![]() In the long term, we want to monitor the number of steps the user takes according to the surface where he walks. We will soon have the app ready for users to have it on their smartphones. The smartwatch serves mainly to monitor in real-time what the robot is doing. This allows us to calculate how many steps the user took in one day, weekly or monthly. How does this benefit users?Ī: We developed an application for a Samsung smartwatch. Q: Roki ’s exoskeletons can connect to an app or a smartwatch. ![]() There is still a great deal we want to achieve but our focus is always on creating products that can change people's lives. This project is intended to be part of a future public center where people can go for rehabilitation without having to spend money. It is lighter, easier to make and cheaper. ![]() The latter uses fewer pieces than the others and, therefore, cannot be adjusted. This project is still in development and we continue to improve it. Roki Clinics, on the other hand, is an exoskeleton that adjusts in just five minutes to the height of any person. It can be carried on a cart and can manage slopes. It is a more practical option since it is all-terrain and allows the patient to change positions, which helps strengthen bones, digestion and joints. Moved by this, Roki Wheels was born: an exoskeleton that allows people with spinal cord injuries to get up and move around on wheels. Also, although our product is the cheapest in the global market, many people cannot afford it. Some of them told us that it took them an hour to walk around a block because they had to walk slowly and mind every step because of the bad conditions of the pavements. What are the core differences between these products?Ī: We have designed the different products in our portfolio by listening carefully to feedback from people who have used the exoskeleton. Q: The company now has three divisions: wheels, pro and clinics. In 2016, another patient, Jesus Avi ñ a, got up and took his first steps thanks to our technology. We entered into an agreement with Universidad Panamericana in Guadalajara and that is how the first Roki was developed. In 2015, we finally got an investment from CONACYT to build a pilot plant and develop prototypes. Two years later, in 2013, we developed a fully electric exoskeleton weighing only 25kg and we were able to help a person with paralysis to stand up. It was a long road because there were limited resources we had to have two other jobs and also work on this project. We discussed again whether or not it was feasible to continue the project and decided that it was. Then we entered a project competition to see if we could win but we failed to even reach third place. We had a hard time making it but no one who was disabled could use it. We obtained funding from the Jalisco state government and created a 56kg robot that was obviously not practical for people. Over the course of two years, we delivered our first hydraulic prototype. Our goal was to launch a product that was accessible to people, a product that would help them in their daily lives. It was then that we made the decision to commit ourselves completely to the company and its cause and it stopped being a hobby. Soon after, we started meeting people and friends in wheelchairs. That said, we decided that our robots would be more accessible and upgraded. At that time, our competition was also very expensive, up to US$120,000 per robot. Finally, we decided that we could innovate even if we offered the same product. After that, it took us a week to decide whether to continue the project as there was already a similar product in the market. ![]() A couple of months after we started, an exoskeleton very much like the one we had in mind was released in the US. In 2010, we started the exoskeleton initiative with the intention of donating it. When I was a student, I made humanoid robots that played football but the idea was to use this technology for the benefit of people one day. Q: What led to the development of Roki Robotics ’ two main exoskeletons?Ī: It all started as a hobby.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |