German Bionic’s new Apogee Ultra exoskeleton can lift up to 80 pounds and help with walking
German Bionic, the robot exoskeleton startup behind the lightweight Apogee exosuit, just revealed the Apogee Ultra at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. This powered exoskeleton is intended to help people complete jobs that require heavy lifting or advanced movement.
To that end, it offers dynamic lifting support of up to 80 pounds. This means that it can lift the entire thing or help a bit when people need it, sort of like how rider assist works with electric bikes. The company says “it makes physically demanding tasks feel effortless” and that lifting 70 pounds will feel like nine or ten pounds for the lower back.
German Bionic
The exoskeleton has also been designed to help with walking long distances, which is often required in large warehouses where this kind of technology would be most useful. German Bionic says this walking assist feature will make a trip of ten miles feel like eight. The Apollo Ultra will even offer a bit of assistance when completing tasks that require people to bend over for prolonged periods of time.
The device is filled with some advanced software, which helps with the whole “dynamic” thing mentioned above. The “highly adaptive” system adjusts to the needs of each individual user via machine learning algorithms. These algorithms have been trained on “vast amounts of high quality, relevant data collected from thousands of users.”
The exoskeleton integrates with a proprietary app, allowing people to view performance metrics like steps taken, usage time and weight lifted. The app has also been designed with feedback in mind, as there’s an easy way to contact the company to deliver insights. This should allow for continuous improvement as more people don the suit.
This exoskeleton is perfectly positioned for industrial work and for health care, as medical professionals often need a bit of help to lift patients. The Apogee Ultra is available for preorder right now, but it’ll likely empty out that bank account. We don’t have a specific price, but the lower-tech Apogee+ exoskeleton costs $9,900. The company does offer monthly payment plans for bulk purchases by commercial entities.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/german-bionics-new-apogee-ultra-exoskeleton-can-lift-up-to-80-pounds-and-help-with-walking-140031689.html?src=rss
