Mechanics and energetics of level walking with powered ankle exoskeletons

Abstract

SUMMARYRobotic lower limb exoskeletons that can alter joint mechanical power output are novel tools for studying the relationship between the mechanics and energetics of human locomotion. We built pneumatically powered ankle exoskeletons controlled by the user's own soleus electromyography (i.e. proportional myoelectric control) to determine whether mechanical assistance at the ankle joint could reduce the metabolic cost of level, steady-speed human walking. We hypothesized that subjects would reduce their net metabolic power in proportion to the average positive mechanical power delivered by the bilateral ankle exoskeletons. Nine healthy individuals completed three 30 min sessions walking at 1.25 m s–1 while wearing the exoskeletons. Over the three sessions, subjects' net metabolic energy expenditure during powered walking progressed from +7% to –10% of that during unpowered walking. With practice, subjects significantly reduced soleus muscle activity (by ∼28% root mean square EMG, P<0.0001) and negative exoskeleton mechanical power (–0.09 W kg–1 at the beginning of session 1 and –0.03 W kg–1 at the end of session 3; P=0.005). Ankle joint kinematics returned to similar patterns to those observed during unpowered walking. At the end of the third session, the powered exoskeletons delivered ∼63% of the average ankle joint positive mechanical power and ∼22% of the total positive mechanical power generated by all of the joints summed (ankle, knee and hip) during unpowered walking. Decreases in total joint positive mechanical power due to powered ankle assistance (∼22%) were not proportional to reductions in net metabolic power (∼10%). The `apparent efficiency' of the ankle joint muscle–tendon system during human walking (∼0.61) was much greater than reported values of the `muscular efficiency' of positive mechanical work for human muscle (∼0.10–0.34). High ankle joint `apparent efficiency' suggests that recoiling Achilles' tendon contributes a significant amount of ankle joint positive power during the push-off phase of walking in humans.