In the video below, she stands and walks for the first time in 18 years using eLegs, a 45-pound wearable robotic exoskeleton aimed at getting paraplegics out of their wheelchairs and onto their feet. It’s an amazing sight.
“To take my first step in the eLegs was just astounding,” Boxtel says with tears in her eyes, “because I bent my knee for the first time in 18 years and I placed my heel on the ground. And then I transferred my weight. And then I took another step. And another one. And it was so natural, and that was what really gripped me.”
The battery-powered, rechargeable system includes a backpack-mounted controller, robotic legs with motorized hips and knee joints, and crutches that employ a gesture-based human-machine interface and sensors to observe the wearer’s gestures and respond accordingly. Velcro straps, backpack-style clips, and shoulder straps secure eLegs to users over their clothing and everyday shoes.
Users of the eLegs must have adequate body strength and functionality to transfer themselves from their wheelchair into the device. Also, they have to be between 5-feet, 2-inches tall and 6-feet, 4-inches tall and weigh less than 220 pounds to fit into the device.
Berkeley Bionics says its current eLegs system stays charged for more than six hours, and allows users to walk in a straight line at speeds in excess of 2 mph, stand from a sitting position, stand for an extended period of time, and sit down from a standing position. Within a year, the company hopes wearers will also be able to make tight and wide turns. Berkeley Bionics CEO Eythor Bender says the company is hoping to make the eLegs system available for around $50,000–about half the cost of current high-end wheelchairs.
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