Collaborative Research: User-Optimal Robotic Prosthesis Design

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The objective of this collaborative research project is to develop methods for optimizing robotic ankle-foot prosthesis function to the needs of individual users. The approach is to develop computational models of human-prosthesis interaction, use them to predict optimal device designs, and refine predictions in experimental work with a versatile robotic testbed. A detailed musculoskeletal simulation model of amputee locomotion, with tunable user-specific properties, will be generated. Numerical optimization will be used to obtain designs that are optimal for specific users and robust to small changes in user characteristics. Designs will be presented to human subjects with a "universal ankle-foot prosthesis emulator" in experiments that measure human energy use, muscle activity, body mechanics, and balance. Experimental results will be used to generate a model with high predictive accuracy. The research will result in an empirically-validated software tool for use by clinicians in prescribing optimal prosthesis designs to individual patients. If successful, the benefit of this research will be improved mobility and quality of life for individuals with amputation, achieved through a software tool that guides the design of user-optimal robotic ankle-foot prostheses. For example, the research is expected to quantify trade-offs between the costs and benefits of more powerful, but heavier and more expensive, motors, allowing optimal product design for individual users. The resulting devices are expected to reduce chronic problems with walking speed, fatigue, falls, and pain for more than 1 million people with lower-limb amputation in the United States. This methodology and infrastructure is also expected to improve biomechatronic design processes in general, for example improving the design of rehabilitation robots. The research will provide a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment for students, including minority, female, and disabled individuals.