The Effect of A Powered Lower-Body Exoskeleton on Physical and Cognitive Warfighter Performance
Blake Bequette, AA Graduate Student, MVL
This study analyzed the performance of twelve military members in a simulated, fatigue-inducing patrol task under three conditions: wearing a powered exoskeleton, wearing an unpowered exoskeleton, and without wearing an exoskeleton. While walking with weight at a prescribed pace over obstacles while following a confederate, participants were subject to a dual-task cognitive test in which they answered radio calls and visually scanned for lighted targets. Cognitive load was varied through a secondary radio task and measured with a visual reaction time test. Physical load and cognitive load were varied throughout the test. So far in the analysis, visual reaction time and success rate and lag time behind the confederate have been analyzed.