Technology is performing miracles in all areas, making our lives much more comfortable and improved. While hardware manufacturers are constantly finding new ways of making us interact more efficiently with the virtual world, it’s now time for the stakes to be raised a little bit higher. The real world has to be improved as well, and that’s where the ankle exoskeleton also comes in.
A team of engineers from the Stanford University tested a motorized exoskeleton rig that connects around the ankle and foot. The outcome was astounding: the gadget makes a person run with 15 percent more ease.
How is it possible
Even though we’ve all seen cyborgs in SF movies and cartoons, those scenarios are now becoming a reality. The motors of the new ankle exoskeleton tugs a cable that runs through the back of the rig, and from the heel to the calf. Thus, the foot is pulled upward during the toe-off, and it extends the ankle at every step.
Delaney Miller, who is a team member, declared:
“Powered assistance took off a lot of the energy burden of the calf muscles. It was very springy and very bouncy compared to normal running. Speaking from experience, that feels really good. When the device is providing that assistance, you feel like you could run forever.”
The new invention even increases with 10% the running speed of the person that’s using it. The long-awaited moment when technology is improving our capabilities is here. It has been before, as well, but the exoskeleton is improving the situation even more.
Guan Rong Tan, who is another team member,said that this kind of technology would evolve tremendously in the future:
“You could get off a bus, slap on an exoskeleton, and cover the last one-to-two miles to work in five minutes without breaking a sweat.”
That’s impressive, and although for the moment it only sounds like a Science Fiction scenario, we can’t wait to see how things will keep unfolding in the future of technology.
