A Reconfigurable Leg Exoskeleton for Human Locomotion Rehabilitation

Abstract

This paper describes a reconfigurable leg exoskeleton designed for human locomotion system rehabilitation. The research core was focused on the actuation mechanism, which this can be replaced by physician specific requirements. Thus, there were proposed two types of actuation systems, namely linear electric motors and cam mechanisms with rotational electric motors. The starting actuation system solution was represented by the linear electric motors and this needs to be improved. For this, a human gait experimental analysis was performed in order to obtain the input data for cam mechanism designs. Based on this, a mathematical model of the cam actuation mechanism was developed from where the cam profiles were obtained. The obtained results, starting from theoretical analyses to a prototype, validate both actuation systems and certify the reconfigurable solution.