scholarly journals Improving Walking Economy With an Ankle Exoskeleton Prior to Human-in-the-Loop Optimization

2022 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Wang ◽  
Jianyu Chen ◽  
Jianquan Ding ◽  
Juanjuan Zhang ◽  
Jingtai Liu
Keyword(s):  
Optimization Procedure ◽  
Metabolic Cost ◽  
Peak Torque ◽  
Human Locomotion ◽  
Loop Optimization ◽  
Human In The Loop ◽  
Evaluation Time ◽  
Optimization Parameters ◽  
Ankle Exoskeleton ◽  
Walking Economy

Lower limb robotic exoskeletons have shown the capability to enhance human locomotion for healthy individuals or to assist motion rehabilitation and daily activities for patients. Recent advances in human-in-the-loop optimization that allowed for assistance customization have demonstrated great potential for performance improvement of exoskeletons. In the optimization process, subjects need to experience multiple types of assistance patterns, thus, leading to a long evaluation time. Besides, some patterns may be uncomfortable for the wearers, thereby resulting in unpleasant optimization experiences and inaccurate outcomes. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of a series of ankle exoskeleton assistance patterns on improving walking economy prior to optimization. We conducted experiments to systematically evaluate the wearers' biomechanical and physiological responses to different assistance patterns on a lightweight cable-driven ankle exoskeleton during walking. We designed nine patterns in the optimization parameters range which varied peak torque magnitude and peak torque timing independently. Results showed that metabolic cost of walking was reduced by 17.1 ± 7.6% under one assistance pattern. Meanwhile, soleus (SOL) muscle activity was reduced by 40.9 ± 19.8% with that pattern. Exoskeleton assistance changed maximum ankle dorsiflexion and plantarflexion angle and reduced biological ankle moment. Assistance pattern with 48% peak torque timing and 0.75 N·m·kg−1 peak torque magnitude was effective in improving walking economy and can be selected as an initial pattern in the optimization procedure. Our results provided a preliminary understanding of how humans respond to different assistances and can be used to guide the initial assistance pattern selection in the optimization.

scholarly journals Comparing optimized exoskeleton assistance of the hip, knee, and ankle in single and multi-joint configurations

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick W. Franks ◽  
Gwendolyn M. Bryan ◽  
Russell M. Martin ◽  
Ricardo Reyes ◽  
Ava C. Lakmazaheri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Mobility ◽  
Metabolic Cost ◽  
Metabolic Energy ◽  
Maximum Effect ◽  
Loop Optimization ◽  
Human In The Loop ◽  
Ankle Joints ◽  
Individual Effects ◽  
Single Well ◽  
Ankle Exoskeleton

Abstract Exoskeletons that assist the hip, knee, and ankle joints have begun to improve human mobility, particularly by reducing the metabolic cost of walking. However, direct comparisons of optimal assistance of these joints, or their combinations, have not yet been possible. Assisting multiple joints may be more beneficial than the sum of individual effects, because muscles often span multiple joints, or less effective, because single-joint assistance can indirectly aid other joints. In this study, we used a hip–knee–ankle exoskeleton emulator paired with human-in-the-loop optimization to find single-joint, two-joint, and whole-leg assistance that maximally reduced the metabolic cost of walking. Hip-only and ankle-only assistance reduced the metabolic cost of walking by 26 and 30% relative to walking in the device unassisted, confirming that both joints are good targets for assistance (N = 3). Knee-only assistance reduced the metabolic cost of walking by 13%, demonstrating that effective knee assistance is possible (N = 3). Two-joint assistance reduced the metabolic cost of walking by between 33 and 42%, with the largest improvements coming from hip-ankle assistance (N = 3). Assisting all three joints reduced the metabolic cost of walking by 50%, showing that at least half of the metabolic energy expended during walking can be saved through exoskeleton assistance (N = 4). Changes in kinematics and muscle activity indicate that single-joint assistance indirectly assisted muscles at other joints, such that the improvement from whole-leg assistance was smaller than the sum of its single-joint parts. Exoskeletons can assist the entire limb for maximum effect, but a single well-chosen joint can be more efficient when considering additional factors such as weight and cost.

scholarly journals Comparing optimized exoskeleton assistance of the hip, knee, and ankle in single and multi-joint configurations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick W. Franks ◽  
Gwendolyn M. Bryan ◽  
Russell M. Martin ◽  
Ricardo Reyes ◽  
Steven H. Collins
Keyword(s):  
Human Mobility ◽  
Metabolic Cost ◽  
Metabolic Energy ◽  
Maximum Effect ◽  
Loop Optimization ◽  
Human In The Loop ◽  
Ankle Joints ◽  
Individual Effects ◽  
Single Well ◽  
Ankle Exoskeleton

Exoskeletons that assist the hip, knee, and ankle joints have begun to improve human mobility, particularly by reducing the metabolic cost of walking. However, direct comparisons of optimal assistance of these joints, or their combinations, have not yet been possible. Assisting multiple joints may be more beneficial than the sum of individual effects, because muscles often span multiple joints, or less effective, because single-joint assistance can indirectly aid other joints. In this study, we used a hip-knee-ankle exoskeleton emulator paired with human-in-the-loop optimization to find single-joint, two-joint, and whole-leg assistance that maximally reduced the metabolic cost of walking for three participants. Hip-only and ankle-only assistance reduced the metabolic cost of walking by 26% and 30% relative to walking in the device unassisted, confirming that both joints are good targets for assistance. Knee-only assistance reduced the metabolic cost of walking by 13%, demonstrating that effective knee assistance is possible. Two-joint assistance reduced the metabolic cost of walking by between 34% and 42%, with the largest improvements coming from hip-ankle assistance. Assisting all three joints reduced the metabolic cost of walking by 50%, showing that at least half of the metabolic energy expended during walking can be saved through exoskeleton assistance. Changes in kinematics and muscle activity indicate that single-joint assistance indirectly assisted muscles at other joints, such that the improvement from whole-leg assistance was smaller than the sum of its single-joint parts. Exoskeletons can assist the entire limb for maximum effect, but a single well-chosen joint can be more efficient when considering additional factors such as weight and cost.

scholarly journals The Effects of Incline Level on Optimized Lower-Limb Exoskeleton Assistance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick W. Franks ◽  
Gwendolyn M. Bryan ◽  
Ricardo Reyes ◽  
Meghan P. O'Donovan ◽  
Karen N. Gregorczyk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Cost ◽  
Knee Extension ◽  
Cost Of Transport ◽  
Loop Optimization ◽  
Human In The Loop ◽  
Lower Limb Exoskeleton ◽  
Walking Performance ◽  
Ankle Exoskeleton ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Hip Extension

For exoskeletons to be successful in real-world settings, they will need to be effective across a variety of terrains, including on inclines. While some single-joint exoskeletons have assisted incline walking, recent successes in level-ground assistance suggest that greater improvements may be possible by optimizing assistance of the whole leg. To understand how exoskeleton assistance should change with incline, we used human-in-the-loop optimization to find whole-leg exoskeleton assistance torques that minimized metabolic cost on a range of grades. We optimized assistance for three expert, able-bodied participants on 5 degree, 10 degree and 15 degree inclines using a hip-knee-ankle exoskeleton emulator. For all assisted conditions, the cost of transport was reduced by at least 50% relative to walking in the device with no assistance, a large improvement to walking that is comparable to the benefits of whole-leg assistance on level-ground. This corresponds to large absolute reductions in metabolic cost, with the most strenuous conditions reduced by 4.9 W/kg, more than twice the entire energy cost of level walking. Optimized extension torque magnitudes and exoskeleton power increased with incline, with hip extension, knee extension and ankle plantarflexion often growing as large as allowed by comfort-based limits. Applied powers on steep inclines were double the powers applied during level-ground walking, indicating that larger exoskeleton power may be optimal in scenarios where biological powers and costs are higher. Future exoskeleton devices can be expected to deliver large improvements in walking performance across a range of inclines, if they have sufficient torque and power capabilities.

Improving the energy economy of human running with powered and unpowered ankle exoskeleton assistance

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (40) ◽  
pp. eaay9108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirby A. Witte ◽  
Pieter Fiers ◽  
Alison L. Sheets-Singer ◽  
Steven H. Collins
Keyword(s):  
Energy Savings ◽  
Peak Torque ◽  
Energetic Cost ◽  
Loop Optimization ◽  
Human In The Loop ◽  
Device Type ◽  
Work Input ◽  
Energy Economy ◽  
Ankle Exoskeleton ◽  
Human Running

Exoskeletons that reduce energetic cost could make recreational running more enjoyable and improve running performance. Although there are many ways to assist runners, the best approaches remain unclear. In our study, we used a tethered ankle exoskeleton emulator to optimize both powered and spring-like exoskeleton characteristics while participants ran on a treadmill. We expected powered conditions to provide large improvements in energy economy and for spring-like patterns to provide smaller benefits achievable with simpler devices. We used human-in-the-loop optimization to attempt to identify the best exoskeleton characteristics for each device type and individual user, allowing for a well-controlled comparison. We found that optimized powered assistance improved energy economy by 24.7 ± 6.9% compared with zero torque and 14.6 ± 7.7% compared with running in normal shoes. Optimized powered torque patterns for individuals varied substantially, but all resulted in relatively high mechanical work input (0.36 ± 0.09 joule kilogram−1 per step) and late timing of peak torque (75.7 ± 5.0% stance). Unexpectedly, spring-like assistance was ineffective, improving energy economy by only 2.1 ± 2.4% compared with zero torque and increasing metabolic rate by 11.1 ± 2.8% compared with control shoes. The energy savings we observed imply that running velocity could be increased by as much as 10% with no added effort for the user and could influence the design of future products.

scholarly journals Optimized hip-knee-ankle exoskeleton assistance reduces the metabolic cost of walking with worn loads

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwendolyn M. Bryan ◽  
Patrick W. Franks ◽  
Seungmoon Song ◽  
Ricardo Reyes ◽  
Meghan P. O’Donovan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Metabolic Cost ◽  
Load Carriage ◽  
Heavy Load ◽  
Human In The Loop ◽  
Light Load ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Ankle Exoskeleton ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Background Load carriage is common in a wide range of professions, but prolonged load carriage is associated with increased fatigue and overuse injuries. Exoskeletons could improve the quality of life of these professionals by reducing metabolic cost to combat fatigue and reducing muscle activity to prevent injuries. Current exoskeletons have reduced the metabolic cost of loaded walking by up to 22% relative to walking in the device with no assistance when assisting one or two joints. Greater metabolic reductions may be possible with optimized assistance of the entire leg. Methods We used human-in the-loop optimization to optimize hip-knee-ankle exoskeleton assistance with no additional load, a light load (15% of body weight), and a heavy load (30% of body weight) for three participants. All loads were applied through a weight vest with an attached waist belt. We measured metabolic cost, exoskeleton assistance, kinematics, and muscle activity. We performed Friedman’s tests to analyze trends across worn loads and paired t-tests to determine whether changes from the unassisted conditions to the assisted conditions were significant. Results Exoskeleton assistance reduced the metabolic cost of walking relative to walking in the device without assistance for all tested conditions. Exoskeleton assistance reduced the metabolic cost of walking by 48% with no load (p = 0.05), 41% with the light load (p = 0.01), and 43% with the heavy load (p = 0.04). The smaller metabolic reduction with the light load may be due to insufficient participant training or lack of optimizer convergence. The total applied positive power was similar for all tested conditions, and the positive knee power decreased slightly as load increased. Optimized torque timing parameters were consistent across participants and load conditions while optimized magnitude parameters varied. Conclusions Whole-leg exoskeleton assistance can reduce the metabolic cost of walking while carrying a range of loads. The consistent optimized timing parameters across participants and conditions suggest that metabolic cost reductions are sensitive to torque timing. The variable torque magnitude parameters could imply that torque magnitude should be customized to the individual, or that there is a range of useful torque magnitudes. Future work should test whether applying the load to the exoskeleton rather than the person’s torso results in larger benefits.

scholarly journals Gait-symmetry-based human-in-the-loop optimization for unilateral transtibial amputees with robotic prostheses

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanggan Feng ◽  
Chengqiang Mao ◽  
Qining Wang
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Cost ◽  
Optimization Method ◽  
Metabolic Energy ◽  
Joint Degeneration ◽  
Joint Injury ◽  
Loop Optimization ◽  
Gait Symmetry ◽  
Human In The Loop ◽  
Risk Of Injury ◽  
Transtibial Amputees

AbstractGait asymmetry due to the loss of unilateral limb increases the risk of injury or progressive joint degeneration. The development of wearable robotic devices paves a way to improve gait symmetry of unilateral amputees. Moreover, the state-of-the-art studies on human-in-the-loop optimization strategies through decreasing the metabolic cost as the optimization task, have met several challenges, e.g. too long period of optimization and the optimization feasibility for unilateral amputees who have the deficit of gait symmetry. Here, in this paper, we proposed gait-symmetry-based human-in-the-loop optimization method to decrease the risk of injury or progressive joint degeneration for unilateral transtibial amputees. The experimental results (N = 3 unilateral transtibial subjects) demonstrate that only average 9.0±4.1min of convergence was taken. Compared to gait symmetry while wearing prosthetics, after optimization, the gait symmetry indicator value of the subjects wearing the robotic prostheses was improved by 21.0% and meanwhile the net metabolic energy consumption value was reduced by 9.2%. Also, this paper explores the rationality of gait indicators and what kind of gait indicators are the optimization target. These results suggest that gait-symmetry-based human-in-the-loop strategy could pave a practical way to improve gait symmetry by accompanying the reduction of metabolic cost, and thus to decrease the risk of joint injury for the unilateral amputees.

scholarly journals Optimized Hip-Knee-Ankle Exoskeleton Assistance Reduces the Metabolic Cost of Walking With Worn Loads

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwendolyn M Bryan ◽  
Patrick Franks ◽  
Seungmoon Song ◽  
Ricardo Reyes ◽  
Meghan O’Donovan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Metabolic Cost ◽  
Load Carriage ◽  
Heavy Load ◽  
Human In The Loop ◽  
Light Load ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Ankle Exoskeleton ◽  
Load Conditions

Abstract BackgroundLoad carriage is a typical activity in a wide range of professions, but prolonged load carriage is associated with increased fatigue and overuse injuries. Exoskeletons could improve the quality of life of these professionals by reducing metabolic cost to combat fatigue and reducing muscle activity to prevent injuries. Current exoskeletons have reduced the metabolic cost of loaded walking by up to 23% when assisting one or two joints. Greater metabolic reductions may be possible with optimized assistance of the entire leg. MethodsWe used human-in the-loop optimization to optimize hip-knee-ankle exoskeleton assistance with no additional load, a light load (15% of body weight), and a heavy load (30% of body weight) for three participants. All loads were applied through a weight vest with an attached waist belt. We measured metabolic cost, exoskeleton assistance, kinematics, and muscle activity. We performed one-tailed paired t-tests to determine significant reductions for metabolic cost and muscle activity, and we performed an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine significant changes across load conditions for metabolic cost and applied power. ResultsExoskeleton assistance reduced the metabolic cost of walking relative to walking in the device without assistance for all tested conditions. Exoskeleton assistance reduced the metabolic cost of walking by 47% with no load (p = 0.02), 35% with the light load (p = 0.03), and 43% with the heavy load (p = 0.02). The smaller metabolic reduction with the light load may be due to insufficient participant training or lack of optimizer convergence. The total applied positive power was similar for all tested conditions, and the positive knee power decreased slightly as load increased. Optimized torque timing parameters were consistent across participants and load conditions while optimized magnitude parameters varied. ConclusionsWhole-leg exoskeleton assistance can reduce the metabolic cost of walking while carrying a range of loads. The consistent optimized timing parameters suggest that metabolic cost reductions are sensitive to torque timing. The variable torque magnitude parameters could imply that torque magnitude should be customized to the individual, or that there is a range of useful torque magnitudes. Future work should test whether applying the load to the exoskeleton rather than the person's torso results in larger benefits.

A hip–knee–ankle exoskeleton emulator for studying gait assistance

2020 ◽  
pp. 027836492096145
Author(s):  
Gwendolyn M Bryan ◽  
Patrick W Franks ◽  
Stefan C Klein ◽  
Robert J Peuchen ◽  
Steven H Collins
Keyword(s):  
Computer Aided Design ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Knee Extension ◽  
Loop Optimization ◽  
Human In The Loop ◽  
Bill Of Materials ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Ankle Exoskeleton ◽  
Hip Flexion ◽  
Aided Design

Lower-limb exoskeletons could improve the mobility of people with disabilities, older adults, workers, first responders, and military personnel. Despite recent advances, few products are commercially available and exoskeleton research is still often limited by hardware constraints. Many promising multi-joint assistance strategies, especially those with high-torque and high-power components, have yet to be tested because they are beyond the capabilities of current devices. To study these untested assistance strategies, we present a hip–knee–ankle exoskeleton emulator that can apply high torques and powers that match or exceed those observed in uphill running. The system has powerful off-board motors that actuate a 13.5 kg exoskeleton end effector worn by the user. It can apply up to 200 Nm of torque in hip flexion, hip extension, and ankle plantarflexion, 250 Nm of torque in knee extension, and 140 Nm of torque in knee flexion, with over 4.5 kW of power at each joint and a closed-loop torque bandwidth of at least 18 Hz in each direction of actuation. The exoskeleton is compliant in unactuated directions, adjustable for a wide range of users and comfortable during walking and running. When paired with human-in-the-loop optimization, we expect that this system will identify new assistance strategies to improve human mobility. A complete computer-aided design (CAD) model of the exoskeleton and a bill of materials are included and available for download.

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