Personalizing exoskeleton assistance while walking in the real world

Article

关键词: ENERGETIC COST;    METABOLIC-RATE;    GAIT;    FASTER;    SPEED;    LOAD;   

DOI  :  10.1038/s41586-022-05191-1

来源: SCIE

【 摘 要 】

Personalized exoskeleton assistance provides users with the largest improvements in walking speed(1) and energy economy(2-4) but requires lengthy tests under unnatural laboratory conditions. Here we show that exoskeleton optimization can be performed rapidly and under real-world conditions. We designed a portable ankle exoskeleton based on insights from tests with a versatile laboratory testbed. We developed a data-driven method for optimizing exoskeleton assistance outdoors using wearable sensors and found that it was equally effective as laboratory methods, but identified optimal parameters four times faster. We performed real-world optimization using data collected during many short bouts of walking at varying speeds. Assistance optimized during one hour of naturalistic walking in a public setting increased self-selected speed by 9 +/- 4% and reduced the energy used to travel a given distance by 17 +/- 5% compared with normal shoes. This assistance reduced metabolic energy consumption by 23 +/- 8% when participants walked on a treadmill at a standard speed of 1.5 m s(-1). Human movements encode information that can be used to personalize assistive devices and enhance performance.

【 授权许可】

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