Hip exoskeleton emulator to explore spring-like assistance strategies during walking

Knowledge of effective control strategies for reducing the metabolic cost of walking with active exoskeletons is limited. Here, we used a hip exoskeleton emulator to assess how stiffness and reference angle of a simplified impedance controller influence metabolic cost. In general, impedance parameter settings biased toward hip exoskeleton extension torque were more effective at reducing metabolic cost during walking.