The California-based robotics company suitX, which specializes in medical and industrial exoskeletons, has invented a 27-pound wearable robot called The Phoenix, that could help everyone from disabled vets to kids learn how to ditch their wheelchairs and walk again on their own two feet.
Even still, the $40,000 robot frame can only cruise at 1.1 mph on level ground. Wearers still need to use crutches or a walker to balance. But costing two to four times less than competitors like ReWalk, it’s amongst the lightest exoskeletons in the world.
Wearable exoskeletons have become a popular area of innovation for roboticists in recent years. Research teams and companies are working on all kinds of applications, which range from assisting the disabled to helping workers avoid job-related injuries and soldiers operate better in the field. In the U.S. alone, there are an estimated 200,000 spinal cord injury patients and millions of wheelchair users.
