Vancouver Robotics Company One of Ten Recipients of Global Mobility Award

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, May 22, 2018 – Vancouver’s Human in Motion Robotic Inc. is one of ten recipients from around the world to receive an award to continue its research and innovation in the area of human movement and mobility and complete its entry to the Mobility Unlimited Challenge.

The Toyota Mobility Foundation, in partnership with Nesta’s Challenge Prize Centre, have announced the ten winners of the Mobility Unlimited Challenge Discovery Awards.

Earlier this year, The Toyota Mobility Foundation launched the Mobility Unlimited Challenge, a USD $4 million dollar global competition to expand mobility for people with lower-limb paralysis. The deadline for the main challenge – with a total of USD $3.5 million dollar to be awarded to several organizations - is August 15, 2018.

The Discovery Awards were developed to provide seed funding of USD $50,000 for 10 groups with promising concepts and to support their submission to the main global Challenge.

Teams from around the world applied for one of ten USD $50,000 grants, with applications received from 25 different countries. More than 10% of the award applications received came from Canadian organizations.

Among the Canadian applications, innovators from Vancouver’s Human in Motion Robotic Inc. have been awarded for their project Exomotion: the most advanced, full mobility wearable robotic exoskeleton. This solution assists in improving the quality of life for users through fully wearable robotic systems that completely or partially support their weight and provide controlled guidance of leg movements, allowing them to stand and walk.  

Dr. Siamak Arzanpour, CEO of Human in Motion Robotics stated: “We are honoured to be one of the recipients of the Discovery Award. Our mission at Human in Motion Robotics is to make people with motion disability fully mobile again. The advanced lower-limb exoskeleton that we are developing will allow for independence, and active involvement in both the professional and social life. We are thrilled to be recognized on a global stage for our innovation in the mobility space.”

The 10 Global Mobility Unlimited Challenge Discovery Awardees are:

• Exomotion: the most advanced, full mobility wearable robotic exoskeleton - Human in Motion Robotic Inc., Canada
• Highly Mobile Robotic Exoskeleton for Upright Mobility - The Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC), USA
• Gaze-based semi-autonomy for wheelchairs - Brain and Behavior Lab, Imperial College London, UK
• Foot ++ - Foot++, USA
• Towards Life with Standing Mobility Unlimited - Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, University of Tsukuba, Japan
• Intelligent Hoverboard for Wheelchair Balancing (WCHB) - Erik Kondo, USA
• Physiology-Adaptive and Computer Vision-Assisted Soft Exoskeletons to Support Independent Living across the Continuum of Rehabilitation - Biomechatronics and Intelligent Robotics Lab, City University of New York, City College/University of Texas Medical School/TIRR Memorial Hermann, USA
• Enabling Independent Mobility and Social Play for Young Children with Mobility Impairments - University of Washington & Oregon State University, USA
• Self-balancing wheel for wheelchairs with automatic hub gear box - Aesthel, Germany
• Wheelchair with IS COG / Data capture - Phoenix Instinct, UK

For more information, please visit mobilityunlimited.org

About Toyota Canada Inc.

Toyota Canada Inc. (TCI) is the exclusive Canadian distributor of Toyota and Lexus vehicles.  Toyota has sold over 5 million vehicles in Canada through a national network of 287 Toyota and Lexus dealerships.  Toyota is dedicated to bringing safety, quality, dependability and reliability in the vehicles Canadians drive and the service they receive.  TCI’s head office is located in Toronto, with regional offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Halifax and parts distribution centres in Toronto and Vancouver.  Toyota operates two manufacturing facilities in Canada. Having produced more than seven million vehicles, popular Canadian models built at these facilities include Toyota RAV4, Toyota Corolla, Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h hybrid.

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