New Delhi: DRDO chairman Samir V Kamat on Tuesday urged the research and development community, the armed forces, industry and academia to work together to address the challenges involved in developing 'exoskeletons' and chalk out a roadmap for the technology.

Exoskeleton technology involves wearable structures which enhance the capabilities of the human body, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The first international workshop on 'Emerging Technologies and Challenges for Exoskeleton' is being held in Bengaluru from April 16 to 17.

The workshop, organised by the Defence Bio-Engineering and Electromedical Laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), was inaugurated by Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and DRDO chairman in the presence of Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) Lt Gen JP Mathew, it said.

In his keynote address, the DRDO chairman emphasised the importance of the transformational exoskeleton technology and its immense applications in military and civilian environments.

He urged the stakeholders, including the research and development (R&D) community, the armed forces, industry and academia, to work together to address the challenges and chalk out a roadmap for the future of exoskeletons, the statement said.

Lt Gen Mathew traced back the history of exoskeleton research, its earlier prototypes and challenges. In his address, he traversed through the challenges which are being currently addressed by the R&D community.

He underscored the significance of exoskeleton technologies in rehabilitation, occupational therapy and augmentation. He also stressed that exoskeleton technology has tremendous commercial potential.

Informative in-depth technical lectures were delivered by Prof Robert Reiner of ETH, Zurich and Prof Arun Jayaraman of North-Western University, Chicago, Illinois, the statement said.

Director General (Life Sciences) U K Singh, DRDO, spoke about the imminent challenges and requirements from the armed forces. He urged the community of researchers to collectively address the challenges in their endeavour to develop exoskeleton technologies to meet the requirements of all stakeholders.

The two-day workshop is being attended by more than 300 participants from DRDO, services, industry, academia, and researchers.

(With Agency Inputs)