To Build the Best Robotic Exoskeleton, Make It on the Cheap

In a small startup space just down the street from UC Berkeley's campus, robotics pioneer Homayoon Kazerooni is bragging about how no-frills his invention is. "We're trying to make the Honda," he says, "not the sportscar." Kazerooni is showing me his latest robotic exoskeleton that gives paraplegics and people with mobility problems the ability to stand up from their wheelchairs and walk again. He's been building such bionic systems for more than a decade, and back in 2005 he cofounded Ekso Bionics, the current market leader for exoskeletons. So it's no surprise that Kazerooni says the new device from his new company, SuitX, is the most advanced yet.