Impact of elastic ankle exoskeleton stiffness on neuromechanics and energetics of human walking across multiple speeds.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Elastic ankle exoskeletons with intermediate stiffness springs in parallel with the human plantarflexors can reduce the metabolic cost of walking by ~ 7% at 1.25 m s^- 1. In a move toward 'real-world' application, we examined whether the unpowered approach has metabolic benefit across a range of walking speeds, and if so, whether the optimal exoskeleton stiffness was speed dependent. We hypothesized that, for any walking speed, there would be an optimal ankle exoskeleton stiffness - not too compliant and not too stiff - that minimizes the user's metabolic cost. In addition, we expected the optimal stiffness to increase with walking speed.

Methods

Eleven participants walked on a level treadmill at 1.25, 1.50, and 1.75 m s^- 1 while we used a sta

SUBMITTER: Nuckols RW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7294672 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature