Human endurance in underwater locomotion is fundamentally restricted by high energetic demands to overcome drag and the finite supply of self-contained breathing gas. While exoskeleton technology can reduce the metabolic cost of humans in terrestrial locomotion, its potential to enhance human endurance during underwater diving remains entirely unexplored. Here, we present DiveMate, a field-deployable, untethered exoskeleton designed to improve human diving endurance via adaptive kick assistance in real-world underwater environments. During naturalistic diving, DiveMate increases the travel distance using a given energy (breathing gas) by 42.9% and extends dive duration by 54.9% through reducing gas consumption rate. Marked reductions in muscle activation indicate a decrease in physiological exertion, with the net gas consumption rate decreasing by 47.0%. Kinematic characteristics and regularity improvements further underpin efficient energy economy. These results suggest that applying exoskeleton assistance is beneficial for improving human diving endurance and augmenting their ability to explore the aquatic world. This study extends the application frontier of exoskeletons and provides a potential reference for the design and assessment of future underwater assistive devices.

翻译：人类在水下运动中的耐力主要受限于克服阻力的高能耗以及自持呼吸气体的有限供应。尽管外骨骼技术能够降低人类在陆地运动中的代谢成本，但其在提升水下潜水耐力方面的潜力尚未被探索。本文提出DiveMate——一种现场可部署的无系留外骨骼，旨在通过真实水下环境中的自适应踢腿辅助提升人类潜水耐力。在自然潜水场景中，DiveMate将给定能量（呼吸气体）下的行进距离提升42.9%，并通过降低气体消耗率将潜水时长延长54.9%。肌肉激活的显著降低表明生理负荷减少，净气体消耗率下降47.0%。运动学特征与规律性的改善进一步支撑了高效的能量经济性。这些结果表明，应用外骨骼辅助技术有利于提升人类潜水耐力，并增强其探索水下世界的能力。本研究拓展了外骨骼的应用前沿，为未来水下辅助装置的设计与评估提供了潜在参考。