Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability, with 80% of survivors having locomotor impairments. Individuals after stroke typically present with hemiparetic gait, characterized as slow, asymmetric, and inefficient. Our lab has been developing soft wearable cyber-physical sytems, called soft exosuits, that interface with paretic limb after stroke through soft and conformal textile-based structures to assist hemiparetic walking. Soft exosuits transmit mechanical power to human body joints via interaction between functional textiles worn on the body and Bowden cable retraction.

A challenge for assisting young developmentally-delayed children in learning to walk is to (1) stabilize medio-lateral body sway while promoting opportunities for exploratory behavior, and (2) develop gait that exploits exchange of potential and kinetic energy. To meet the challenge, we have built a modular multi-robot CPS: a scaffold that applies forces at the pelvis via cables to modulate and stabilize center of mass behavior, and a wearable robot that applies assistive torques at the hip.

This project is a modular, computationally‐distributed multi‐robot cyberphysical system (CPS) for assisting young developmentally‐delayed children in learning to walk. Three challenges are stabilizing medio‐lateral body sway, developing gait that exploits energy exchange, and coordination of multiple degrees of freedom. Adults assisting children learning to walk provide a “scaffold” of postural supports that enables the child to safely explore the forces acting on its body.