been paid more and more to military exoskeleton robots. For example, units such as China Ordnance Group, China Aerospace Industry Corporation, and the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are conducting research on this technology. R&D.
Like in the movie "The Wandering Earth", exoskeleton equipment has also appeared many times, such as the Gatling model arm, and the amplifying gloves used in the final concerted effort to push the "Thimble". It is an exoskeleton device.
Outside of the military field, exoskeleton equipment is currently most widely used in the field of medical rehabilitation. In this field, exoskeleton equipment is mainly used on disabled people and the elderly. After having an exoskeleton robot, it can help restore the ability to walk, or directly give the ability to stand and walk again.
The American company EksoEkso Bionics is relatively well-known in this regard. As early as 2012, its equipment has begun to be provided to hospitals and rehabilitation centers.
Domestically, a large wave of companies have also entered the market in recent years, including Fourier Intelligence, Scream Technology, Daai, Step, Chengtian Technology, etc.
Compared with large foreign companies, these companies started later, but they have already obtained market financing, indicating that the market is very aware of the prospects of exoskeleton robots.
Daai’s exoskeleton robot became China’s first lower limb exoskeleton robot to pass CFDA certification in June 2018.
Especially in the domestic market, according to data released by the State Post Bureau, my country's express delivery business volume reached 50.71 billion pieces in 2018, and exoskeleton equipment has become very necessary for relevant practitioners.
JD.com equipped its employees with exoskeleton robots in 2017. Although JD.com has already begun to deploy unmanned warehousing systems, it still requires humans to assist the machines. Employees bend down thousands of times every day to sort express packages, and if this continues, their bodies will not be able to bear it.
JD.com’s exoskeleton robots use pressure sensors, gyroscopes, wireless transmission and other technologies and instruments, and rely on dynamic principles to help workers reduce their weight, reduce physical injuries, and greatly improve efficiency. With the help of the power system of the exoskeleton equipment, even female employees can easily carry 15KG of goods.
In addition to the above fields, exoskeleton robots are also widely used in disaster relief, emergency rescue and other scenarios.
The difference between you and "Iron Man" is only 450,000 dollars
If the above equipment seems to be still far behind "Iron Man", then you should know about the next set. satisfy.
Gravity Industries, a British company, has developed a "flying armor" Jet Suit. Wearing it, you can feel the fun of flying like Iron Man.
This set of equipment comes with 6 mini flight engines, each weighing 22 kilograms. Four are mounted on the arms and two on the calves or back. They are started using lithium batteries and then burn fuel. The method continuously provides power, and the wearer controls flight by changing the direction of the body.
In terms of flight altitude and speed, Jet Suit must exceed your expectations. Its maximum flight altitude can reach nearly 4,000 meters, and its top speed is nearly 89 kilometers per hour.
In 2017, Jet Suit also set the Guinness World Record for the fastest body-controlled jet engine-powered suit, and was also selected for Time magazine's 2018 "Best Inventions of the Year" list. .
The main purpose of the research and development of this equipment is to allow humans to rethink the mode of future flight. However, at present, the technology is far from meeting actual needs. After startup, it will consume 4 liters per minute. fuel, flight time lasts up to 9 minutes.
The good news is that Jet Suit is already on sale at the Selfridge department store in the UK. It is priced at 450,000 knives (approximately more than 3 million yuan) and is limited to 9 sets worldwide.
Currently, Gravity Industries is planning to launch a world-class gravity competition series. Each company will compete with its own flying equipment. It is already discussing the specific operation of the event with possible host cities, media units and sponsors. , possibly as soon as the end of this year.
Speaking of which, this set of equipment actually does not have many practical functions and can only be used for entertainment. Although it is limited to 9 sets worldwide, I think it has not been sold out yet. Friends who have a lot of money and willful ways, you might as well You can consider buying one. After all, 3 million is only enough to buy a toilet in the city center of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, but with it you may be the next "Iron Man".
There are still difficulties in the commercialization of exoskeleton robots in China
Although exoskeleton robots have embarked on the commercialization process due to their powerful functionality and huge market demand, The result was not as good as imagined. Take medical rehabilitation exoskeleton equipment as an example. If the three aspects of the problem are not solved, the market will not be able to reach the desired height.
First of all, the price issue is the biggest stumbling block to the large-scale popularization of exoskeleton robots. Affected by hardware technology, most domestic exoskeleton robot companies are currently unable to achieve large-scale mass production, which has led to high product prices.
Generally speaking, the price of an ordinary domestic medical exoskeleton robot is about 200,000-500,000, although compared with the imported products from the United States and Japan, the price is often 1 million, or even 2 million per set. It’s a lot, but it’s still not a price acceptable to ordinary people.
In 2016, Scream Technology CTO Li Muran said, "We hope to reach the price of a large appliance within three years." Now three years have passed, but the product price has basically remained unchanged.
If the price remains unchanged, including the equipment in the scope of medical insurance may solve the problem of users "cannot afford it", but obviously this will not be realized in a short time, so the product price cannot be lowered. Its commercialization process is destined to be difficult.
Secondly, technical issues will naturally become obstacles. Although the current application of exoskeleton robots in the field of medical rehabilitation is relatively mature, due to the late start of the domestic industry, the technology was once monopolized by the United States, Japan and other countries, and it also relied heavily on foreign countries for upstream core components.
Another major technical problem is reflected in battery life. Currently, exoskeleton robots are still powered by batteries, and the battery life is far from meeting the 24-hour usage requirement. The user's range of activities is limited by the capacity of the battery. and great efficiency limitations. How to increase energy capacity or change existing charging methods to expand user activity range and efficiency has become a key issue.
Finally, as a personal device, the exoskeleton robot is regarded as an extension of the human body, so its comfort is also very important. Although the research on wearable exoskeleton devices has been relatively mature, not enough attention has been paid to civilian comfort.
For exoskeleton robots, their investment in ergonomics, a field closely related to users, is slightly insufficient.
At present, most medical rehabilitation exoskeleton equipment is worn in bundles, and this wearing method can bring a sense of oppression to people and is very uncomfortable. In terms of thermal and moisture comfort and tactile comfort, its standards also need to be improved.
Therefore, if these three decisive issues cannot be solved, the commercial development of exoskeleton robots will be difficult to get on track. Only when these practical problems are solved can exoskeleton robots achieve rapid and lasting development in the broad market.