Harvard College

Ye Ding

Conor James Walsh

Ignacio Galiana Bujanda

Alan Thomas Asbeck

Diana A Wagner

Robert J Dyer

Michael Wehner

Arnar Freyr Larusson

Kai Schmidt

Brendan Thomas Quinlivan

Sangjun Lee

Kathleen Elizabeth O'Donnell

Stefano Marco Maria De Rossi

Danielle L Nathanson

Christopher J Siviy

Nicolas Menard

Tim-Fabian Moser

Jinwon Chung

Michael T Rouleau

Scott Kuindersma

Myunghee Kim

Jinsoo Kim

Robert Joseph Dyer

Nicolas P Menard

Kathleen E O'DONNELL

Stafano Marco Maria De Rossi

Alan T Asbeck

Wearable devices protect against musculoskeletal injuries and enhance performance. Systems and methods provide wearable devices to assist with human motion during physical activities, such as performing movements (e.g., lifting) and holding static poses (e.g., crouching, or holding a tool while working overhead). Materials, constructions, and system architectures allow the wearable devices to be worn over, under, or integrated into clothing for extended periods of time to improve performance or reduce risk of injury. Sensors may be included in the wearable devices to detect various activities, motions, and postures of the wearer, and various active and semi-active controls approaches may leverage sensor information to provide tailored assistance to individual users. Various controls optimization techniques ensure the wearable devices operate at peak efficiency.

Wearable devices for protecting against musculoskeletal injuries and enhancing performance

A wearable system includes an exosuit or exoskeleton; an actuator(s) configured to generate force in the exosuit or exoskeleton; a sensor(s) configured to measure information for evaluating an objective function associated with providing physical assistance to the wearer, an interaction between the wearer and the exosuit or exoskeleton, and/or an operation of the exosuit or exoskeleton; and a controller(s) configured to: actuate the actuator(s) according to an actuation profile(s), evaluate the objective function based on the information measured by the at least one sensor to determine a resulting change in the objective function, adjust a parameter(s) of the actuation profile(s) based on the resulting change in the objective function, and continue to actuate, evaluate, and adjust to optimize the actuation parameter(s) for maximizing or minimizing the objective function. Wearable systems configured to assist or promote an improvement in the wearer's gait and optimized using a gradient descent or Bayesian approach.

Controls optimization for wearable systems

In at least one aspect, there is provided a system for generating force about one or more joints including a soft exosuit having a plurality of anchor elements and at least one connection element disposed between the plurality of anchor elements. The system also includes at least one sensor to determine a force the at least one connection element or at least one of the plurality of anchor elements and to output signals relating to the force, at least one actuator configured to change a tension in the soft exosuit and at least one controller configured to receive the signals output from the at least one sensor and actuate the at least one actuator responsive to the received signals.

Soft exosuit for assistance with human motion

Systems and methods for providing assistance with human motion, including hip and ankle motion, are disclosed. Sensor feedback is used to determine an appropriate profile for actuating a wearable robotic system to deliver desired joint motion assistance. Variations in user kinetics and kinematics, as well as construction, materials, and fit of the wearable robotic system, are considered in order to provide assistance tailored to the user and current activity.

A motion control system includes an actuator having an actuation member, the actuation member having a proximal end attached to the actuator on a first side of a joint and a distal end attached to an anchor element attachment point on a second side of the joint. A first sensor is configured to output signals defining a gait cycle and a second sensor is configured to output signals representing a tensile force in the at least one actuation member. A controller receives the output signals from the sensors and actuates the actuator, during a first portion of the gait cycle, to apply a force greater than a predetermined threshold tensile force to the anchor element attachment point via the actuation member to generate a beneficial moment about the joint and to automatically actuate the actuator.

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Cambridge, MA, United States of America

Ye Ding