Passive exoskeleton for vertical jumping

An exoskeleton to assist the knee during a vertical jump was built and tested. The device stores energy in springs during knee bending before the jump and releases energy during the leg push. The device thus provides support during both the negative and the positive work phases of the muscles during the jump. The preliminary results showed that the device provided about 57% of the work at the knee joint, resulting in a non-significant 3 cm higher vertical jump (p = 0.11). The long-term goal of the study is to use this exoskeleton as a model for understanding the interaction between the exoskeleton and the human.