Shedding Light on How Humans Walk with Robots
From: ECN Magazine - 05/25/2017

Learning how to walk is difficult for toddlers to master; it's even harder
for adults who are recovering from a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or other
condition, requiring months of intensive, often frustrating physical therapy.
With the recent boom of the robotic exoskeleton industry, more and more
patients are being strapped into machines that apply forces to their legs as
they walk, gently prodding them to modify their movements by lengthening
their strides, straightening their hips, and bending their knees. But, are
all patients benefiting from this kind of treatment? A group of scientists
led by Paolo Bonato, PhD, Associate Faculty member at the Wyss Institute for
Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Director of the
Motion Analysis Laboratory at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, has
discovered a crucial caveat for rehabilitative exoskeletons: humans whose
lower limbs are fastened to a typical clinical robot only modify their gait
if the forces the robot applies threaten their walking stability.

Read the entire article at:
https://www.ecnmag.com/news/2017/05/shedding-light-how-humans-walk-robots
https://wyss.harvard.edu/shedding-light-on-how-humans-walk-with-robots (with video 1:36)

Link:
Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering
https://wyss.harvard.edu

Related:
Wyss Institute, ReWalk Collaborate on Wearable Exosuits for Limited Mobility Patients
https://www.mdtmag.com/news/2016/05/wyss-institute-rewalk-collaborate-wearable-exosuits-limited-mobility-patients