Children with cerebral palsy (CP) often experience difficulties in walking due to muscle weakness and spasticity. Current therapies and assistive devices can help preserve motor function and improve mobility, but they are often limited to clinical settings and are not always adjusted to each child’s specific needs. A personalized robotic solution has the potential to provide more effective gait assistance, both during rehabilitation in clinics and for daily use at home.

The main objective of this project is to develop a personalized gait assistance for children with cerebral palsy using an ankle exoskeleton. This personalized assistive device should be able to improve walking efficiency and reduce fatigue while remaining comfortable and safe for daily use.

To achieve this goal, we designed a bilateral ankle exoskeleton equipped with sensors and actuators to evaluate gait patterns and provide real-time assistance. Instrumented insoles have also been developed to help in the assistance timing by detecting gait phases and predicting center of pressure trajectories. Several experiment sessions are conducted to collect data for the predictive models and to validate the effect of the exoskeleton’s assistance on its user. The exoskeleton is first tested on healthy adults for safety reasons before being tested on typically developed children and children with CP.

This project will contribute to advancing pediatric rehabilitation technologies by offering a customizable and clinically viable solution. The expected outcomes include improved gait stability and efficiency, reduced energy cost of walking, and greater independence for children. In the longer term, the aim is to make this device accessible to all children who could benefit from it.