HOW CAN ACTUATION TIMING AND MAGNITUDE OF A BILATERAL SEMI-RIGID HIP EXOSKELETON OPTIMIZE METABOLIC COST

Presenter Information

Arash Mohammadzadeh Gonabadi, University of Nebraska at OmahaFollow
Prokopios Antonellis, Department of Neurology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR USAFollow
Sara Myers, Department of Biomechanics, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE USAFollow
Iraklis Pipinos, Department of Surgery, Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE USAFollow
Philippe Malcolm, Department of Biomechanics, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE USAFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0002-4535-0325

Advisor Information

Philippe Malcolm

Location

MBSC Ballroom - Poster #408 - G

Presentation Type

Poster

Start Date

4-3-2022 12:30 PM

End Date

4-3-2022 1:45 PM

Abstract

Semi-rigid exoskeletons could combine some advantages of rigid and soft approaches. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of timing and magnitude of assistance from a semi-rigid hip exoskeleton. For ten participants, we tested ten conditions that were combinations of 5 different end-timings, ranging from 21% to 49%, and 2 different moment magnitudes ranging from 0.06 to 0.12 Nm.kg^-1. The participants walked in two reference conditions: a condition without actuation and a condition without the exoskeleton. A semi-rigid hip exoskeleton could alter metabolic rate. However, to produce a net assistive effect, it is necessary to design a lighter, more conforming device. In both actuation magnitude levels, the optimal end-timing was close to the maximum range, similar to findings from another study with human-in-the-loop optimization of a soft hip exosuit. This could indicate that the optimal timing with a semi-rigid device is not very different from a fully-soft prototype.

Scheduling Link

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