Adaptive model-based myoelectric control for a soft wearable arm exosuit: A new generation of wearable robot control

Despite advances in mechatronic design, the widespread adoption of wearable robots for supporting human mobility has been hampered by 1) ergonomic limitations in rigid exoskeletal structures and 2) the lack of human-machine interfaces (HMIs) capable of sensing musculoskeletal states and translating them into robot-control commands. We have developed a framework that combines, for the first time, a model-based HMI with a soft wearable arm exosuit that has the potential to address key limitations in current HMIs and wearable robots. The proposed framework was tested on six healthy subjects who performed elbow rotations across different joint velocities and lifting weights. The results showed that the model-controlled exosuit operated synchronously with biological muscle contraction. Remarkably, the exosuit dynamically modulated mechanical assistance across all investigated loads, thereby displaying adaptive behavior.