Hi HN community! We're Rahul and Manmeet, co-founders of Trexo Robotics (<a href="https://trexorobotics.com" rel="nofollow">https://trexorobotics.com</a>)
At Trexo Robotics, we're building wearable robotic devices to help children with disabilities learn to walk, in many cases for the first time in their lives.
Video: <a href="https://youtu.be/3LW4LJIpa2o" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/3LW4LJIpa2o</a><p>We are both Mechatronics undergrads from the University of Waterloo. Rahul later completed a Master's in Robotics at the University of Toronto and I've done my MBA at Rotman.<p>We started this a few years ago when I (Manmeet) found out that my nephew, Praneit, has Cerebral Palsy, and that he would not be able to walk. Not walking can lead to contractures, hip subluxation, and many physiological and psychological issues for kids. We wanted to change that. We decided to use our robotics background, along with help from friends and the top rehabilitation researchers in North America, and in 2016, watched my nephew take his first steps using our device. Watching Praneit walk is definitely the proudest moment of my life, and we realized that there are families all over the world that can benefit from this, so we started Trexo Robotics.<p>The Trexo device is available for $899 per month (via financing) or can be purchased outright for $29,900.
It is an exercise and therapy tool, allowing children to get the benefits of daily walking at their homes. We decided to design it so that it attaches onto an existing walker. Currently, it only works with Rifton's Dynamic Pacer, but hopefully, we can add other walkers later on as well. Our controller allows you to modify the gait pattern to adapt to the needs of different kids and adjust the amount of force/assistance that the robot provides on each joint.
We are already launched, with kids using it to walk thousands of steps daily. It has been amazing to see the interest of families.
Our device is available for pre-order. Our 2019 production is already fully reserved, and we are now taking reservations for next year.<p>Really interested to hear the HN community's thoughts on our approach, and experiences families or others have had in this space.
Fantastic product! Really great that you have been able to help people become empowered for themselves.<p>Scale: Do you need help reducing the BOM costs? You could go for economies of scale (and reuse 75% of the same BOM) and build a variant for adult rehabilitation for injured soldiers, car accident victims or others with leg injuries.<p>Or how about a variant that allows for anyone to use to strengthen imbalances in muscle training/development? It could be gym equipment that you get on, it takes measurements of your leg strength by putting you through its paces, then it gives you a customized workout to balance your muscles for optimum strength. These exercises for imbalance measurement aren't an exact fit to the machine but can give you an idea: <a href="https://dailyburn.com/life/fitness/muscle-imbalances-functional-movement-screen/" rel="nofollow">https://dailyburn.com/life/fitness/muscle-imbalances-functio...</a>
Congratulations, this looks fantastic! I'm afraid I don't have anything useful to contribute from medical standpoint, but I have a couple of technical questions if you don't mind.<p>What kind of actuators are you using (motors/transmission/motor controller)? Are they off-the-shelf parts or developed in-house? What is approximate power/torque?<p>How did you approach the motion control aspect from the user-safety standpoint? I don't know if the device is powerful enough to cause injury, but if it is - how do you go about development/QA to minimize chance of harm?<p>Thanks!
This looks pretty amazing, and it's exciting to see this technology applied to an area that is likely overlooked but extremely important.<p>I noticed that the full purchase option only comes with a 2 year warranty. That seems a bit short, no? Given that this costs as much as a car, I'd expect a warranty similar to what you'd find on a Honda, for example.<p>I'm not your target audience, so take that with a few grains of salt.
I just want to congratulate you on launching a product that I hope will have an incredibly positive impact for numerous families. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor!
That's a great video. Are the users expected to regain some of the walking ability in the future by using these machines ?<p>Btw, what kind of motors go into these ? they look funky :)
wow do i wish i could afford this... I adopted a child from a bulgarian orphanage 2 years ago who has CP and this seems like it would be a game changer for her.<p>Great work !