Adaptive hip exoskeleton control using heart rate feedback reduces oxygen cost during ecological locomotion.

ABSTRACT: Despite their potential, exoskeletons have not reached widespread adoption in daily life, partly due to the challenge of seamlessly adapting assistance across various tasks and environments. Task-specific designs, reliance on complex sensing and extensive data-driven training often limit the practicality of the existing control strategies. To address this challenge, we introduce an adaptive control strategy for hip exoskeletons, emphasizing minimal sensing and ease of implementation. Using only insole pressure and heart rate (HR) sensing, the controller modulates assistance across various locomotor tasks. We evaluated this strategy with twelve able-bodied participants in a real-world scenario including level walking, stairs, and inclines. The controller successfully adapted assistance timi

SUBMITTER: Manzoori AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11695581 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature