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Author:

David W. ROSEN (1); Christina Youngmi CHOI (2)

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Abstract:

Walking is an important component in many activities of daily living. Particularly for older adults, the ability to maintain balance and walk without falls contributes to the likelihood of remaining independently mobile. There are many classes of mobility aids from canes and walkers to wheelchairs to robotics. While walking has been studied for centuries, the factors that contribute to successful locomotion are many, complex and can be difficult to properly incorporate into a successful device intervention. In this paper we propose an approach for designing assistive wearables that aid walking stability with the consideration of human factors and ergonomics (HFE). The approach is derived from a more general configuration design process from engineering. It integrates the HFE into the engineering design process to augment biomechanical models of human gait, maneuverability, trunk control during walking, and intervention strategies that improve stability with requirements for comfort, ease of use, and wearer confidence. A proposed design method is presented briefly along with concepts of solution configuration using elements from a design library. We explore a sample exoskeleton concept that passively provides restoring forces to the torso and sketch out its components. This approach is informed from a wide range of studies that investigated active and passive exoskeletons for the torso, pelvis, leg, and ankle regions. Two variations of the concept are proposed that comfortably conform to the wearer's size and shape, do not interfere with desired activities, are easy to don and doff, and improve walking stability.

Keywords:

Design method, Walking stability, Wearables, Exoskeleton