Effects of variable damping-defined environments on mediolateral ankle stability and agility

This study explores the potential benefits of interacting with variable damping-defined environments to improve the trade-off between mediolateral ankle agility and stability in the frontal plane standing. While wearing an exoskeletal robot supported by a knee brace, subjects were instructed to move their ankles in either inversion or eversion and reach visually-guided targets as efficiently as possible. Three different robotic damping environments were tested during the trials: positive, negative, and variable damping. Analysis of the data from five subjects confirmed that the variable damping, ranging from negative to positive values, was able to balance the trade-off between the effects of positive damping (promoting stability) and negative damping (promotes agility).