PREDICTIVE CONTROL OF PLANTARFLEXOR MUSCLE-TENDON FORCE DURING SIMULATED HUMAN HOPPING

Assistive devices (e.g., exoskeletons) could be used to steer a user’s musculotendon unit (MTU) loading in vivo. A challenge is to develop a control algorithm that is simple enough to enable fast computation and adaptable enough to handle different gait patterns. Here, we propose a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) approach to maintain a predefined threshold tendon force within the plantarflexor muscle-tendon complex during simulated human hopping