KAIST research team develops wearable robot ‘Walk-on Suit F1’
If you send a wireless signal with a wand,
The robot approaches and automatically puts it on.
Dressed alone in a wheelchair
Ability to climb stairs and pass through doors
17 years of robotics research Professor Gong Kyeong-cheol
“We will help people with walking difficulties”
news/cms/202410/24/news-g.v1.20241024.9f67f38ce3c64e3b9b1e9c4e32f30726_R.jpg" data-width="1377" data-height="2446" /> enlarge photo
A wearable robot in the shape of the lower body of a person walked up and stood in front of a person sitting in a wheelchair. When a person sits in a wheelchair and just pushes his or her feet in, the robot’s thighs and upper body automatically bend down and wrap around the wearer’s chest and waist. It is a combination of a robot and a human body. The wearer immediately kicked off the wheelchair and stood up tall. You can wear a wearable robot and do activities such as walking or climbing stairs without anyone’s help.
Wearable robots that seem to only appear in science fiction movies such as ‘Iron Man’ have appeared in reality. A domestic research team has developed a wearable robot that can walk directly to the wheelchair and put it on automatically without the need to get out of the wheelchair. This robot, which was created to help people with paralysis from the waist down walk, is expected to open a new way to guarantee the right of movement for people with disabilities.
The research team led by Professor Gong Gyeong-cheol of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) unveiled ‘Walk-on Suit F1’, a wearable robot for people with paraplegia from the waist down, on the 24th.
The Walk-on Suit series is a wearable robot for paraplegics that Professor Gong’s research team has been continuously researching since 2015. Through research and development (R&D), Walk-on Suit 1 was first announced in 2016, and Walk-on Suit 4 was developed in 2020. Walk-on Suit 4 can achieve walking speeds of up to 3.2 km per hour when worn. This is the same speed as normal people walk. It even has the ability to pass through obstacles such as narrow passages, doors, and stairs that can be encountered in everyday life.
However, there was a limitation: to wear the robot, you had to get help from someone. Professor Gong explained, “Once you wear the robot, you can walk alone, but we focused on the fact that you need someone’s help to wear the robot. We developed the walk-on suit F1 to solve this problem.”
When a wireless signal is sent from the wheelchair to the cane, the Walk-on Suit F1 automatically approaches. Unlike other wearable robots, it was applied to the front rather than the back. If you look at the wearing shot, it looks as if the robot walks by itself and is hugged by the user.
news/cms/202410/24/rcv.YNA.20241024.PYH2024102410300006300_R.jpg" data-width="2100" data-height="1198" /> Enlarge photo Professor Gong Gyeong-cheol of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is explaining wearable robot technology for people with paralysis from the waist down on the 24th. On this day, KAIST unveiled a new version of its wearable robot, ‘Walk-on Suit F1’, at Angel Robotics in Sinil-dong, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon. [사진=연합뉴스]
Professor Gong’s team held a walk-on suit F1 demonstration in Daejeon on this day. Researcher Kim Seung-hwan, a completely paralyzed person who demonstrated wearing the robot, seemed to maintain his balance even after pushing and hitting the robot several times with a cane. Professor Gong explained that this robot is intended for patients with ‘complete paralysis (ASIA-A) grade’, which is the most severe form of paraplegia.
It is also the most functional among the walk-on suit series. In the upright state, balance control performance has been improved so that not only can both hands be freely used, but also the ability to walk several steps without a cane. The secret is to apply vision for detecting obstacles and an AI board for applying artificial intelligence. Researcher Kim, who has been receiving rehabilitation treatment after becoming disabled due to an unexpected accident in 2018, said, “It is a great feeling to be able to stand without a cane and talk face to face with a non-disabled person.”
Another important achievement is that all key components such as motors, reducers, motor drivers, and main circuits were domestically produced. The research team explained that the output density of the motor and reducer module was approximately twice that of the existing research team’s technology, and the control performance of the motor driver was approximately three times improved compared to the best overseas technology.
Professor Gong has been researching robots for 17 years with the goal of ‘overcoming all walking disabilities in the world.’ He joined forces with Professor Na Dong-wook of Severance Rehabilitation Hospital and established Angel Robotics, a rehabilitation robot manufacturing company, in 2017 with investment from LG Electronics. The goal was to commercialize robots for people with walking disabilities. Currently, the company is distributing wearable robots for rehabilitation treatment and strength assistance nationwide.
Professor Gong, who serves as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Angel Robotics, said, “Anyone can develop walking problems overnight,” and added, “Ultimately, our goal is to develop an artificial intelligence wearable robot like Iron Man’s Jarvis.”
Meanwhile, Professor Gong plans to compete in the 3rd Cybathlon Competition scheduled to be held on the 27th using the walk-on suit F1 he developed and compete with foreign countries for technological prowess. This competition is a competition for bionic assistive devices for the disabled. Professor Kong’s research team won gold and bronze medals at the 2nd competition held in 2020. A total of 71 teams from 26 countries will participate in this competition, which will be held for the first time in four years, and 7 teams from the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Greece will compete in the wearable robot category. Researcher Park Jeong-soo of Professor Kong’s research team will participate as the captain, and researcher Kim Seung-hwan will participate as a player.
Researcher Park said, “Walk-on Suit F1 is the first wearable robot that can walk on its own and combine with the body without the help of others,” and added, “As it already took first place in the last competition, this competition will focus on creating a technological gap rather than competing for rankings.” “The goal is to show it,” he said.
