Soft clothing-like exosuits to increase the wearer’s strength and endurance

The soft exosuit uses a combination of sensors, including a hyperelastic strain sensor (1) and sensors around the wearer’s hip, calf and ankle (2)-(5), all secured by straps. Flexible membranes cover sensors and straps (6).

Lightweight suit to increase the wearer’s strength and endurance

For decades engineers have built exoskeletons that use rigid links in parallel with the biological anatomy to increase the wearer’s strength and endurance, and to protect them from injury and physical stress. In recent years, a number of systems have been developed that show strong commercial potential for helping spinal-cord injury patients walk, or helping soldiers carry heavy loads. In these systems, there is an exoskeleton structure in parallel with the wearer’s skeletal structure that is typically connected at a few locations on the body using straps or belts. These devices use motors or elastic materials to assist with joint movements, thereby enhancing human power. However, exoskeletons often fail to allow the wearer to perform his or her natural joint movements, are generally heavy, and can hence cause fatigue.

The Wyss Solution

Targeting a specific set of applications where a wearer needs some partial assistance from a robot, Wyss Institute researchers are pursuing a new paradigm: the use of soft clothing-like “exosuits.” An exosuit does not contain any rigid elements, so the wearer’s bone structure must sustain all the compressive forces normally encountered by the body — plus the forces generated by the exosuit. The suit, which is composed primarily of specially designed fabrics, can be significantly lighter than an exoskeleton since it does not contain a rigid structure. It also provides minimal restrictions to the wearer’s motions, avoiding problems relating to joint misalignment.

Exosuits exemplify a new class of applications for soft robotics, an emerging field that combines classical robotic design and control principles with active soft materials.

Potential applications:

• Help able-bodied soldiers perform difficult physical tasks
• Assist the elderly in maintaining or restoring their gait
• Rehabilitate children and adults with movement disorders such as cerebral palsy
• Ease the physical burden of firefighters, paramedics, farmers and others whose jobs require them to carry heavy loads

Learn more: Soft Exosuit