Harvard scientists have developed a soft exosuit that could assist soldiers, fire fighters and rescue workers to traverse through difficult terrains without getting too tired.
The mobile multi-joint exosuit could also enhance mobility and quality of living for people suffering from neurodegenerative disorders and for the elderly.
When a wearer begins walking, the system measures the power and gradually adjusts controller parameters until it finds those that maximise the exosuit's effects based on the wearer's individual gait mechanics.
An automatic tuning method to customise the suit's assistance based on how an individual's body is responding to it, and demonstrated significant energy savings.
The multi-joint soft exosuit consists of textile apparel components worn at the waist, thighs, and calves, according to the study published in the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation (JNER).
Through an optimised mobile actuation system worn near the waist and integrated into a military rucksack, mechanical forces are transmitted via cables that are guided through the exosuit's soft components to ankle and hip joints.
This way, the exosuit adds power to the ankles and hips to assist with leg movements during the walking cycle.
"We have updated all components in this new version of the multi-joint soft exosuit: the apparel is more user-friendly, easy to put on and accommodating to different body shapes; the actuation is more robust, lighter, quieter and smaller; and the control system allows us to apply forces to hips and ankles more robustly and consistently," said David Perry, from Harvard University in the US.
"We evaluated the metabolic parameters in the seven study participants wearing exosuits that underwent the tuning process and found that the method reduced the metabolic cost of walking by about 14.8 per cent compared to walking without the device and by about 22 per cent compared to walking with the device unpowered," said Sangjun Lee, a graduate student at Harvard.
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