Sun Xiaojun helps amputees with his robotic knee design that he himself wears. CHINA DAILY
Born in Shiqian county in Guizhou province, 34-year-old Sun Xiaojun used to be the naughtiest student in class. This changed after he broke an ankle and was diagnosed with osteomyelitis, an inflammation of the bone, at the age of 9. His right leg later had to be amputated.
孙小军今年34岁，出生于贵州省石阡县，他曾经是班里最调皮的学生。9岁时，孙小军脚踝骨折，并诊断出患有骨髓炎，这是一种骨骼的炎症，确诊后的他再也不复往日那般调皮。后来，孙小军的右腿不得不截肢。
His family spent all of their money for the operation. The young man then made the decision to study hard.
为了孙小军的手术，家里人花光了所有的钱。孙小军下定决心，要努力学习。
In 2006, Sun enrolled at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Hubei province, majoring in material forming and control engineering. In 2009, he won the opportunity to continue his studies at Japan’s Tohoku University. “I started to wear a prosthesis two years after I began studying in Japan. I had never worn one before, so it took quite a long time to get used to,” he said.
2006年，孙小军考入了位于湖北省武汉市的华中科技大学，主修材料成型及控制工程。2009年，他获得了去日本东北大学学习深造的机会。“我在日本学习两年后开始穿假肢，因为以前从来没有穿戴过，所以要花很长时间才能适应。”
The experience wasn’t very comfortable. He would sometimes fall over when he tried to walk fast, which made him feel awkward. In 2013, he came up with the idea of creating a smarter prosthetic that used robotics.
穿假肢的体验并不舒服，有时孙小军想走快点就会摔倒，这让他很尴尬。2013年，孙小军灵感乍现，想到可以靠机器人技术制作智能假肢。
In 2018, he founded BionicM in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, to create inventions to help those with a disability. Sun’s robotic prosthetic knee earned him fame and won him the Red Dot Best of the Best award in 2020.
2018年，孙小军在广东深圳创立了健行仿生（BionicM），进行帮助残疾人的发明创造。孙小军因机器人假肢膝关节声名鹊起，并以此斩获了2020德国红点最佳设计奖。
The biggest challenge in creating the robotic knee was how to coordinate between the body and the prosthetic. “Walking is an unconscious movement. It’s difficult to make prosthetics understand how that works,” Sun said.
制造机器人式假肢膝关节的最大挑战，在于如何让身体与假肢协调。孙小军说，“走路是一种无意识的运动，很难让假肢去理解走路的原理。”
Most artificial limbs on the market are made to work like bones and ankles. Sun’s invention, however, works like adding mechanical muscle.
市面上的大多数假肢都像骨头和踝关节那样发挥作用。然而，孙小军的发明宛如给人装上了机械肌肉。
“The prosthesis we’ve created has a mind of its own and allows people to move by sensing their intentions,” he said.
孙小军说:“我们创造的假肢有自己的思想，通过感知人们的意图，协助其移动。”
“I myself use a prosthetic limb, and I’m also a researcher. There are about 4 million people in China with amputated lower limbs,” he added. “The cost of an ordinary prosthesis is around 60,000 to 100,000 yuan, unaffordable for most.”
“我自己既是穿假肢的人，也是一名研究人员。中国大约有400万人截肢，”孙小军补充说，“可是一条普通假肢的价格在6万到10万元之间，大多数人都买不起。”
Sun said most prosthetics are produced in Europe. “I didn’t start my company for the money, but to make a product that is useful to society. Amputees have a basic need to walk,” he said.
孙小军说，大多数假肢都在欧洲生产。“我创办公司不是为了钱，而是为了生产对社会有用的产品。截肢者有行走这种基本需求。”
According to Sun, the robotic knee his company produces is priced at around 300,000 yuan per pair, while similar products sold elsewhere average around 800,000 yuan.
据孙小军介绍，其公司生产的机器人式假肢每双售价约为30万元，而其他地方销售的同类产品平均售价约为80万元。
Admitting that this is not ideal, he said that his robotic knees are still in small-scale production. He hopes that by raising more money, he’ll be able to expand production and make his devices more affordable.
孙小军承认这个售价并不理想，他说自己的机器人式假肢仍在小规模生产，希望通过筹集更多资金来扩大生产规模，让假肢的价格更实惠。
