A two-year redesign of STARX's powered lower-body exoskeleton, focused on adjustability, lightweighting, direct-drive joints, and making the system fit a much broader range of pilots.
I joined STARX as a freshman on the mechanical redesign team. One of my first major projects was redesigning the hip joint for the 2025 exoskeleton, RALPH 2.0.
The previous hip was bulky and restrictive, so I designed a more compact replacement. I then helped manufacture the design alongside other team members, and the finished hip was integrated into the final exoskeleton.
During my sophomore year, I co-led a new team called 2027X. Historically, STARX tried to complete mechanical, electrical, and software development within a single academic year, which left each subteam with limited time to iterate.
2027X shifted the program toward a two-year design cycle: year one for mechanical design and fabrication, and year two for electrical integration and programming. That gave us time to rethink some of the exoskeleton's most fundamental design challenges instead of only making incremental changes.
My co-lead and I coordinated the mechanical design of the new exoskeleton, which we named EVE. We spent a long time in ideation and completed multiple design reviews with STARX upperclassmen, industry professionals, and professional engineers.
By the end of the academic year, we had begun manufacturing components including the ankle and adjustment segments. We are on track to complete mechanical manufacturing by the end of first semester this year.
Previous STARX exoskeletons were modeled around one pre-selected pilot. EVE was designed from the beginning to accommodate a much wider range of body dimensions and specifically improve comfort for female pilots, including greater attention to Q-angle.
Dovetail sliders move the hips inward and outward, spring steel hip plates provide radial adjustment, and toothed adjustment sections change the effective length of both thigh and calf segments.
Curved leg braces are 3D printed from flexible filament, allowing them to conform more securely to users with different leg sizes while maintaining a consistent attachment point to the exoskeleton.
We replaced the previous chain-driven transmission with motors mounted directly at the joints. That simplified the drivetrain, but created new bearing and load-path challenges to prevent significant stress from reaching the motor shaft and housing.
