NASA X1 exoskeleton

Not soldA NASA and IHMC research prototype built with Oceaneering Space Systems; it was never priced or offered for sale.

Not for sale (research)Buttons onlyHip & knee exoskeleton26 kg10 DoF, 4 motorizedSpace and rehab research

Not for saleNever sold. X1 was a NASA and IHMC research prototype that stayed in the lab. NASA ↗

Control: Not available outside NASA and IHMC labs.

NASA ↗IHMC Cybathlon paper (arXiv) ↗

Overview

X1 is a 26 kg leg exoskeleton unveiled in October 2012 by NASA's Johnson Space Center, the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) and Oceaneering Space Systems, built from Robonaut 2 humanoid technology and IHMC's earlier Mina exoskeleton. It has ten degrees of freedom, four motorized at the hips and knees and six passive, and was designed for two very different jobs, resisting the wearer's motion as a compact exercise machine for astronauts on long missions, and assisting walking for people with paraplegia on Earth. It stayed a research platform and was never sold. IHMC carried the work into its Mina v2 exoskeleton, which placed second in the powered exoskeleton race at the 2016 Cybathlon.

Specifications

Category	Exoskeletons & exosuits · Full-body, military & research
Released	2012
Country	USA
Availability	Not for sale (research)
Programmability	No programmability
Built-in autonomy	Reactive · Responds to its surroundings without a map, such as avoiding obstacles or following a person
LLM support	None · No voice assistant or LLM.
Vision sensors	No vision sensors
Actuators	Brushless / direct-drive motors
Audio	No audio
Compute type	Proprietary / undisclosed
Control	Buttons only
Weight	26 kg (57 lb)
Assistance	Four motorized joints at the hips and knees can either resist movement as an exercise machine for astronauts or assist walking on Earth, with six more passive joints for sidestepping, turning and ankle flexing.
Joints	Hips & knees
Battery & runtime	Backpack-mounted battery and electronics (capacity and runtime not published).
Operation	Run by researchers in two modes, an inhibit mode that resists the wearer's movement for exercise and an assist mode for walking.
Sensors	Joint position and torque sensing derived from Robonaut 2 (details not published).
Compute	Not published
SDK	None (internal research software)