Question: how would exoskeletons help people in everyday life?

Neil Dhir answered on 20 Jun 2014:

That is an excellent question.

So lets start by thinking about what an exoskeleton (EX) is. When we talk about EXs what we really mean are powered exoskeletons. Many animals have what you would perceive as their skeleton on the outside – a cockroach for example. So we shall we talking about powered exoskeletons, or PEXs for short.

So, a PEX, also known as powered armor, exoframe, or exosuit, is a mobile machine consisting primarily of an outer framework (akin to an insect’s exoskeleton) worn by a person, and powered by a system of motors or hydraulics that delivers at least part of the energy for limb movement. Hence it is a machine that augments and compliments, human strength and, one day, dexterity.

Where would you then use these devices? Well, in logistics they would be very useful. Imagine that instead of having to use cumbersome loaders and trucks to put things into containers, and shelves, you could use one of these machines to do it for you. But the added advantage is that you have so much more control of what you are doing and how you are doing it. A fork lifter, e.g., is capable of doing a very small numbers of things. But with a PEX you can do everything that you body can do, but you will be much much stronger.

Another example is for example putting ordnance on fighter jets – a very tricky job which they currently have no good solution for, given the limited space available when placing things on the wings of fighter jets. The same would be true for maintenance of aeroplanes and large boats in dry-docks. There too you have very limited space, space where you typically would manage to get a fork lifter e.g., and in which you need to operate with great caution as to not damage the hull of either the aircraft or the boat.

So you can see, these are but some of the many applications of PEXs.