Proposed Exoskeleton System Research Articles

Finger-Individuating Exoskeleton System with Non-Contact Leader-Follower Control Strategy.

This paper proposes a novel finger-individuating exoskeleton system with a non-contact leader-follower control strategy that effectively combines motion functionality and individual adaptability. Our solution comprises the following two interactive components: the leader side and the follower side. The leader side processes joint angle information from the healthy hand during motion via a Leap Motion Controller as the system input, providing more flexible and active operations owing to the non-contact manner. Then, as the follower side, the exoskeleton is driven to assist the user's hand for rehabilitation training according to the input. The exoskeleton mechanism is designed as a universal module that can adapt to various digit sizes and weighs only 40 g. Additionally, the current motion of the exoskeleton is fed back to the system in real time, forming a closed loop to ensure control accuracy. Finally, four experiments validate the design effectiveness and motion performance of the proposed exoskeleton system. The experimental results indicate that our prototype can provide an average force of about 16.5 N for the whole hand during flexing, and the success rate reaches 82.03% in grasping tasks. Importantly, the proposed prototype holds promise for improving rehabilitation outcomes, offering diverse options for different stroke stages or application scenarios.

Lockable Lower-Limb Exoskeleton Based on a Novel Variable-Stiffness Joint: Reducing Physical Fatigue at Squatting

Abstract Some special tasks require human operations and cannot be performed by robots or other autonomous equipment, such as special industrial assembly and surgical procedures in small and crowded spaces. Workers/surgeons in these cases tend to have physical fatigue. In this study, a novel variable-stiffness joint based on positive pressure was proposed, and a torque model was established. The locking torque variation, step response, and energy consumption were evaluated in comparison with a torque motor. A lockable lower-limb exoskeleton based on the variable-stiffness joint was developed, and wearable tests were conducted to evaluate a voice recognition interface and supporting performance. The locking torque of the variable-stiffness joint could be continuously varied from 0 Nm to 26 Nm with the air pressure ranging from 1.6 bar to 5.5 bar. The settling time was 0.328 s in the step response experiment. With a load of 6 Nm, the variable-stiffness joint can realize an energy consumption reduction of 75.01% compared with using a torque motor. Moreover, the lockable lower-limb exoskeleton can realize a 35–60% reduction in the average muscle activation in each subject (aged 22–57) to maintain squatting postures at three different knee angles (paired t-test, P < 0.01). The proposed exoskeleton system has good mobility, low energy consumption, and easy-to-control features, showing great potential in supporting the weight of workers/surgeons during long-term operations.

DESIGN, ANALYSIS, AND PROTOTYPING OF A NOVEL SINGLE DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM INDEX FINGER EXOSKELETON MECHANISM.

This paper presents a novel index finger exoskeleton mechanism for patients who suffer from brachial plexus injuries, which takes advantage of our previously proposed rigid coupling hybrid mechanism (RCHM) concept used for robotic tail mechanisms. The core idea of this concept is to drive the (i+1)-th link using the motions of the i-th link, instead of the traditional way of transmitting motion directly from the base. This specific configuration allows designing a single degree of freedom (DOF) bending mechanism using a low-profile rack and pinion mechanism and makes the proposed exoskeleton system compact, lightweight, and portable, which are highly desired features for daily usages of exoskeleton gloves. The mechanism is optimized to mimic the grasping motions of human fingers and the sensitivity analysis of its critical design variables is then conducted to explore the performance of the optimization results. The results show that for the current design, the tip position accuracy is mainly affected by the distance between the rack and the corresponding joints. A proof-of-concept prototype was built to verify the novel mobility of the proposed mechanism and to evaluate its performance on a human finger. The index finger exoskeleton experiments demonstrate the new mechanism's ability to grasp small objects.

Novel soft bending actuator-based power augmentation hand exoskeleton controlled by human intention

This article presents the development of a soft material power augmentation wearable robot using novel bending soft artificial muscles. This soft exoskeleton was developed as a human hand power augmentation system for healthy or partially hand disabled individuals. The proposed prototype serves healthy manual workers by decreasing the muscular effort needed for grasping objects. Furthermore, it is a power augmentation wearable robot for partially hand disabled or post-stroke patients, supporting and augmenting the fingers’ grasping force with minimum muscular effort in most everyday activities. This wearable robot can fit any adult hand size without the need for any mechanical system changes or calibration. Novel bending soft actuators are developed to actuate this power augmentation device. The performance of these actuators has been experimentally assessed. A geometrical kinematic analysis and mathematical output force model have been developed for the novel actuators. The performance of this mathematical model has been proven experimentally with promising results. The control system of this exoskeleton is created by hybridization between cascaded position and force closed-loop intelligent controllers. The cascaded position controller is designed for the bending actuators to follow the fingers in their bending movements. The force controller is developed to control the grasping force augmentation. The operation of the control system with the exoskeleton has been experimentally validated. EMG signals were monitored during the experiments to determine that the proposed exoskeleton system decreased the muscular efforts of the wearer.

Design of a Passive Upper Limb Exoskeleton for Macaque Monkeys

Integrating an exoskeleton as the external apparatus for a brain–machine interface (BMI) has the advantage of providing multiple contact points to determine body segment postures and allowing control to and feedback from each joint. When using macaques as subjects to study the neural control of movement, an upper limb exoskeleton design with unlikely singularity is required to guarantee safe and accurate tracking of joint angles over all possible range of motion (ROM). Additionally, the compactness of the design is of more importance considering macaques have significantly smaller body dimensions than humans. This paper proposes a six degree-of-freedom (DOF) passive upper limb exoskeleton with 4DOFs at the shoulder complex. System kinematic analysis is investigated in terms of its singularity and manipulability. A real-time data acquisition system is set up, and system kinematic calibration is conducted. The effectiveness of the proposed exoskeleton system is finally demonstrated by a pilot animal test in the scenario of a reach and grasp task.

Mechanical Design of Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Assisting Walking of Load Carrying Human

Exoskeletons are used in rehabilitation, military, industrial applications and rescuing, heavy-weight lifting and civil defense applications as well. This paper presents to design of a lower-extremity exoskeleton assisting walking of a load carrying human. Proposed exoskeleton system is designed to be appropriate mechanism with human lower extremity and it operates synchronously with the human realizes. The aim of exoskeleton actuator system is to provide forces against to external load carried by user during walking, sitting, and standing motions. Thus, it supports human walking and significant portion of external load carrying by the user. Also it makes possible to user spend less energy, less stress and fatigue. Proposed work involves the following design steps: kinematic synthesis of the exoskeleton, mechanical and electro-hydraulic system design.

Force Feedback Control of Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Assisting of Load Carrying Human

Lower extremity exoskeletons are wearable robot manipulators that integrate human intelligence with the strength of legged robots. Recently, lower extremity exoskeletons have been specifically developed for rehabilitation, military, industrial applications and rescuing, heavy-weight lifting and civil defense applications. This paper presents controller design of a lower-extremity exoskeleton for a load carrying human to provide force feedback control against to external load carried by user during walking, sitting, and standing motions. Proposed exoskeleton system has two legs which are powered and controlled by two servo-hydraulic actuators. Proportional and Integral (PI) controller is designed for force control of system. Six flexible force sensors are placed in exoskeleton shoe and two load cells are mounted between the end of the piston rod and lower leg joint. Force feedback control is realized by comparing ground reaction force and applied force of hydraulic cylinder. This paper discusses control simulations and experimental tests of lower extremity exoskeleton system.

2A2-V08 食事補助を想定した外骨格装着型パワーアシスト装置の研究開発(福祉ロボティクス・メカトロニクス(3))

In recent years, researches and developments of Power Assist Devices are hot topics in the field of robotics. But, downsizing and insurance of safety of the system are difficult problem in order to realize the practical use. In this study, we focused on a meal task, and investigated suitable condition of an exoskeleton mechanism for the task by using analyses of maneuverability and manipulability of the proposed exoskeleton system. In this way, we showed the design strategy of the exoskeleton type Power Assist Devices to find out the suitable condition for the patients quantitatively.The performance of the proposed system and the validity of design strategy are verified through hardware experiments.

Design of an Under-Actuated Exoskeleton System for Walking Assist While Load Carrying

This study proposes an under-actuated wearable exoskeleton system to carry a heavy load. To synchronize that system with a user, a feasible modular-type wearable system and its corresponding sensor systems are proposed. The design process of the modular-type exoskeleton for lower extremities is presented based on the considered requirements. To operate the system with the user, human walking analysis and intention signal acquisition methods for actuating the proposed system are developed. In particular, a sensing data estimation strategy is applied to synchronize the exoskeleton system with a user correctly. Finally, several experiments were performed to evaluate the performance of the proposed exoskeleton system by measuring the electromyography signal of the wearer's muscles while walking on level ground and climbing up stairs with 20- to 40-kg loads, respectively.

Development of a wearable exoskeleton for daily forearm motion assist

The paper presents a 2-d.o.f. wearable exoskeleton system designed for forearm motion assist in daily activity and rehabilitation. The proposed exoskeleton system is supposed to be directly attached to the lateral side of a patient's upper limb, and assist the forearm motion (elbow flexion–extension motion and forearm supination–pronation motion) of the patient for daily activity and rehabilitation. The proposed exoskeleton is controlled based on the activation patterns of the electromyogram signals of the patient's muscles, which directly reflect the motion intention of the patient, in order to realize natural automatic motion assist. A sophisticated real-time neuro-fuzzy control method, in which the effect of a muscle common to both motions is taken into account, is proposed. The proposed control method enables cooperative motion of the elbow and forearm of the patient by learning the muscle activation patterns of each patient. The effectiveness of the proposed exoskeleton system is evaluated by experiment.