While most mobility options for persons with paraple-gia or paraparesis employ wheeled solutions, significant adverse health, psychological, and social consequ-ences result from wheelchair confinement.Modern robotic exoskeleton devices for gait assistance and rehabilitation, however, can support legged locomotion systems for those with lower extremity weakness or paralysis. The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) has developed the Mina, a proto-type sensorimotor robotic orthosis for mobility assistance that provides mobility capability for paraplegic and paraparetic users. This paper describes the initial concept, design goals, and methods of this wearable overground robotic mobility device, which uses compliant actuation to power the hip and knee joints. Paralyzed users can balance and walk using the device over level terrain with the assistance of forearm crutches employing a quadrupedal gait. We have initiated sensory substitution feedback mechanisms to augment user sensory perception of his or her lower extremities. Using this sensory feedback, we hypo-thesize that users will ambulate with a more natural, upright gait and will be able to directly control the gait parameters and respond to perturbations. This may allow bipedal (with minimal support) gait in fu-ture prototypes.

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For centuries, man has been building machines to serve his needs. With his ability to imagine and his creativity, he was able to nurture his thoughts and give rise to machines that would work for him incessantly and do his bidding. This enabled Man to exert his superiority over other species that roamed the earth. Over the centuries man’s needs have grown increasingly complex and as a consequence so has the level of sophistication of his Machines. The advanced functional capabilities of the human brain enabled man to mimic the features of the other species. One such adaptation is the Amour, an artificial Exoskeleton that Man has used for protection, especially in combat. An Exoskeleton is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal’s body, for example the Tortoise, in contrast to the internal endoskeleton of, for example, a human. The concept of the Artificial Exoskeleton further evolved through the ages.

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