Mahmoudi Asghar, Rinderknecht Stephan, Seyfarth Andre, Sharbafi Maziar A
Institute for Mechatronic Systems, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany.
Lauflabor Locomotion Lab, Institute of Sports Science, Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany.
Wearable Technol. 2025 Jul 10;6:e30. doi: 10.1017/wtc.2025.10016. eCollection 2025.
Designing optimal assistive wearable devices is a complex task, often addressed using human-in-the-loop optimization and biomechanical modeling approaches. However, as the number of design parameters increases, the growing complexity and dimensionality of the design space make identifying optimal solutions more challenging. Predictive simulation, which models movement without relying on experimental data, provides a powerful tool for anticipating the effects of assistive devices on the human body and guiding the design process. This study aims to introduce a design optimization platform that leverages predictive simulation of movement to identify the optimal parameters for assistive wearable devices. The proposed approach is specifically capable of dealing with the challenges posed by high-dimensional design spaces. The proposed framework employs a two-layered optimization approach, with the inner loop solving the predictive simulation of movement and the outer loop identifying the optimal design parameters of the device. It is utilized for designing a knee exoskeleton with a damper to assist level-ground and downhill gait, achieving a significant reduction in normalized knee load peak value by for level-ground and by for downhill walking, along with a decrease in the cost of transport. The results indicate that the optimal device applies damping torques to the knee joint during the Stance phase of both movement scenarios, with different optimal damping coefficients. The optimization framework also demonstrates its capability to reliably and efficiently identify the optimal solution. It offers valuable insight for the initial design of assistive wearable devices and supports designers in efficiently determining the optimal parameter set.
设计最佳的可穿戴辅助设备是一项复杂的任务,通常采用人在回路优化和生物力学建模方法来解决。然而,随着设计参数数量的增加,设计空间日益增长的复杂性和维度使得识别最优解决方案更具挑战性。预测模拟不依赖实验数据对运动进行建模,为预测辅助设备对人体的影响以及指导设计过程提供了一个强大的工具。本研究旨在引入一个设计优化平台,该平台利用运动的预测模拟来确定可穿戴辅助设备的最优参数。所提出的方法特别能够应对高维设计空间带来的挑战。所提出的框架采用两层优化方法,内环解决运动的预测模拟问题,外环确定设备的最优设计参数。它被用于设计一种带有阻尼器的膝关节外骨骼,以辅助平地和下坡行走步态,平地行走时标准化膝关节负荷峰值显著降低,下坡行走时也有降低,同时运输成本也有所下降。结果表明,最优设备在两种运动场景的站立阶段都对膝关节施加阻尼扭矩,但具有不同的最优阻尼系数。该优化框架还展示了其可靠且高效地识别最优解决方案的能力。它为可穿戴辅助设备的初始设计提供了有价值的见解,并支持设计师有效地确定最优参数集。