Simulation of Lower Limb Muscle Activity During Inclined Slope Walking

Sammanfattning: Robotic exoskeletons are designed to assist patients with motor dysfunctions. Recent researches focus on extending the robotic assistance to patient activities other than ground level walking. This study aims to analyse the lower limb muscle activity during inclined slope walking contrasting with that of ground level walking. Two different angles of inclination were chosen: 9 degrees and 18 degrees. 9 degrees inclined slope is the universal ramp size for wheelchairs. The hypothesis is that muscle activation, and ultimately metabolic cost, in inclined slope walking is different from that of ground level walking. Collected motion data and simulation in OpenSim prove that the difference in metabolic cost is because of increased activity of ankle dorsiflexors and hip extensors and reduced activity of knee extensors. Finally, muscle activities along with other criteria such as kinematic alignment and joint range of motion are summed up as biomechanical considerations for robotic exoskeleton design.