Exoskeletons?
#1
Original Poster


Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: YVR
Programs: Aeroplan, AAdvantage
Posts: 2,107
Exoskeletons?
Maybe not yet but very very soon someone will show up at a checkpoint in an exoskeleton. They are used to make paraplegics walk again. I wonder what would happen.
#2




Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: DL Gold. UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt (Lifetime Diamond downgraded to Explorist)
Posts: 6,777
Depends where it happens. Could go as easily as a HHMD, HHMD with some swab testing or full on combat assault team sent to terminal (USA USA USA USA).
#6
Original Poster


Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: YVR
Programs: Aeroplan, AAdvantage
Posts: 2,107
I have actually did some research:
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...cal-conditions
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...ial-assistance
and especially:
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...ort-appliances
My take is they will pat you down (throughly...) and they will do quite a show to inspect the thing itself. But if it's medical... they can't deny it. That's how I read it.
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...cal-conditions
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...ial-assistance
and especially:
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...ort-appliances
My take is they will pat you down (throughly...) and they will do quite a show to inspect the thing itself. But if it's medical... they can't deny it. That's how I read it.
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist



Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 38,543
I have actually did some research:
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...cal-conditions
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...ial-assistance
and especially:
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...ort-appliances
My take is they will pat you down (throughly...) and they will do quite a show to inspect the thing itself. But if it's medical... they can't deny it. That's how I read it.
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...cal-conditions
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...ial-assistance
and especially:
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...ort-appliances
My take is they will pat you down (throughly...) and they will do quite a show to inspect the thing itself. But if it's medical... they can't deny it. That's how I read it.
#8
Original Poster


Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: YVR
Programs: Aeroplan, AAdvantage
Posts: 2,107
I presume the same as with a wheelchair, a motorized wheelchair / mobility scooter? They will look really close, any removable pouches go through the x-ray etc.
The FDA cleared the ReWalk Personal on the 26th and while I bet initially it'll cost more than most cars (I read guesses last year for $65 000) I also guess that in a few years that'll go down, rapidly so.
The FDA cleared the ReWalk Personal on the 26th and while I bet initially it'll cost more than most cars (I read guesses last year for $65 000) I also guess that in a few years that'll go down, rapidly so.
Last edited by chx1975; Jun 30, 2014 at 1:30 am
#10


Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Baltimore, MD USA
Programs: Southwest Rapid Rewards. Tha... that's about it.
Posts: 4,431
I have actually did some research:
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...cal-conditions
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...ial-assistance
and especially:
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...ort-appliances
My take is they will pat you down (throughly...) and they will do quite a show to inspect the thing itself. But if it's medical... they can't deny it. That's how I read it.
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...cal-conditions
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...ial-assistance
and especially:
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...ort-appliances
My take is they will pat you down (throughly...) and they will do quite a show to inspect the thing itself. But if it's medical... they can't deny it. That's how I read it.
But such exoskeletons are probably at least a decade away from becoming common commercially-available products, even if the prototypes are in development right now. The limiting factor has always been the weight and size of the battery packs. If a breakthrough in portable power cell technology came today, exoskeletons might be on the market in a year or two. But battery tech is moving forward at an incremental pace, so it will be some time before you could power an exoskeleton, even a partial one for paraplegics, with a battery smaller than a briefcase.



Afterall, the metal could be stamped out into a knife.