The control of recycling energy strorage capacity for WalkMECHadapt

In this study, we present the implementation of the controller for adapting the energy storage capacity of the WalkMECH according to the different walking speeds and gait characteristics of an amputee. Since the main aim is to keep the design both mechanically and metabolically energy-efficient, the actuation system is designed based on the minimal actuation principle. The overall system, called WalkMECHadapt, is evaluated with the experimental test set-up with a healthy subject. Test results show that the system is working sufficiently for adapting the energy storage capacity of the WalkMECHadapt thanks to the simple nature of the controller architecture.