Assistance Torque Estimation via Dynamics-Aware Optimization for Lower-Limb Exoskeleton in Complex Environments

Abstract:Ground-truth human joint torque estimation relies on motion capture systems, which suffer from limited outdoor usability and significant deployment expenses. Furthermore, direct scaling of ground-truth joint torques to obtain motor torque commands is not necessarily the optimal strategy. To address the aforementioned limitations, inspired by the human motion generation process, this paper proposes a novel assistance torque estimation method based on the dynamic model. From an optimization perspective, the proposed method directly generates motor-assist torque and lowers the cost of data acquisition. Then, a data-driven assistance torque prediction network is trained to enable accurate real-time prediction under complex outdoor environments. Experimental results demonstrate that optimized (estimated) assistance torque exhibits better phase consistency with gait trajectories and better alignment with task characteristics. Relative to the Zero torque condition, the predicted torque can decrease metabolic rate by 11.8%-17.7%, heart rate by 8.9%-14.3%, and peak muscle activation levels by 28.2%-54.0%, respectively. This provides a new perspective for low-cost adaptive exoskeleton assistance.

Robotics (cs.RO)

arXiv:2609.15352 [cs.RO]

(or arXiv:2609.15352v1 [cs.RO] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.15352 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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