5 ms·

Jockey Can't Walk After Manufacturer Refuses to Fix Battery in $100k Exoskeleton

40 points by dopylitty 2y ago

h2odragon 2y ago
At least they're not threatening to sue him if he dares to fix it himself, right?
- kragen 2y ago
  he did, as the article explains; it's not an if
kragen 2y ago
fortunately there was no drm or intellectual property preventing him from getting the device repaired in this case
aamargulies 2y ago
https://www.amazon.com/Lumenier-460mAh-45c-Lipo-Battery/dp/B07J5J6WMN https://www.amazon.com/Lumenier-460mAh-45c-Lipo-Battery/dp/B... Done.
imglorp 2y ago
https://archive.is/dwaqQ https://archive.is/dwaqQ
toolz 2y ago
I'm not sure I understand the metrics we could use to force companies to make things repairable. I certainly don't think it will be beneficial to make companies offer to repair _everything_ and if it's not everything, what criteria would be used to determine what is legally something the have to repair? I've not thought about this problem very long, but at a glance it seems like something very difficult to get right and I don't trust my government to get even the easy things right most of the time.
- bryanlarsen 2y ago
  > I don't trust my government to get even the easy things right most of the time. The American government was capable of putting a man on the moon in 1969; private corporations in the 2020's are failing to put much smaller landers on the moon. The government can be competent, but people have been brainwashed by corporations into believing that it can't be. Regardless of competence, the government can certainly be trusted far more than corporations when it is profitable for them to be untrustworthy.
  - Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
    I wonder how much money was in politics in 1969. I have the cynical view that the government gives contracts not to the lowest bidder (that would be generous), but rather, whoever is going to give the greatest kickback to the re-election campaigns of the people deciding who to give a contract to. Government isn't incompetent, it's corrupt.
    - bryanlarsen 2y ago
      Government was far more illegally corrupt in 1969 than it is now. Mayor Daly makes Mayor Adams look small time. The corruption in American government is almost completely legal now. Citizens United, et cetera. The legality makes it larger, but also visible.
  - toolz 2y ago
    the US government spends twice as much as the 2nd place government on healthcare and we rank pretty abysmally on developed nations for quality of healthcare. Can the US government be competent? Sure. Do I trust it to be competent today when it's dropping the ball on arguably it's most important task? No, not at all. I can stop giving corporations my money, I don't need to trust them.
    - bryanlarsen 2y ago
      US healthcare is uniquely bad because corporations are in charge of it rather than government.
parsimo2010 2y ago
I don't know the details of this device or the manufacturer, but someone with more time on their hands should check that the company is meeting the quality system requirements of this device. A $100k exoskeleton probably has service requirements as an approved medical device from the FDA. the relevant regulation is here, but you would need to find the requirements for the particular device: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?CFRPart=820&showFR=1&subpartNode=21:8.0.1.1.12.14 https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFR...
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
Overtonwindow 2y ago
Being a medical device he should file a complaint with the FDA. It won’t help his situation but the company will be forced to take notice. Absolutely despicable behavior by a company.
latexr 2y ago
The manufacturer in question is ReWalk, which has rebranded as LifeWard. https://www.therobotreport.com/rewalk-robotics-rebrands-to-lifeward-as-portfolio-expands/ https://www.therobotreport.com/rewalk-robotics-rebrands-to-l... Wikipedia still has the outdated name, in case someone here is an experienced editor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReWalk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReWalk
neuralRiot 2y ago
A $100k device without warranty? I don’t think the battery pictured in the article is the actual one, with 1.7Wh there’s not much walking to have, if it is that battery is like $3 on aliexpress.

40 points by dopylitty 2y ago

h2odragon 2y ago

At least they're not threatening to sue him if he dares to fix it himself, right?

kragen 2y ago
he did, as the article explains; it's not an if

kragen 2y ago

fortunately there was no drm or intellectual property preventing him from getting the device repaired in this case

aamargulies 2y ago

https://www.amazon.com/Lumenier-460mAh-45c-Lipo-Battery/dp/B07J5J6WMN https://www.amazon.com/Lumenier-460mAh-45c-Lipo-Battery/dp/B... Done.

imglorp 2y ago

https://archive.is/dwaqQ https://archive.is/dwaqQ

toolz 2y ago

I'm not sure I understand the metrics we could use to force companies to make things repairable. I certainly don't think it will be beneficial to make companies offer to repair _everything_ and if it's not everything, what criteria would be used to determine what is legally something the have to repair? I've not thought about this problem very long, but at a glance it seems like something very difficult to get right and I don't trust my government to get even the easy things right most of the time.

bryanlarsen 2y ago
> I don't trust my government to get even the easy things right most of the time. The American government was capable of putting a man on the moon in 1969; private corporations in the 2020's are failing to put much smaller landers on the moon. The government can be competent, but people have been brainwashed by corporations into believing that it can't be. Regardless of competence, the government can certainly be trusted far more than corporations when it is profitable for them to be untrustworthy.
- Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
  I wonder how much money was in politics in 1969. I have the cynical view that the government gives contracts not to the lowest bidder (that would be generous), but rather, whoever is going to give the greatest kickback to the re-election campaigns of the people deciding who to give a contract to. Government isn't incompetent, it's corrupt.
  - bryanlarsen 2y ago
    Government was far more illegally corrupt in 1969 than it is now. Mayor Daly makes Mayor Adams look small time. The corruption in American government is almost completely legal now. Citizens United, et cetera. The legality makes it larger, but also visible.
- toolz 2y ago
  the US government spends twice as much as the 2nd place government on healthcare and we rank pretty abysmally on developed nations for quality of healthcare. Can the US government be competent? Sure. Do I trust it to be competent today when it's dropping the ball on arguably it's most important task? No, not at all. I can stop giving corporations my money, I don't need to trust them.
  - bryanlarsen 2y ago
    US healthcare is uniquely bad because corporations are in charge of it rather than government.

parsimo2010 2y ago

I don't know the details of this device or the manufacturer, but someone with more time on their hands should check that the company is meeting the quality system requirements of this device. A $100k exoskeleton probably has service requirements as an approved medical device from the FDA. the relevant regulation is here, but you would need to find the requirements for the particular device: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?CFRPart=820&showFR=1&subpartNode=21:8.0.1.1.12.14 https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFR...

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

Overtonwindow 2y ago

Being a medical device he should file a complaint with the FDA. It won’t help his situation but the company will be forced to take notice. Absolutely despicable behavior by a company.

latexr 2y ago

The manufacturer in question is ReWalk, which has rebranded as LifeWard. https://www.therobotreport.com/rewalk-robotics-rebrands-to-lifeward-as-portfolio-expands/ https://www.therobotreport.com/rewalk-robotics-rebrands-to-l... Wikipedia still has the outdated name, in case someone here is an experienced editor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReWalk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReWalk

neuralRiot 2y ago

A $100k device without warranty? I don’t think the battery pictured in the article is the actual one, with 1.7Wh there’s not much walking to have, if it is that battery is like $3 on aliexpress.