Walking manikins???
We have had some interesting and challenging requests over the years… but a manikin that walks?
Ok, so maybe not unaided, but we have been proud to work with French engineering and technology business Wandercraft over the past 18 months to develop a manikin specifically for their use as they designed and developed a gait training exoskeleton ‘Atlante X’ which would help people with a waking impairment to regain some of their mobility.
Wandercraft was founded in 2012 when classmates, Alexandre Boulanger and Matthieu Masselin, set out to use technology with one goal: to restore the ability to stand up and walk t people with reduced mobility.
After a neurological injury, it is recommended to start early, intense and specific rehab to maximise functional recovery – the work carried out by Wandercraft aims to provide people who have suffered such an injury with an opportunity to mobilise earlier, gaining more independence and ultimately, improve their recovery.
The creation of Atlante X had exciting developments – an innovative self-balancing function which allows for lower limb, trunk and upper limb reinforcement exercises in a safe, stable, upright position. A very exciting development in this kind of technology and application.
So where do we come in?
In 2019, we received a request from Wandercraft for some adaptions to our Duty manikin, to improve the performance of the manikin they had for testing the (then) current version of Atalante.
Typically, our manikins are used in a horizontal or seated position – our manikins are very rarely required to be completely vertical for a long period of time, let alone required to walk!
Our New Product Development and Innovation team worked closely with Wandercrafts engineers and we were able to create an exclusive Ruth Lee manikin capable of performing like a true paraplegic when wearing the Atlante exoskeleton.
Ruth Lee’s Export Manager, Ian McCulloch led the project with Wandercraft and said,
“It was certainly an interesting project for the team at Ruth Lee, but we aren’t afraid of a challenge! Over the past 12-18 months we have created several protoypes for Wandercraft, each time making further iterations to their manikin model which helped them to improve the performance of their exoskeleton.
As a paraplegic has limited control of their body from waist down, our manikins, which represent a passive or unconscious casualty were a good place to start when developing their test manikin. It has several unique features that ensure it works well for Wandercraft and we are very proud to work with a company who is so dedicated to improving the lives of someone who is paraplegic and helping people to live more independently.”
See below to watch the video of this manikin in action! Or view it here on our Youtube channel.
Find out more about Wandercraft and the work they do – https://en.wandercraft.eu/