Human-Centric Optimal Design of Biomimetic Exosuit for Loaded Walking: A Simulation Study

Abstract

Exoskeletons can augment the capacity of humans and restore mobility. Design of exoskeletons has been primarily experimental. The effect of different actuation and control strategies are learned from experiments. Human device interaction can be considered in the design phase using biomechanical simulations and it can provide optimal designs. In this study, we use musculoskeletal modeling and simulation to find optimal actuator configuration of exosuits for reducing the metabolic cost of walking with heavy loads. Computed muscle control algorithm was used to compute the muscle excitations and actuator controls required to achieve experimental kinematics. A muscle energy expenditure model was used to estimate the reduction in metabolic cost with each actuator configuration. Results show that biarticular actuator configurations can provide higher metabolic cost reduction compared to uniarticular configurations.