It approaches on its own and ‘attaches’ to the body… Paraplegic patient stands up

KAIST team developed wearable robot ‘Walk-on Suit F1’

“Able to walk for paraplegics from the waist down”
Professor Gong Kyung-cheol “We will prove the super gap”

Seunghwan Kim was paralyzed from the waist down in an accident and cannot walk. Hope also came to him who was unable to stand up and hug his child. The wearable robot is the link that connects him and his child.

Researcher Seunghwan Kim, who is completely paralyzed from the waist down, is demonstrating walking wearing a wearable robot developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) while his young son (left) watches on the 24th. [이미지출처=연합뉴스]

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The robot that Seunghwan Kim wears on the 24th, Wearable robot ‘WalkON Suit F1’His child also watched him stand up wearing his clothes. The robot came by itself and fitted itself perfectly into the father’s body. Seunghwan didn’t even need to touch it. Then he got up without any help. Those watching cheered. The child who had to see his father in a wheelchair also saw his father stand up proudly. Dad walked briskly wearing the robot. Walking is not enough. Dad walked down the narrow hallway carrying the envelope, sat down on a chair, and stood up. This is training that Seunghwan prepared to participate in an international competition with the robot that turned him into an ordinary father. This competition is the ‘Cybathlon’ hosted by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. The goal is, of course, to win.

On the 24th, researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST, President Kwang-hyung Lee), Professor Gong Gyeong-cheol of the Department of Mechanical Engineering (Chairman of Angel Robotics), unveiled a new version of a wearable robot for paraplegics, ‘WalkON Suit F1’, on the 24th.

Researcher Seunghwan Kim, who is completely paralyzed from the waist down, is wearing a wearable robot developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) on the 24th. The new wearable robot, which does not require getting out of the wheelchair or can be worn immediately without assistance from others, is expected to prove a huge gap in wearable robot technology.[사진=아시아경제]

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This robot is a work of conversion developed by Professor Gong’s research team to open a new era in wearable robots for people with paralysis from the waist down. There is no need to get off the wheelchair and put it on immediately without any help from others.The new wearable robot that can do this is expected to prove a huge gap in wearable robot technology.

Professor Gong said, “The name F1 itself means to show overwhelming skills in competition rather than for everyday use.” Professor Kong’s team will participate in the 3rd Cybathlon held four years after winning the gold medal in the wearable robot category of the 2020 Cybathlon competition, a robot competition for the disabled hosted by the Federal University of Zurich. The goal is, of course, to win. Even in the demonstration on this day, Walk-on-Suit F1 confidently achieved the standards for the Cybathlon event.

This robot targets ASIA-A (complete paralysis) level, which is the most severe form of paraplegia. It has a different form and purpose from the walking rehabilitation robot Angelex M20, which was commercialized through Angel Robotics, founded by Professor Gong, and can be used under health insurance. While existing products were aimed at ensuring safe walking for patients with stroke, the Walk-On Suit F1 focused on enabling those who are unable to walk to stand up without the help of others.

In this robot development, the walking speed already achieved was not a subject of interest. The important thing was to develop a robot that could dress itself, rather than a robot that dresses it for someone else.

Dr. Jeongsoo Park of KAIST, who participated in the robot development, “Other robots focused on continuous walking, but we focused on taking the first step and being able to put on the clothes independently.”He said.

Walk-on-Suit F1 presented a technical solution to this essential problem. The front-facing method, rather than the rear-facing method, was applied so that the robot could be worn immediately without getting out of the wheelchair and without the help of others. Care was taken to ensure that wearers who sit for long periods of time would not feel any discomfort. It was carefully designed to avoid any anxiety that may arise when the robot is suddenly worn.

also Before wearing the robot, it walks on its own like a humanoid and approaches the wearer. By applying a function to actively control the center of gravity, a function has been implemented to maintain balance without falling even if the wearer pushes the robot incorrectly. The design of the walk-on suit F1, which crosses the line between a humanoid and a wearable robot, was designed by Professor Park Hyeon-jun of the Department of Industrial Design at KAIST.

In addition to being able to use both hands freely while upright, balance control performance has been improved so that you can walk several steps without a cane. [사진=아시아경제]

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The original functions of wearable robots have also been significantly improved.Done. In the upright position Balance control performance is improved so that you can use both hands freely and walk several steps without a cane.Done.

The KAIST research team laid the foundation for the robot design, and Angel Robotics added the details. The core parts of the robot, such as the motor, reducer, motor driver, and main circuit, are all domestically produced. The output density of the motor and reducer module is approximately twice that of the existing research team’s technology (based on power per weight), and the control performance of the motor driver is It has improved about three times (based on frequency response speed) compared to the best overseas technology.

In particular, motor driver embedded software technology has been greatly improved so that advanced motion control algorithms can be stably implemented without using an expensive upper-level controller. In addition, it is equipped with vision for obstacle detection and an AI board for applying artificial intelligence.

Professor Gong explained, “The walk-on suit is the culmination of wearable robot technology for the disabled,” adding, “Numerous component, control, and module technologies derived from the walk-on suit are presenting standards for the entire wearable robot industry.” At the same time, it was expected that there would be a large gap with overseas competing robots.

Professor Gong recently stepped down from his position as CEO of Angel Robotics and took on the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Professor Gong explained, “We were able to find like-minded, qualified people and entrust them with management, so we could focus only on technology development.”

Regarding the fact that Angel Robotics, a KAIST faculty start-up company, was recently reduced by one-third from its initial corporate value of KRW 1 trillion at the time of listing, Professor Gong said, “I will try to return to being a unicorn (market capitalization of over KRW 1 trillion) again.” He said, “I already have a lot of ideas in my head about the various futures of wearable robots.” He was confident that he would not stop at the current rehabilitation support wearable robot but would introduce various types of wearable robots such as Iron Man and Spider-Man suits. Professor Gong revealed that the Cybathlon organizers had offered him to serve as the venue for the next competition. This means that Professor Kong’s team’s skills are being recognized overseas.

The morale of the team members who participated in the study was also significant. KAIST researcher Park Jeong-soo, who will participate in the Cybathlon competition as a captain along with researcher Kim Seung-hwan, said, “As we took first place in the last competition, our goal in this competition is to show the technological super gap rather than competing for rankings.” He added, “We are thinking about starting a business in the future. “The professor also said he was actively supporting me.”

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