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A research team has designed a new portable exosuit that could soon help people walk and run. You know what, it's just nice to report a new exoskeleton that doesn't have a tail.\\xa0

You wear the hip exosuit on your waist and thighs with the actuation system attached to your lower back. The system uses an algorithm to predict when you're going to switch from running to walking, or vice versa, by analyzing how your center of mass is moving. That way, it doesn\\u2019t give you too much of a boost when your walking.\\xa0

According to the researchers, the new suit is lightweight and uses a cable actuation system that applies force from the waist belt, and thigh wraps to generate torque that works in concert with the gluteal muscles.

The device weighs a little more than 11 pounds, but most of the weight which is around your trunk.

In initial tests, the exosuit reduced metabolic rates in walkers by 9.3 percent and in runners by 4 percent. In subsequent experiments, it helped users more efficiently walk uphill walking, run at various speeds, and traverse multiple terrains.\\xa0

The hip exosuit was actually developed as part of DARPA\\u2019s former Warrior Web program and is the result of years of soft exosuit R&D. The team previously developed a multi-joint exosuit that was licensed by ReWalk Robotics. In April 2018, the previous suit was used by a paralyzed man to complete a marathon.\\xa0

The team includes researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), the University of Nebraska Omaha, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Their work was recently published in Science Robotics.\\xa0

Next, the team will try to make an even smaller, lighter, and quieter version of the robotic shorts.

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