Symbiotic Wearable Robotic Exoskeletons: The Concept of the BioMot Project

Wearable robots (WR) are person-oriented devices, usually in the form of exoskeletons. These devices are worn by human operators to enhance or support a daily function, such as walking. Most advanced WRs for human locomotion still fail to provide the real-time adaptability and flexibility presented by humans when confronted with natural perturbations, due to voluntary control or environmental constraints. Current WRs are extra body structures inducing fixed motion patterns on its user. The main objective of the European Project BioMot is to improve existing wearable robotic exoskeletons exploiting dynamic sensory-motor interactions and developing cognitive capabilities that may lead to symbiotic gait behavior in the interaction of a human with a wearable robot. BioMot proposes a cognitive architecture for WRs exploiting neuronal control and learning mechanisms the main goal of which is to enable positive co-adaptation and seamless interaction with humans. In this paper we present the research that is conducted to enable positive co-adaptation and more seamless interaction of humans and WRs.