The Robot Report

Open-source leg project democratizes prosthetic development

Organization: Open-Source Leg Project
Country: USA
Website: https://opensourceleg.com/
Year Founded: 2019
Number of Employees: 1-10

Description:
2023 RBR50 LogoLed by the University of Michigan, the Open-Source Leg Project delivered on some of its first systems in 2022. The Open-Source Leg (OSL) is a platform made primarily for the development of control algorithms for robotic knee and ankle systems. Its design has been available since 2019, but this is the first time an assembled leg is being offered for labs seeking an off-the-shelf robotic prosthesis. Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Tech, HumoTech, Imperial College of London and many others are participating in this effort.

Analysis:
There are hundreds of thousands of leg amputees in the U.S. that struggle with mobility limitations. Robotic experts have spent years trying to create prosthetic leg hardware and control systems that can seamlessly augment human motion, but these projects are timely, expensive, and lack universal hardware that could speed development. The OSL gives researchers the ability to bypass the process of designing and building a prosthetic leg to use for testing control strategies. It also allows researchers to more easily compare the effectiveness of different control strategies by standardizing the hardware they’re being tested on. The OSL offers a simple, low-cost design and high performance, making it ideal for conducting high-impact research. – Brianna Wessling

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