A double amputee, MIT Leg Lab researcher Hugh Herr is developing a robotic knee. Standard prosthetic joints cannot sense the forces acting on a human leg. But a robotic knee can sense and react to its environment, allowing amputees to walk through snow or on steep slopes now impassable for them.

Purpose
There is a tremendous need among above-the-knee amputees for a reasonable priced intelligent knee prostheses that adapts to speed and terrain variations
Height
15 cm
Weight
1 kg
Sensors
Force, moment, angle
Frame Composition
Aluminum, titanium, carbon composite
Batteries
Yes
External Power
No
Person-Hours to Build Robot
Approximately 23,000
Project Status
Ongoing - Ongoing (plan to finish by the end of 2000)
Information Source
Hugh Herr