International workshop on ‘Emerging Technologies & Challenges for Exoskeleton’

The first international workshop on ‘Emerging Technologies & Challenges for Exoskeleton’ was being held in Bengaluru on16-17April, 2024. The workshop was organised by the Defence Bio-Engineering & Electromedical Laboratory of Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), was inaugurated by Secretary, Department of Defence R&D & Chairman DRDO Dr Samir V Kamat, in the presence of Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) Lt Gen JP Mathew.

In his keynote address, the DRDO Chairman emphasised the importance of the transformational exoskeleton technology and its immense applications in military & civilian environments. He urged the diverse stakeholders including the R&D community, the Armed Forces, industry, and academia to work together to address the challenges and chalk out the roadmap for the future of Exoskeletons.

Speaking on the occasion, the CISC traced back the history of exoskeleton research, its earlier prototypes, and challenges. His address traversed through the challenges which are being currently addressed by the R&D Community. He underscored the significance of exoskeleton technologies in rehabilitation, occupational therapy, and augmentation. He also brought out that the exoskeleton technology being a dual use technology has tremendous commercial potential.

Informative in-depth technical talks were delivered by Prof Robert Reiner of ETH, Zurich and Prof Arun Jayaraman of Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois. Director General (Life Sciences) Dr UK Singh spoke about the imminent challenges and requirements from the Armed Forces. He urged the community of researchers to collectively address the challenges in their endeavour for future exoskeleton technologies to meet the requirements of all stakeholders.

The two-day workshop is being attended by more than 300 participants from DRDO, Services, Industry, Academia, and Researchers. Exoskeleton technology involves wearable structures which enhance the capabilities of the human body.