Kerala engineering student builds low cost robotic exoskeleton “Iron Man” suit

An Indian engineering student designed a low-cost wearable robot that can lift up to 330 pounds. https://t.co/Xo4AUzOPgO

— AJ+ (@ajplus) August 10, 2016

Manikandan is confident that the suit will be put to good use by the military in the future for lifting weights up to 150 kgs. The bright youngster’s paper on the project was selected from amongst applicants belonging to 13 countries for a special conference on mechanics and manufacturing in Singapore.

Although Manikandan’s suit isn’t free of glitches like lack of more freedom of movement for the wearer and short battery-life; he is confident that his invention will only develop for the better if he manages to find the right sponsors.

According to the AJ report, Manikandan says he was inspired by Hollywood movies to build the robot, especially the exosuits in the Avatar movie. In fact, this is isn’t even Manikandan’s first Exo suit. His team built their first prototype back in 2015, which was much larger but mechanically-powered.

Vimal Govin Manikandan’s paper has been internationally recognised.The ICMM 2016 conference in Singapore on Mechanics and Manufacturing, organised by American Society of Research invited Manikanda to showcase his invention while his paper was selected as the best and scheduled to be published in the International Journal of Mechanical and Robotics Research.

Click here to see Vimal Govin Manikandan’s paper.