Actuation Strategies for a Wearable Cable-Driven Exosuit Based on Synergies in Younger and Older Adults

Older adults (aged 55 years and above) have greater difficulty carrying out activities of daily living than younger adults (aged 25–55 years). Although age-related changes in human gait kinetics are well documented in qualitative terms in the scientific literature, these differences may be quantified and analyzed using the analysis of motor control strategies through kinetic synergies. The gaits of two groups of people (older and younger adults), each with ten members, were analyzed on a treadmill at a constant controlled speed and their gait kinetics were recorded. The decomposition of the kinetics into synergies was applied to the joint torques at the hip, knee, and ankle joints. Principal components determined the similarity of the kinetic torques in the three joints analyzed and the effect of the walking speed on the coordination pattern. A total of three principal components were required to describe enough information with minimal loss. The results suggest that the older group showed a change in coordination strategy compared to that of the younger group. The main changes were related to the ankle and hip torques, both showing significant differences (p-value <0.05) between the two groups. The findings suggest that the differences between the gait patterns of the two groups were closely related to a reduction in ankle torque and an increase in hip torque. This change in gait pattern may affect the rehabilitation strategy used when designing general-purpose rehabilitation devices or rehabilitation/training programs for the elderly.