Smart knee brace developed at computer coding event
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.027881
Ars Technica : The winning entry at the seventh annual SAPO Codebits event was a new and improved knee brace for polio patients. Designed by Basílio Vieira, Pedro Leite, and Carolina Correia, the NeLo is a flexible brace outfitted with sensors and motors. The sensors detect when the wearer’s knee needs to be rigid to walk or flexible to sit down, and servomotors tighten or loosen the material accordingly. The designers have made the hardware open source to allow free access to the technology, which could also be used by athletes recovering from an injury. The Codebits events are held annually in Portugal and draw computer programmers, graphic designers, and project managers, who collaborate on software development projects.
