Design and Biomechanical Evaluation of a Lightweight Low-Complexity Soft Bilateral Ankle Exoskeleton

TL;DR

This paper introduces a lightweight, soft bilateral ankle exoskeleton designed for plantarflexion assistance that is compatible with any shoe, demonstrating minimal impact on natural gait and promising comfort and effectiveness.

Contribution

The work presents a novel low-complexity, soft ankle exoskeleton with a universal shoe attachment, showing minimal gait interference and potential for effective assistance.

Findings

No significant difference in gait with exoskeleton in zero-torque mode

Device is compliant and comfortable for users

Promising preliminary results for gait assistance

Abstract

Many people could benefit from exoskeleton assistance during gait, for either medical or nonmedical purposes. But exoskeletons bring added mass and structure, which in turn require compensating for. In this work, we present a lightweight, low-complexity, soft bilateral ankle exoskeleton for plantarflexion assistance, with a shoe attachment design that can be mounted on top of any pair of shoes. Experimental tests show no significant difference in lower limb kinematics and kinetics when wearing the exoskeleton in zero-torque mode relative to not wearing an exoskeleton, showing that our device does not obstruct healthy gait, and proving it as a compliant and comfortable device, promising to provide effective assistance. Hence, a control system was developed, and additional tests are underway.