Oct 6 2014
Ekso Bionics Holdings, Inc., a robotic exoskeleton company, announced today that it was selected by Boston Dynamics, now part of Google, to continue developing technologies for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA's) Warrior Web Task A project. Ekso received a subcontract from Google for the project, in which Ekso Bionics will retain rights to its proprietary intellectual property.
This extends the collaboration previously created from the selection of Ekso Bionics by Boston Dynamics in support of this important program in 2013 and brings the total amount of the grants awarded in the last twelve months to Ekso Labs™, the engineering services division of Ekso Bionics, to $4.5 million of non-dilutive funding.
"We are proud of this contract, as it represents continued validation of our pioneering technology and know-how in augmenting human strength and endurance with robotic exoskeletons", said Nathan Harding, Co-Founder and CEO of Ekso Bionics. "It is rewarding to see how our unique technology can be adapted to fit seamlessly within a broader matrix of complex technologies and to maximize performance under demanding circumstances, similar to what a ground soldier might face."
Testing for the Warrior Web Task A project culminated last week with six soldiers marching through 84 miles of obstacle filled terrain, carrying large loads, weapon and helmet. There were no incidences of failure reported. This lightweight, wearable, low power, assistive technology will help advance the capabilities of current and future Ekso Bionics product offerings in medical, industrial, consumer and military markets.
The Warrior Web program is aimed at developing technologies to prevent or reduce musculoskeletal injuries caused by taxing physical activity, which is typical with an active warfighter. The program's goal is to develop a lightweight, conformal under-suit that is transparent to the user (like a diver's wetsuit). It further seeks to develop a mix of core technologies critical to the realization of a Warrior Web capability. This effort examines five key Technology Areas: core injury mitigation technologies, comprehensive analytical representations, regenerative actuation, adaptive sensing and control, and suit human-to-wearer interface.
Source: http://www.eksobionics.com/