
An 'Exosuit' That Boosts Endurance on the Trail - melling
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/08/15/751096093/these-experimental-shorts-are-an-exosuit-that-boosts-endurance-on-the-trail
======
lhl
For those looking to learn more the full study is linked from the NPR report:
[https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6454/668](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6454/668)

"We show that a portable exosuit that assists hip extension can reduce the
metabolic rate of treadmill walking at 1.5 meters per second by 9.3% and that
of running at 2.5 meters per second by 4.0% compared with locomotion without
the exosuit. These reduction magnitudes are comparable to the effects of
taking off 7.4 and 5.7 kilograms during walking and running, respectively, and
are in a range that has shown meaningful athletic performance changes."

Note that "The entire exosuit weighs 5.0 kg, with 91% of the total system mass
carried at the waist," so it might be a few more revisions until this is very
practical, but it's still super interesting work!

~~~
RogerL
Are you subtracting 5KG from 7.4? I don't think you should. The tests take the
weight into account, given the test subjects are wearing the device. IOW, if
the device was weightless we would expect energy decrease corresponding to a
12.4kg weight reduction.

~~~
lhl
I actually skimmed through the paper but wasn't able to determine if it did
take the weight of the exo into account. Do you have a reference for how it
specifies that?

Also, I saw the BOM in the supplementary material (using 2 x 500g 3700mAh 6S
LiPos; 160Wh total), but did not see data on what the range/battery life
actually was in the system. That seems like that should be in there somewhere,
but doesn't look like it's mentioned anywhere in the paper.

------
asteli
It disappoints, but doesn't surprise me yo see the immediate links to military
use in this article and elsewhere.

I was recently on a trip with my nearly 100 y/o grandmother, who up until this
point has resisted using a wheelchair. Walking, and especially stairs ended up
being too much and we had to borrow wheelchairs, catch shuttles to get around.
If she had even a modest mechanical assist she could have traveled with
probably just a cane.

~~~
Ensorceled
I have a friend with MS who struggling and will soon end up in a wheelchair,
priority order from the article:

1\. Military 2\. "weekend warriors" 3\. Help people with medical issues such
as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease to move more easily

~~~
thaeli
Formally targeting people with medical issues makes your device a "medical
device" and adds extensive certification delays. If you make something that's
"totally just for weekend warriors" but it's useful for people with medical
issues, they.. can still use it, but since it's not being marketed as a
"medical device" the onerous FDA approval process isn't invoked.

~~~
VLM
For practical examples to examine scalability of prices, consider cooling
vests, a vest you wear that circulates cooler water to keep you comfy.

Weekend warrior products run around $200. I am toying with the idea of buying
this or making my own to take hikes in hot weather. Strictly hobby/fun use.

"CoolShirt(tm)" products for operating room surgeons to wear under lead vests
or whatever are probably more reliable, easier to autoclave, likely more
durable, but cost $1500. I don't know why surgeon's need lead vests. Alien
autopsies I guess.

I can't find the price for cooling machines for surgical patients but I
imagine the liability insurance would triple the cost of the surgeon's
clothing, maybe $4500 for a medical product? OF course most of the time
patients would have an ice towel thrown on them not a wearable vest, but
whatever.

~~~
frostburg
Lead vests are worn to reduce radiation doses from radiological exams
performed during surgery (to guide the procedure / monitor something etc.).

------
elif
Long distance hiker here. This is not useful on the trail on two fundamental
levels:

-energy is seldom the limiting factor in high mileage days. Typically it is a combination of joint pain and feet swell/bruising. A robot will simply remove some of your control over those primary factors.

\- the chemical storage of energy in batteries is nowhere close to human
efficiency, so you will never pay for the weight of this thing. Seriously, we
drill holes in our toothbrush handle to get total base equipment weight < 8
lbs. It is only at these weights that we come close to our limits. Maybe a day
hike on one battery would still have benefit, but one-shot day hikes have
nothing to do with endurance hiking.

~~~
peterwwillis
Well, soldiers carry over 10 times the weight you're carrying; the increased
weight might be a bigger problem than joint and foot pain (not to mention
fatigue from fighting, or being up for 2 days crossing enemy territory).

~~~
Emperorrore
Wow, some people-not-even-worth-of-insults have downvoted your perfectly fine
and informative comment. 8 lbs is not even the load of typical long-distance
hiker. It's only very small minority who have those minuscule loads, and their
rationale is most often than not just lifestyle choice. I have done hundreds
of continuous miles with about 60 lbs many times over the years and
experienced no joint problems (this is very personal thing). My feet tend to
suffer most in the long run even with good boots so I typically limit the
distance covered in a day to 20 miles.

In the army we made 40 miles with about 80 lbs load with basically no rest and
that was tough but doable (and not even tough compared to what some other
people must go through in the army). Heck, the basic assault rifle we were
issued weighted that 8 lbs. That is just ridiculous load for hiking.

I honestly thought that people drilling their toothbrush handles did not
actually exist. I have heard numerous times someone joking that "choosing low
weight equipment or no some equipment at all can be beneficial but once you
start drilling your toothbrush handles it's time to stop" implying that no-one
actually drills them. I have always hiked without toothbrush (I used to forget
it, nowadays I just don't bother, still having perfect tooth though).

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mdorazio
I was expecting a new evolution of the unpowered exosuits like [1] that have
similar performance enhancement without needing motors and batteries. This is
interesting, but the gains seem like they will be minimal for the weight
addition until battery tech improves significantly.

[1] [https://www.embs.org/scientists-develop-an-unpowered-
exoskel...](https://www.embs.org/scientists-develop-an-unpowered-exoskeleton/)

~~~
munificent
Idle thought: Is a bicycle an unpowered exoskeleton? What if you clip in to
it?

~~~
germinalphrase
Do you ride on it, or does it ride on you? Is an exoskeleton a vehicle?

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carapace
Does anyone remember those ...I don't know what to call them, they attached to
your legs, and had curved metal bands that you stood on, about a meter off the
ground, and the bands were springy. Wearing a pair of these things you could
run at some crazy speed, bounding down the street.

I can't think of any search terms that aren't too generic.

~~~
muraiki
Look for "running stilts"

~~~
rrdharan
_Jumping_ stilts - apparently also known as bocking/powerbocking:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_stilts](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_stilts)

------
h0h0h0h0111
Sort of OT, but I can never seem to get the text-only npr.org to work for
articles on HN, it just redirects me back to the text site homepage... Are
only a subset of articles available on it?

------
Asooka
Plain text version:
[https://text.npr.org/s.php?sId=751096093](https://text.npr.org/s.php?sId=751096093)

------
fouc
This is fascinating. It never occurred to me to mechanically boost running at
the hip/thighs level, I was always imagining the boost happening on the lower
part of the legs.

~~~
pietroglyph
Long-distance running is more hip and thigh intensive than anything else, so
it makes sense to me (an armchair expert).

------
JoeAltmaier
Break-even? It weighs 11lbs, and is the equivalent of reducing a runner's
weight by 12lbs. So all this gadgetry to effectively lose 1 pound?

~~~
anamexis
No, the 12lb figure takes its own weight into account.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Really? I didn't see that mentioned.

~~~
maxerickson
You can infer it easily enough, the weights are based on the reduction in
energy use. It doesn't say that the reduction in energy use is like shedding 1
pound while running, it says it's like shedding 12 pounds while running.

------
pontifier
The coolest part, in my opinion, is the exterior cabling. My mind is spinning
with alternative configurations to do lots of different things passively using
this technique.

------
cc439
Doesn't that defeat the entire point of fitness training?

~~~
mbrameld
I read an article recently talking about how e-bike users get the same amount
of exercise as normal bikers because they tend to ride farther and more
frequently. Same thing would likely happen with this.

~~~
minhaz23
link to article?

~~~
aghillo
I think it’s probably this link which has been in the news recently
[https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S259019821930017X](https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S259019821930017X)

~~~
martin_a
Please don't linke to elsevier after all they have "done" for the scientific
community.

~~~
aghillo
Feel free not to follow the links - but please don’t tell others what to do
and not do.

~~~
Ensorceled
Politely asking people to stop supporting industries that hurt society is one
of the ways we make society better; he asked, not told.

Ironically you are doing the exact same thing, politely asking them to stop
doing something you don't like.

~~~
civilian
Maybe it would've been more constructive to link to the sci-hub copy of the
paper, rather than complaining?

~~~
Ensorceled
Asking somebody to stop supporting terrible institutions isn't complaining.
Maybe you could help them find the link instead of complaining that they
didn't?

------
skybrian
I wonder where the power comes from? How long does it last?

~~~
shakna
The Supplementary Materials [0] contains an Excel file containing the Bill of
Materials.

The power source seems to be surprisingly small. 2x 3.7 Ahr 6s LiPo Batteries.

[0]
[https://science.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2019/08/14/365....](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2019/08/14/365.6454.668.DC1)

~~~
raihansaputra
3.7Ah * (6 * 3.7w) * 2 = 25,4W * 2 = 50,8W. That is a small amount. My
calculations was off by a magnitude. Spotlight calculator is acting weird.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
Does it have some sort of impact cushioning with regen? You might only need a
small store of its mostly being recharged by the regen.

(No I haven't read the OP.)

------
one2zero
How long until I can go full Elysium?

------
source99
I’m amazed/skeptical that science could add something to millions of years of
evolution and make it more efficient.

~~~
WhompingWindows
It already has: hip/knee replacements, surgeries to repair where human body
couldn't do so well, antibiotics to supplement the immune system, immune-
boosters to boost it, iodine added to salt, sunglasses, sunscreen... There are
literally hundreds of ways science is adding to our evolution by improving our
bodies' biochemistry.

~~~
Pulcinella
I’ve heard Titanium (like used n joint replacements) is actually weaker than
bones. It’s better than not having the surgery, but you are not Wolverine.

~~~
jjk166
You can't really compare bone and titanium in terms of strength. Bone is
strong in compression but weak in tension and extremely weak in shear.
Titanium is slightly weaker in compression but dramatically stronger in
tension and shear.

Bone works great until it fails catastrophically (ie it fractures, breaks, and
shatters) while titanium will begin bending long before it breaks. The latter
is generally preferred in engineering structures, but since a human can heal
its bones, the sudden failure is an acceptable compromise for consistent
performance even at high loads.

Finally, bone weakens as we age, as does the body's ability to heal itself.
Eventually wear and tear will make joints highly uncomfortable and the
potential damage from otherwise minor injuries significantly greater. Titanium
holds up well in the body over human timespans, and our ability to replace
titanium components far exceeds our ability to artificially regenerate bone.

There are good reasons why evolution favored a composite like bone for our
structural elements, but if you could magically replace your skeleton with one
made of titanium once you were past your prime, it would be an unambiguous
upgrade.

