The George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2020 Feb 19;17(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s12984-020-00663-9.
Since the early 2000s, researchers have been trying to develop lower-limb exoskeletons that augment human mobility by reducing the metabolic cost of walking and running versus without a device. In 2013, researchers finally broke this 'metabolic cost barrier'. We analyzed the literature through December 2019, and identified 23 studies that demonstrate exoskeleton designs that improved human walking and running economy beyond capable without a device. Here, we reviewed these studies and highlighted key innovations and techniques that enabled these devices to surpass the metabolic cost barrier and steadily improve user walking and running economy from 2013 to nearly 2020. These studies include, physiologically-informed targeting of lower-limb joints; use of off-board actuators to rapidly prototype exoskeleton controllers; mechatronic designs of both active and passive systems; and a renewed focus on human-exoskeleton interface design. Lastly, we highlight emerging trends that we anticipate will further augment wearable-device performance and pose the next grand challenges facing exoskeleton technology for augmenting human mobility.
自 21 世纪初以来，研究人员一直在努力开发下肢外骨骼，通过降低与无设备相比行走和跑步的代谢成本来增强人类的移动能力。2013 年，研究人员终于突破了“代谢成本障碍”。我们分析了截至 2019 年 12 月的文献，并确定了 23 项研究，这些研究表明外骨骼设计在不使用设备的情况下改善了人类的行走和跑步经济性。在这里，我们回顾了这些研究，并强调了使这些设备能够超越代谢成本障碍并稳步提高用户行走和跑步经济性的关键创新和技术。这些研究包括：下肢关节的生理信息靶向；使用离轴执行器快速原型化外骨骼控制器；主动和被动系统的机电设计；以及重新关注人机界面设计。最后，我们强调了一些新兴趋势，我们预计这些趋势将进一步提高可穿戴设备的性能，并为增强人类移动能力的外骨骼技术带来下一个重大挑战。
