Students' robotic arm can make you stronger

The resulting publicity generated a slew of interest from potential users, including grandparents who find it hard to lift their grandchildren.

“We found out that some people can't even lift a cast-iron pan to cook dinner,” McGill said.

Experts say the aging population represents a potentially big customer base for exoskeletons, which originally were researched for military applications.

“There is certainly a market, but it's slowly emerging because the systems are not perfect as yet,” said Paolo Bonato, director of the Motion Analysis Lab at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston.

Titan Arm's design impressed Yong-Lae Park, an assistant professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh who watched a video demonstration.

He noted, though, that its low cost represent parts only, not the salaries or marketing built into the price of other products.

Park's research is focused on making exoskeletons less noticeable—“more like a Spider-Man suit than an Iron Man suit,” he said.

The Titan team hopes to refine their prototype, although three members are now busy with graduate studies at Penn and one is working on the West Coast.

Among the considerations, Parrotta said, are different control strategies and more innovative materials and manufacturing.

And, of course, a second arm.