????與此同時,，本田公司(Honda)生產(chǎn)的Walk Assist正在芝加哥康復(fù)研究院（Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago）接受測試,。（本田公司尚未批露這款設(shè)備的零售價。）這款設(shè)備是為那些還沒有完全失去自主行走能力,，但因為某些原因需要輔助的人設(shè)計的——比如老年人,。

????盡管幾家公司都擁有不錯的發(fā)展前景,，但格里辛認(rèn)為，由于醫(yī)療行業(yè)歷來是政府重點監(jiān)管的對象,，可穿戴機(jī)械設(shè)備的重大突破應(yīng)該不會首先發(fā)生在這個領(lǐng)域,。他表示：“創(chuàng)新一般發(fā)生在你可以快速行動的領(lǐng)域。我認(rèn)為這個市場的‘大創(chuàng)新’不會發(fā)生在醫(yī)療行業(yè),?！?/p>

????工業(yè)

????有些公司已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)，可穿戴機(jī)械設(shè)備可以用來給從事繁重勞動的工人減負(fù),。比如有些工人整天需要不停地蹲下再站起,，或者要每天要扛很重的東西走來走去。本田就是這樣一家公司,。早在2008年,，本田就推出了一款試驗性設(shè)備。本田北美分公司助理副總裁杰弗里?史密斯表示：“當(dāng)前最大的挑戰(zhàn)是讓這款設(shè)備能夠適用于各種體型,。它不光是為上年紀(jì)的人設(shè)計的,，而是為所有人設(shè)計的?！?/p>

????史密斯表示,，材料和電池工藝的進(jìn)步，對本田開發(fā)這款設(shè)備起了很重要的作用——不僅因為它延長了電池壽命,，同時也保障了它能提供持續(xù)一致的功率水平和性能表現(xiàn),。

????此外，這款試驗性設(shè)備更加符合“可穿戴機(jī)械設(shè)備”的稱號,，因為它為用戶提供了額外的肢體,，而不是像外骨骼系統(tǒng)那樣只是強(qiáng)化現(xiàn)有肢體的力量。為了應(yīng)對熟手工人老齡化的問題,，航空業(yè)巨頭波音公司(Boeing)委托麻省理工學(xué)院（MIT）機(jī)械工程師,，博士研究生弗雷德里科?帕里亞蒂從事這項研究。

????帕里亞蒂和MIT達(dá)貝洛夫?qū)嶒炇业钠渌芯咳藛T發(fā)現(xiàn),，波音工廠的許多工作都需要兩人合作完成,，其中一名工人進(jìn)行技術(shù)工作，另外一個熟手工人幾乎只是在打下手,，比如扶著某個零件,。因此，該團(tuán)隊構(gòu)建了一個能充當(dāng)“第三只手”的機(jī)器人,，它可以從事一些技術(shù)性不高的任務(wù),，讓另一名熟練工人去做更高級的工作。這個團(tuán)隊面臨的最大挑戰(zhàn)就是軟件：由于工廠車間噪音太大了,，導(dǎo)致機(jī)器人無法接收語音指令,，因此它必須學(xué)會如何接受熟練工人的指令,。

????帕里亞蒂表示：“我們有很多用來記錄人體動作的傳感器。那么如何從這些數(shù)據(jù)中判斷這個人的意圖,？”目前這套MIT與波音合作的系統(tǒng)仍在研發(fā)中,，可能兩年后就可投入應(yīng)用。

????意大利比圣安娜高等學(xué)校的感知機(jī)器人實驗室（Percro）推出的Body Extender,，是工業(yè)應(yīng)用輔助設(shè)備中最復(fù)雜的設(shè)備之一,。這套外骨骼系統(tǒng)看起來有點像漫畫書里的未來機(jī)甲【讓人不由得想起《機(jī)動戰(zhàn)士高達(dá)》(Mobile Suit Gundam Wing)）。該公司稱,，它可以極大地提高一個人的力量,，最高可以提高至10倍，很適合用來搬運一個人抬不動的材料（比如飛機(jī)的機(jī)身壁板）,。

????Another device, Honda’s Walk Assist, is currently under trial at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. (The Japanese company has yet to disclose an expected retail price.) The device is built for fully ambulatory people who may need assistance for one reason or another, such as the elderly.

????Despite the promising start, Grishin believes the regulated nature of the medical market makes it unlikely that breakthroughs will happen there. “Innovation happens when you can move very quickly,” he says. “I think the big innovation in this market will not come from medical.”

????Industrial

????A number of companies see opportunity in using robotics to ease strain on factory workers who, for example, need to squat repeatedly throughout the day or bear weight while walking. Honda is one of them, and introduced an experimental device for the purpose in 2008. “At the moment, the biggest engineering challenge is in ensuring that the device will work the same way for every body type that may need to use it,” says Jeffrey Smith, an assistant vice president at Honda of North America. “This is not just a device made for the elderly, but it was designed with all of society in mind.”

????Smith said that advances in materials and battery technology have been important in the development of Honda’s device—not just for extending its battery life but in providing consistent power levels and performance.

????Another, experimental device is more of a wearable robot than an exoskeleton in that it gives its user additional limbs rather than increasing his or her strength. FredericoParietti, a mechanical engineer and doctoral candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is working on research commissioned by the aerospace company Boeing, which faces the problem of its highly-skilled factory workforce aging.

????Parietti and other researchers at MIT’s d’Arbeloff Laboratory observed that many Boeing factory jobs were two-person jobs where one worker performed skilled work while another well-trained worker merely assisted, such as holding an object in place. The team began building a robot that could work as a set of extra limbs and perform the less-skilled tasks in a two-person job, freeing up the other skilled worker to do higher-level work. The team’s biggest challenge is software: the robot can’t take voice commands because the factory floor is too noisy, and so must learn to take the lead from the skilled worker.

????“We have so many sensors that are recording human motion,” Parietti says. “So how do you extract from those data what is the human’s intention?” The MIT-Boeing system is still in development and may be ready for deployment in two years.

????Among the most complex assist devices for industrial use is the Body Extender, the work of the Perceptual Robotics Laboratory (better known as Percro) at the ScuolaSuperioreSant’Anna near Pisa, Italy. The exoskeleton, which resembles the futuristic machinery in comic books (Mobile Suit Gundam Wing comes to mind), is designed to greatly increase a person’s strength—up to 10 times, according to the company, which would benefit the handling of materials (e.g. aircraft fuselage panels) too heavy for a single human to carry or position.