Improving Life with Exoskeleton Technologies | Breakthrough
Exoskeleton Technologies is a program where we're working on developing exoskeletons for different applications. National Geographic contacted us about participating in their breakthrough series on a show called "More Than Human." They asked us to bring Fortis exoskeleton and demonstrate some of the applications.
Foris was designed to help the user take heavy weight off their body where they experience muscle fatigue from holding up heavy tools. There are tools that I can barely hold up, and if I wear Fortis, I'm able to hold that tool up for as long as I need to hold it up. The tool is basically floating in the air; you are not holding the weight, you're just maneuvering it.
We were working on several different applications to help the military carry heavy loads long distances. We also determined there was an application for industrial workers in shipyards who hold up heavy tools for long periods of time. Foris is an unpowered exoskeleton; it is meant to feel like just an extension of your body. It's supposed to be very natural and easy to use.
Where your joints are, there's a joint on the exoskeleton. Those joints are designed to move in the same manner that your joint moves. There are also features in it that prevent you from injuring yourself. You can't overextend your knee, so Foris does not allow you to do that; therefore, the suit can't get caught and then pull your leg with it.
One of the requirements of Foris was to make it very easily adjustable for different ranges of body types and sizes. So we have made the legs just very easy to adjust on or off. We've also made it very easy to get in and out of. That way, if there is a situation for an industrial worker that they needed to take Fortis off very quickly, they can easily get out of the suit.
It feels very natural to put it on and walk with it. As we've been developing Forest, we've been getting a lot of calls from different people with ideas for different applications. So we're finding all sorts of ideas that we never even thought of, and that's how we got here today to demonstrate Foris in the first responder application.
We believe exoskeleton Technologies can be adapted for many different applications. Foris isn't meant to replace workers; it's meant to help workers. It's meant to improve their quality of life by reducing that fatigue that they feel at the end of the day. They no longer have to go home and just crash on the couch; they can now go to their kids' sports game or do whatever they want to do after work because they're not so tired from having held that heavy tool up all day long.