Construction and Control of a Cable-Driven Gait Assistance Exosuit Based on Kinematic Synergies

According to the most recent report by the United Nations dated 2019, the population above the age of 65 years globally was 9% and was projected to reach 16% by the year 2050. Aging tends to give rise to problems in mobility as muscles become weaker, joints become stressed, and the body itself slows down overall. This work describes the design of a soft exoskeleton otherwise known as an exosuit, with the aim of aiding the mobility of the wearer. The initial prototype will be designed to help people who have reduced mobility and/or abnormal gait. The entire exosuit will be designed around on the basis of kinematic synergies, which decodes the information contained in the subject’s kinematics so as to reduce the number of actuators per leg, thereby reducing the overall requirements for actuation and the total weight of the device. The primary challenges of this project will be the implementation of kinematic synergies in an exosuit driven by motors and cables, detection of gait phases, as well as optimising the total control scheme. Once an appropriate solution is achieved, the same will be implemented to construct a prototype exosuit, and its effectiveness will be evaluated.