Bio-Inspired Balance Control Assistance Can Reduce Metabolic Energy Consumption in Human Walking

Zhao, Guoping; Sharbafi, Maziar Ahmad; Vlutters, Mark; Asseldonk, Edwin H.F. van; Seyfarth, André

doi:10.1109/tnsre.2019.2929544

Cited by 24 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…This method was implemented on the LOPES II exoskeleton to assist human walking (Zhao et al, 2017). The results revealed that the force feedback system could reduce the human metabolic cost of walking (Zhao et al, 2019), as well as the consumed power in the assistive device. Inspired by these findings, the main contribution of the FMCA approach is to introduce a new technique to determine the desired ankle impedance using online GRF feedback.…”

Section: E6-2mentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuromechanical force-based control of a powered prosthetic foot

et al. 2020

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This article presents a novel neuromechanical force-based control strategy called FMCA (force modulated compliant ankle), to control a powered prosthetic foot. FMCA modulates the torque, based on sensory feedback, similar to neuromuscular control approaches. Instead of using a muscle reflex-based approach, FMCA directly exploits the vertical ground reaction force as sensory feedback to modulate the ankle joint impedance. For evaluation, we first demonstrated how FMCA can predict human-like ankle torque for different walking speeds. Second, we implemented the FMCA in a neuromuscular transtibial amputee walking simulation model to validate if the approach can be used to achieve stable walking and to compare the performance to a neuromuscular reflex-based controller that is already used in a powered ankle. Compared to the neuromuscular model-based approach, the FMCA is a simple solution with a sufficient push-off that can provide stable walking. Third, to assess the ability of the FMCA to generate human-like ankle biomechanics during walking at the preferred speed, we implemented this strategy in a powered prosthetic foot and performed experiments with a non-amputee subject. The results confirm that, for this subject, FMCA can be used to mimic the non-amputee reference ankle torque and the reference ankle angle. The findings of this study support the applicability and advantages of a new bioinspired control approach for assisting amputees. Future experiments should investigate the applicability to other walking speeds and the applicability to the target population.

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Section: E6-2mentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuromechanical force-based control of a powered prosthetic foot

et al. 2020

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“…Recent studies with exoskeletons that developed "assistwhen-needed" approaches to support balance were primarily focused on hip control [15][16][17]. The proposed controllers, provide hip torque to adjust the stepping location, either by supporting hip abduction-adduction (step-width adaptation) or hip flexion-extension (step-length adaptation).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The proposed controllers, provide hip torque to adjust the stepping location, either by supporting hip abduction-adduction (step-width adaptation) or hip flexion-extension (step-length adaptation). The assistance is triggered and modulated when perturbations are detected by using different feedback signals, such as the hip angle [15], the extrapolated center of mass (XcoM) [16], or the estimated leg force [17]. These approaches are not intended to replace human control, but rather to augment the user's balance by providing the re-quired assistance in synergy with the human wearer just after the onset of an imminent fall.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cooperative Ankle-Exoskeleton Control Can Reduce Effort to Recover Balance After Unexpected Disturbances During Walking

Bayón

Keemink

Mierlo

et al. 2021

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BackgroundIn the last two decades, lower-limb exoskeletons have been developed to assist human standing and locomotion. One of the ongoing challenges is the cooperation between the exoskeleton balance support and the wearer control. Here we present a cooperative ankle-exoskeleton control strategy to assist in balance recovery after unexpected disturbances during walking, which is inspired on human balance responses.MethodsWe evaluated the novel controller in ten able-bodied participants wearing the ankle modules of the Symbitron exoskeleton. During walking, participants received unexpected forward pushes with different timing and magnitude at the pelvis level, while being supported or not by the robotic assistance provided by the controller.ResultsThe results show that the controller was able to reduce participants’ effort while keeping similar ability to counteract and withstand the balance disturbances (average reduction of 10.09% in soleus activity, 5.20% in gastrocnemius medialis activity and 6.67% in gastrocnemius lateralis activity for the stance leg).ConclusionThe proposed controller was able to cooperate with the able-bodied participants in counteracting perturbations, contributing to the state-of-the-art of bio-inspired cooperative ankle exoskeleton controllers for supporting dynamic balance. In the future, this control strategy may be used in exoskeletons to support and improve balance control in users with motor disabilities.

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“…50 Template-based control concept of GRF feedback: In [36], the force 51 modulated hip compliance (FMCH model) was introduced as a template for posture 52 control in which the GRF (ground reaction force) was used to tune the hip joint 53 compliance. This method was later implemented in the LOPES II exoskeleton to assist 54 human walking [37,38]. The results revealed the advantages of using the force feedback 55 in reducing the human metabolic cost of walking.…”

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“…will be reflected in the GRF patterns, our ABC control approach has sufficient sensory 602 information to adapt. 2) Actuation level: The force (GRF) modulated compliance 603 model which is based on the VPP concept was already applied for control of LOPES-II 604 exoskeleton in our previous studies [37,38]. In addition to lack of swing phase control in 605 the LOPES experiments, for implementing the FMC (GRF-based control) in such a 606 rigid exoskeleton, the two single joint actuators were used to emulate the biarticular 607 actuation.…”

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From a biological template model to gait assistance with an exosuit

Firouzi

Davoodi

Bahrami

et al. 2020

Preprint

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By invention of soft wearable assistive devices, known as exosuits, a new aspect in assisting unimpaired subjects is introduced. In this study, we designed and developed an exosuit with compliant biarticular thigh actuators, called BAExo. Unlike common method of using rigid actuators in exosuits, the BAExo is made of serial elastic actuators (SEA) resembling artificial muscles (AM). This bioinsipred design is complemented by the novel control concept of using the ground reaction force to adjust these AMs' stiffness in the stance phase. By locking the motors in the swing phase the SEAs will be simplified to passive biarticular springs, which is sufficient for leg swinging. The key concept in our design and control approach is synthesizing human locomotion to develop assistive device, instead of copying the outputs of human motor control. Analysing human walking assistance using an experiment-based OpenSim model demonstrates the advantages of the proposed design and control of BAExo, regarding metabolic cost reduction and efficiency of the system. In addition, pilot experiments with the recently developed BAExo hardware support the applicability of the introduced method. Author summaryAging and mobility of elderly people are of crucial concern in developed countries. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that by the middle of the 21st century, about 80 million Americans will be 65 or older. According to the group's research, medical costs resulting from falls by the elderly are expected to approach $32.4 billion by 2020. Therefore, assistance of elderly people and making the assistive devices more intelligent is a need in near future. However, this is not the only application of assistive devices. Exosuits, as soft wearable robots, introduced a new aspect in assisting a large range of population, even healthy young people. We introduce a novel design and control method for a new exosuit. As the research in the field of wearable assistive devices is growing in recent years and its application in daily life becomes more evident for the society, such studies with a unique view in design and control could have a significant impact. Our proposed biologically inspired approach could be potentially applied to other exosuits. Introduction 1 Lower limb exoskeletons for assisting people with decreased locomotion abilities has 2 attracted the attention of researchers [1] and the healthcare industry [2, 3]. Assistive 3 March 21, 2020 1/24 6 about aging. For example, by aging, muscle force and power decrease and to reduce the 7 cost of elderly and patients locomotion, assistive devices are demanded [6, 7]. 8 One of the common goals of assistive device designers is to reduce the metabolic cost 9 of locomotion [8]. This feature is important in all above-mentioned cases and situations. 10 In the last couple of years researchers have succeeded in significantly improving the 11 metabolic cost reduction in human gaits using powered exoskeletons [1,[9][10][11]. 12Powered exoskeletons can be categorized as (1) traditional ones with rigid stru...

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Bio-Inspired Balance Control Assistance Can Reduce Metabolic Energy Consumption in Human Walking

Cited by 24 publications

References 59 publications

Neuromechanical force-based control of a powered prosthetic foot

Neuromechanical force-based control of a powered prosthetic foot

Cooperative Ankle-Exoskeleton Control Can Reduce Effort to Recover Balance After Unexpected Disturbances During Walking

From a biological template model to gait assistance with an exosuit

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