Simulating exoskeletons to assist walking : tools and applications
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Wearable robotic exoskeletons provide a promising opportunity to improve human mobility. Recent advances in assistive technology have produced reductions in energy cost of walking, but exoskeleton design can often be a time-consuming and unintuitive process. Musculoskeletal simulation is a promising approach for speeding device design by revealing how exoskeleton assistance affects muscle behavior and alters walking motions. However, few studies have yet to effectively utilize simulations for device design, and simulation pipelines are often difficult to recreate and share. This dissertation work includes three projects aimed at developing better simulation tools and using them to design exoskeleton assistance. First, my labmate Chris Dembia and I created OpenSim Moco, a flexible software package that makes it easy to create simulations for biomechanics research using optimal control. Second, I used simulations to show that exoskeletons that assist multiple joints can effectively reduce the metabolic cost of walking using a simplified control strategy. Finally, I used simulations to reveal how exoskeleton torques affect the motion of the center of mass during walking. This work can be used by designers to make informed decisions when developing exoskeleton devices to reduce metabolic cost or improve walking stability. The simulations and software I created are freely available for other researchers to build upon and to accelerate future work.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2022; ©2022 |
| Publication date | 2022; 2022 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Bianco, Nicholas August |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Delp, Scott |
| Thesis advisor | Delp, Scott |
| Thesis advisor | Collins, Steve (Steven Hartley) |
| Thesis advisor | Liu, Cheng-Yun Karen, 1977- |
| Degree committee member | Collins, Steve (Steven Hartley) |
| Degree committee member | Liu, Cheng-Yun Karen, 1977- |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Mechanical Engineering |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Nicholas August Bianco. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2022. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/jn856jx5670 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2022 by Nicholas August Bianco
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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