BALANCE
BALANCE is a hybrid robotic mobility device positioned between simple aids and complex exoskeletons, supporting users across the full continuum of mobility with partial-to-full assistance.
The name stands for Biomechanical Assistive Legs with Advanced Navigation and Control Engineering.
The gap it fills
Mobility loss is not all or nothing, but most assistive devices are. A cane, a walker or a wheelchair each serves one narrow stage, none of them adapts across terrain, and some of them accelerate muscle atrophy by doing too much of the work.
Two subsystems
- Assistive leg framework
- The frame carries both wheels and legs, provides structural support and isolates shocks. It rolls on flat ground and switches to robotic-leg assistance on stairs and on uneven or narrow terrain.
- Adaptive control and navigation suite
- LiDAR, sonar, 360° cameras and an on-board computer map the surroundings and navigate in real time.
- Collapsible hip-centric modular frame
- Biometric monitoring
- Lithium battery management
- User interface for adjustable assistance levels
From sensors to a step
LiDAR, sonar and cameras feed the on-board computer, which maps the ground and picks a mode; the wheeled base handles flat ground and the powered legs take stairs and uneven terrain.
Where it stands
We co-developed BALANCE as a student team and filed it as provisional patent No. 63/743,085. A related article describing the design was published in the Youth Innovation Journal in fall 2025.
Article in the Youth Innovation JournalProvisional patent document