Most people don't think twice about the energy required for walking, except when interested in burning calories during exercise. However, someone needing to depend on active orthotics, or prosthetics, due to partial paralysis or other weakness of the lower extremities, would find energy efficiency of great interest if it meant the range of use was limited by the energy required to power the assistive devices. There is interest and motivation for developing means which will allow those persons with compromised strength and control to get a consistent level of use from their limbs for rehabilitative and therapeutic purposes, and to allow them some independence. Exoskeletal braces fitting the ankle, knee and hip joints of a person with a severe walking disability, that would provide walking assistance to that person, while reducing the fear of a fall, would be invaluable to such a person, and increasing the useable range is essential to making this a viable working technology.
展开▼
