Autonomous active ankle exo-skeleton devices provide metabolic cost reduction

In this thesis, I designed and conducted an experiment that looks to confirm the metabolic cost decrease associated with the usage of an autonomous active ankle exoskeleton. The primary method to identify the associated metabolic costs was through the comparison of cardiovascular and respiratory activity during gait with and without the use of the exoskeleton. Rates of oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, and pulse were recorded for both control and experimental trials. Using these physiological responses, associated energy expenditure rates were calculated. The results of these trials suggest the presence of a quantifiable reduction in energy expenditure rate seen by the implementation of an autonomous active ankle exoskeleton in flat-terrain walking protocols. Additionally, the time to convergence, defined as the time a particular data-set takes to reach steady-state, was calculated using the same physiological responses. The results of this observation suggest that the time to convergence of metabolic indicators is much shorter than previously assumed. Finally, the potential benefits of utilizing a custom exoskeleton interface are quantified and elaborated.

Name thesis:degree_name

Bachelor

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Koo, Bon Ho Brandon.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hugh Herr.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123284

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/123284