Systems and methods for muscle-tendon control of wearable-robotic devices

A wearable robotic control system, comprising:

• at least one actuated joint;
• at least one muscle-tendon interface configured to measure at least one physiological signal;
• a processor configured to:
• receive the at least one physiological signal from the at least one muscle-tendon interface and estimate a muscle-tendon state, the muscle-tendon state corresponding to a human motor intention, the muscle-tendon state being at least one of a muscle-tendon length, a muscle-tendon speed, a muscle-tendon impedance, or a muscle-tendon force;
• and
• compute in a continuous and real time manner at least one augmentation joint command based on the muscle-tendon state;
• and
• a controller configured to apply the at least one augmentation joint command to the at least one actuated joint.

A method to control at least one actuated joint of a wearable robot, comprising:

• measuring at least one physiological signal using at least one muscle-tendon interface;
• estimating a muscle-tendon state, the muscle-tendon state corresponding to a human motor intention, the muscle-tendon state being at least one of a muscle-tendon length, a muscle-tendon speed, a muscle-tendon impedance, or a muscle-tendon force;
• computing at least one augmentation joint command based on the muscle-tendon state;
• and
• applying the at least one augmentation joint command to the at least one actuated joint of the wearable robot.