High tech meets low tech: robotic arms gives girl mobility

Stories about robotic exoskeletons have been pinging around the internet for some time, but these devices are no longer just prototypes and things of imagination.

Maggie at the AT Lab getting her WREX arms adapted.

A few months ago, the Utah AT Lab encountered one such device with the potential to give Maggie, a little girl, strength and mobility in her arms she did not have on her own.


The device is known as WREX Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton arms, as demonstrated by a YouTuber in the video below. The arms are lightweight and attach to mobility devices. They assist the shoulder and elbow by eliminating the effects of gravity.

The arms can help people with neuromuscular weakness accomplish everyday tasks like eating. However, Maggie's family was struggling to properly attach the arms to her adapted stroller. That's where the AT Lab stepped into help.

Chelsie, Maggie's mom, helping with the adapting process at the AT Lab.

After an evaluation of the stroller, Cameron, the AT Lab assistant, made specialized wood brackets to attach the arms. 

"This was a unique solution to a unique problem, and that's what's so great about the AT Lab," he said, "Sometimes you have to use simple low-tech solutions to make a high-tech device work for an individual."