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06-28-2017, 03:40 AM
New Way to Optimize Exoskeletons Helps to Drastically Improve Their Efficiency
https://www.medgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/exoskeleton-setup-2-300x236.jpghttps://www.medgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/exoskeleton-setup.jpg
Exoskeletons that help people with mobility issues have been in development for quite some time **w and some even been approved by the FDA for at-home use (https://www.medgadget.com/2014/06/rewalk-exoskeleton-system-cleared-by-fda-for-home-use.html).آ*Though there’s already a great deal of tech**logy built into these types of devices, they remain clunky, imperfect, and produce a gait that resembles that of robots in old science fiction ******.آ*Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have been working to change this by monitoring how the exoskeleton impacts its user and adjusting differentآ*parameters to produce the mostآ*efficient walking style.
The team actually monitored the metabolic rate, via indirect calorimetry, of healthy subjects while they were wearing aآ*powered ankleآ*orthosis. The robotic brace would change when, how much, and how intensely it would power each step, while a number of body worn sensors would calculate the person’s metabolic rate. After about an hour of running through different modes and using the brace to run, walk, and carry a heavy object, the system improved its efficiency by an average of 24%. This is remarkably impressive, and while the study is limited to a single device in a small number of subjects, there’s great potential that this kind of personalized tuning can be translated to other exoskeletons.
Here’s a short video from the American Association for the Advancement of Science:
Study in Science: Human-in-the-loop optimization of exoskeleton assistance during walking… (http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6344/1280)…
(hat tip: Engadget (https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/23/genetic-algorithm-customizes-exoskeletons/))
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Medgadget?d=yIl2AUoC8zA (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Medgadget?a=a6z3d1z5eNI:4ZBMaKi81ac:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Medgadget?d=qj6IDK7rITs (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Medgadget?a=a6z3d1z5eNI:4ZBMaKi81ac:qj6IDK7rITs) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Medgadget?i=a6z3d1z5eNI:4ZBMaKi81ac:gIN9vFwOqvQ (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Medgadget?a=a6z3d1z5eNI:4ZBMaKi81ac:gIN9vFwOqvQ)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Medgadget/~4/a6z3d1z5eNI
https://www.medgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/exoskeleton-setup-2-300x236.jpghttps://www.medgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/exoskeleton-setup.jpg
Exoskeletons that help people with mobility issues have been in development for quite some time **w and some even been approved by the FDA for at-home use (https://www.medgadget.com/2014/06/rewalk-exoskeleton-system-cleared-by-fda-for-home-use.html).آ*Though there’s already a great deal of tech**logy built into these types of devices, they remain clunky, imperfect, and produce a gait that resembles that of robots in old science fiction ******.آ*Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have been working to change this by monitoring how the exoskeleton impacts its user and adjusting differentآ*parameters to produce the mostآ*efficient walking style.
The team actually monitored the metabolic rate, via indirect calorimetry, of healthy subjects while they were wearing aآ*powered ankleآ*orthosis. The robotic brace would change when, how much, and how intensely it would power each step, while a number of body worn sensors would calculate the person’s metabolic rate. After about an hour of running through different modes and using the brace to run, walk, and carry a heavy object, the system improved its efficiency by an average of 24%. This is remarkably impressive, and while the study is limited to a single device in a small number of subjects, there’s great potential that this kind of personalized tuning can be translated to other exoskeletons.
Here’s a short video from the American Association for the Advancement of Science:
Study in Science: Human-in-the-loop optimization of exoskeleton assistance during walking… (http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6344/1280)…
(hat tip: Engadget (https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/23/genetic-algorithm-customizes-exoskeletons/))
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Medgadget?d=yIl2AUoC8zA (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Medgadget?a=a6z3d1z5eNI:4ZBMaKi81ac:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Medgadget?d=qj6IDK7rITs (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Medgadget?a=a6z3d1z5eNI:4ZBMaKi81ac:qj6IDK7rITs) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Medgadget?i=a6z3d1z5eNI:4ZBMaKi81ac:gIN9vFwOqvQ (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Medgadget?a=a6z3d1z5eNI:4ZBMaKi81ac:gIN9vFwOqvQ)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Medgadget/~4/a6z3d1z5eNI