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Autonomous exoskeleton reduces metabolic cost of human walking
- Source :
- Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, BioMed Central Ltd
- Publication Year :
- 2014
- Publisher :
- BioMed Central, 2014.
-
Abstract
- Background: Passive exoskeletons that assist with human locomotion are often lightweight and compact, but are unable to provide net mechanical power to the exoskeletal wearer. In contrast, powered exoskeletons often provide biologically appropriate levels of mechanical power, but the size and mass of their actuator/power source designs often lead to heavy and unwieldy devices. In this study, we extend the design and evaluation of a lightweight and powerful autonomous exoskeleton evaluated for loaded walking in (J Neuroeng Rehab 11:80, 2014) to the case of unloaded walking conditions. Findings: The metabolic energy consumption of seven study participants (85 ± 12 kg body mass) was measured while walking on a level treadmill at 1.4 m/s. Testing conditions included not wearing the exoskeleton and wearing the exoskeleton, in both powered and unpowered modes. When averaged across the gait cycle, the autonomous exoskeleton applied a mean positive mechanical power of 26 ± 1 W (13 W per ankle) with 2.12 kg of added exoskeletal foot-shank mass (1.06 kg per leg). Use of the leg exoskeleton significantly reduced the metabolic cost of walking by 35 ± 13 W, which was an improvement of 10 ± 3% (p = 0.023) relative to the control condition of not wearing the exoskeleton. Conclusions: The results of this study highlight the advantages of developing lightweight and powerful exoskeletons that can comfortably assist the body during walking.<br />National Science Foundation (U.S.). Graduate Research Fellowship (Award 1122374)
- Subjects :
- 0209 industrial biotechnology
Engineering
medicine.medical_specialty
Orthotic Devices
Short Report
Health Informatics
02 engineering and technology
Walking
Prosthesis Design
03 medical and health sciences
Autonomous
020901 industrial engineering & automation
0302 clinical medicine
Physical medicine and rehabilitation
medicine
Humans
Treadmill
Human locomotion
Mechanical energy
business.industry
Rehabilitation
Robotics
Gait cycle
Metabolic cost
Orthotic device
Exoskeleton
Power
Artificial intelligence
Metabolic
business
Energy Metabolism
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Ankle Joint
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17430003
- Volume :
- 11
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....a8389eb0fb1b70a88008d765520e0b60