SBIR Phase I: Low Cost Robotic Orthotics for Industrial Lift Safety

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is significant. The industrial lift assist device being developed directly in this effort can be a tool that mitigates the 137 thousand annual lifting injuries seen in the US and the annual price tag of over $50 billion in direct and indirect costs. This device can be sold directly to corporations and result in an improved quality of life for those patients that avoid a long term lifting injury. Another area of impact of the technology presented in this proposal is that it is much larger than just the industrial application being evaluated at first. Orthotic devices are a brand new field that has demonstrated potential in many different markets including military applications, medical, education, and even consumer. In each of these cases, the costs of the current generation of devices are one of the leading limitations for their widespread integration. The fabric design concepts developed in this effort will create a foundation for revolutionizing these other markets as well as leading to the birth of an entire new industry that spans many aspects of the US economy. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project develops a novel architecture used to construct this low cost lift assist device. The low cost orthotic device proposed in this effort is constructed entirely out of fabric. This effort pioneers the use of selectively compliant fabric structures to replace the rigid components, typically made from steel or aluminum, of traditional exoskeleton design methodologies. This effort is founded in the realization that some high strength fabrics have strength to weight ratios up to 10x that of steel, while they can be manufactured for a fraction of the cost. This design approach also allows the part count to be significantly reduced further reducing the cost of these devices. We anticipate that these cost reductions can result in a viable lift assist device that can be sold for 10x less than that of conventional lift assist exoskeletons. There are currently no design tools for the design of fabric structures as the typical design infrastructure is limited to rigid components. As a result, this effort will seek to build on our existing internal design infrastructure and experience to tailor these fabric structures to the application of industrial lift safety.