IMU-based assistance modulation in upper limb soft wearable exosuits.

Abstract

Soft exosuits have advantages over their rigid counterparts in terms of portability, transparency and ergonomics. Our previous work has shown that a soft, fabric-based exosuit, actuated by an electric motor and a Bowden cable, reduced the muscular effort of the user when flexing the elbow. This previous exosuit used a gravity compensation algorithm with the assumption that the shoulder was adducted at the trunk. In this investigation, the shoulder elevation angle was incorporated into the gravity compensation control via inertial measurement units (IMUs). We assessed our updated gravity compensation model with four healthy, male subjects (age: $26.2 \pm 1.19$ years) who followed an elbow flexion reference trajectory which reached three amplitudes $(25^{\circ}, 50^{\circ}, 75^{\circ})$ and was repeated at three shoulder angles $(25^{\circ}, 50^{\circ}, 75^{\circ})$. To assess the performance of the exosuit; the smoothness, tracking accuracy and muscle activity were investigated during each motion. We found a reduction of biceps brachii activation (24.3%) in the powered condition compared to the unpowered condition. In addition, there was an improvement in kinematic smoothness (0.83%) and a reduction of tracking accuracy (26.5%) in the powered condition with respect to the unpowered condition. We can conclude that the updated gravity compensation algorithm has increased the number of supported movements by considering the shoulder elevation, which has improved the usability of the device.