She may have needed crutches and been surrounded by catchers, but paraplegic Sjaan Quirijns walked. She was wearing robotic trousers, built by the student team MARCH III over
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Sjaan Quirijns is a sportswoman who had a crippling accident 17 years ago. Yesterday evening, she walked again. Wearing the MATCH III exoskeleton, she stepped right up to the fascinated audience. The only sound in the room was the robotic trousers’ joints and pistons, and photo shutters. When she turned towards the audience and said how wonderful it was to look people in the eye again, a spontaneous applause broke loose.
Video: Gijs Walstra TU Delft TV
Shortly after that, she leaned back, explaining that walking in the robotic suit was quite exhausting.
Members of the 22-strong student team explained the suit’s special features.
- The fixtures, that keep her legs tightly fixed in the suit while walking, can be taken off easily once seated. This allows the user to smoothly transit between the exoskeleton and the wheelchair.
- The step size is variable and can be adjusted by the user using one of the handles. Smaller steps are for approaching something or somebody, longer steps are for crossing a road in a hurry, Quirijns explained smiling.
- Another feature is the moveable ankle that allows the suit to adjust to slopes in the walking direction.
Chris Oomen, Director of the main sponsor DSW (healthcare insurance), said it would take some more years before exoskeletons appear on the streets, but that DSW will remain MARCH’s main sponsor during the development period. DSW identifies with the solidarity demonstrated by the students, said Oomen.
The team and Ms Quirijns will spend the next couple of months training for the Cybathlon event to be held in Dusseldorf at the end of September. The MARCH III team hopes to win the first prize at the event.
Wetenschapsredacteur
Jos Wassink
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