Here is a lightweight exosuit designed to assist with walking and running. A team of researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, and the University of Nebraska Omaha developed this wearable robot to assist with gait-specific hip extension during both walking and running. The actuation system is attached to the lower back and controlled by a smart algorithm to detect transition from walking to running.
According to the team, this exosuit can reduce metabolic rates of walking by 9.3% (4% for running). The algorithm
“can robustly and reliably detect a transition from one gait to the other by monitoring the acceleration of an individual’s center of mass with sensors that are attached to the body,”
said Philippe Malcolm, Assistant Professor at University of Nebraska Omaha. More info is available here.