Toyota Releases Video of Wheelchair-Alternative Mobility Concepts in Action

14 points·Mobius01··5 comments

This is something I’ve been hoping to see more now that robotics is advancing at a decent clip.

Edit - no idea why Octal omitted the URL:

https://www.core77.com/posts/145699/Toyota-Releases-Video-of-Wheelchair-Alternative-Mobility-Concepts-in-Action#

Honestly, they seem kind of lame. A chair with legs. A chair with 2 wheels. A rugged wheelchair. Great. Most people would just want their legs to work, or failing that, to be able to walk with assistance, not sit in a chair. Give them a powered exoskeleton, not a fancier wheelchair.

It has to go in that direction eventually anyways. The environment is built for bipeds.

A powered exoskeleton has a lot of additional danger factors that a wheelchair doesn’t. Especially when you can’t feel what legs they may have left. And if you don’t have legs at all, or you can’t move them on your own, then an exoskeleton doesn’t help.

Then there are all the concerns about how to properly suspend the user in the exoskeleton, and what happens when they fall over?

Yes, that is an additional tool that should one day be in the toolbox, for the people who can safely use it.

But for today, better wheelchairs are a better answer than waiting however many decades it may take for suitable powered exoskeletons to be invented for them that can be properly controlled and are safe to use for people who would otherwise need wheelchairs.

And at that point, why not just grow their own legs back, so that they don’t need the exoskeleton at all?

FYI, you forgot the link

Incredible

Reply on news.ycombinator.com