Exoskeleton Type Research Articles

Upper Extremity Exoskeleton for Robot-Aided Rehabilitation

This article discusses development of upper extremity exoskeleton devices for robot-aided rehabilitation. Neurological injuries, including stroke and spinal cord injury, typically result in significant motor impairments. These impairments negatively impact an individual’s movement coordination, in turn affecting their ability to function independently. Exoskeleton type devices are now being developed to isolate the motion of individual joints. These devices tend to have higher complexity and reduced range of motion as compared to endpoint manipulators, but they target more selectively the desired joint(s), and they enable more precise data collection about the motion of the patient's limb. Recent designs have focused on systems that match the full range of motion of the targeted joints, aiming towards actuated systems that have both high torque output, to assist patients with muscle tone, and low intrinsic impedance, to minimally perturb independent arm movements. Satisfying all of these requirements while simultaneously maintaining a high priority on patient safety is still an active area of research.

1P1-D02 外骨格型上腕パワーアシスト装置設計のための人の肩胛骨の機構解析(福祉ロボティクス・メカトロニクス(2))

In recent years, development of the upper limb assist device for old people and physically handicapped person. However, the exoskeleton type has a significant problem that the system will not appropriately assist human motions when upper limb assist device has no adequate assignment of kinematical degree of freedom. One of the complexity of kinematical complexity of human arm is the kinematical structure of scapula. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the scapular complex mechanism. The purpose of this study is the design of the exoskeleton type upper arm power assist device including the significant degrees of freedom of human scapular mechanism. In this study, meal behavior of human is measured by a motion capture system and implemented mode analysis of the motion. We derived reduced and ecessary degrees of freedom in scapular model.

Kinematic accuracy reliability research of a novel exoskeleton with series-parallel topology

A novel type of lower extremity exoskeleton with series-parallel topology was described. Position analysis of a simplified leg was conducted to provide a basis of the kinematic accuracy reliability. Considering both assembly-machining errors and driving errors, the fuzzy reliability of kinematic accuracy was obtained based on the fuzzy probability theory. With a set of optimized length parameters and joint ranges of motion given, the fuzzy reliability of space distribution and the average fuzzy reliability were respectively calculated and shown in figures. These analyses of kinematic accuracy reliability provide a unique method to judge, analyze, and design exoskeleton mechanisms.

Dynamic research and analyses of a novel exoskeleton walking with humanoid gaits

This article proposes a novel type of series-parallel lower extremity exoskeleton driven by hydraulic actuators. Each leg of the exoskeleton has six DOFs, which can walk like human and carry heavy loads. A mapping from the positions of human lower extremity joints to the exoskeleton joints was established. Based on Kane's method, the inverse dynamic model of the exoskeleton was conducted. Finally, the exoskeleton humanoid gaits of level walking, ascent, descent, level walking with different loads and speed were simulated, and the required driving torques and power were obtained. These performance analyses provide a basis to the design of the control law and the estimation of the hydraulic actuator parameters for the exoskeleton.

Robot-assisted Therapy in Stroke Rehabilitation

Research into rehabilitation robotics has grown rapidly and the number of therapeutic rehabilitation robots has expanded dramatically during the last two decades. Robotic rehabilitation therapy can deliver high-dosage and high-intensity training, making it useful for patients with motor disorders caused by stroke or spinal cord disease. Robotic devices used for motor rehabilitation include end-effector and exoskeleton types; herein, we review the clinical use of both types. One application of robot-assisted therapy is improvement of gait function in patients with stroke. Both end-effector and the exoskeleton devices have proven to be effective complements to conventional physiotherapy in patients with subacute stroke, but there is no clear evidence that robotic gait training is superior to conventional physiotherapy in patients with chronic stroke or when delivered alone. In another application, upper limb motor function training in patients recovering from stroke, robot-assisted therapy was comparable or superior to conventional therapy in patients with subacute stroke. With end-effector devices, the intensity of therapy was the most important determinant of upper limb motor recovery. However, there is insufficient evidence for the use of exoskeleton devices for upper limb motor function in patients with stroke. For rehabilitation of hand motor function, either end-effector and exoskeleton devices showed similar or additive effects relative to conventional therapy in patients with chronic stroke. The present evidence supports the use of robot-assisted therapy for improving motor function in stroke patients as an additional therapeutic intervention in combination with the conventional rehabilitation therapies. Nevertheless, there will be substantial opportunities for technical development in near future.

Upper-Extremity Rehabilitation Robot RehabRoby: Methodology, Design, Usability and Validation

In this study, an exoskeleton type robot-assisted rehabilitation system, called RehabRoby, is developed for rehabilitation purposes. A control architecture, which contains a high-level controller and a low-level controller, is designed so that RehabRoby can complete the given rehabilitation task in a desired and safe manner. A hybrid system modelling technique is used for the high-level controller. An admittance control with an inner robust position control loop is used for the low-level control of the RehabRoby. Real-time experiments are performed to evaluate the control architecture of the robot-assisted rehabilitation system, RehabRoby. Furthermore, the usability of RehabRoby is evaluated.

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.

1P1-Q10 装着型ピアノ演奏教示装置の研究・開発 : 手首・手指駆動機構の設計・製作(アミューズメント・エンタテイナーロボット)

This paper proposes a wearable teaching system for finger's dexterous movement to play the piano. The teaching system is an exoskeleton type mounted on a hand and a wrist part of a piano player and then pushes his fingers to tap one or multiple key. Exoskeleton parts of fingers and wrist are activated by fifteen DC motors. A player can have an experience with more skillful and dexterous finger movements than what he has. As a preliminary test, simple tapping of five fingers are introduced in this paper.

5-Link model based gait trajectory adaption control strategies of the gait rehabilitation exoskeleton for post-stroke patients

Many 4-DOF exoskeleton type robot devices have been widely developed for the gait rehabilitation of post-stroke patients. However, most systems run with purely position control not allowing voluntary active movements of the subject. The lack of intelligent control strategies for variable gait patterns has been a clinical concern of such kind exoskeleton man–machine systems. In this work, we establish a 5-link model for the usual 4-DOF gait rehabilitation exoskeleton type man–machine system and propose a gait trajectory adaption control strategy. A 4-DOF gait rehabilitation exoskeleton prototype is developed as a platform for the evaluation of design concepts and control strategies in the view of improved physical human–robot interaction. The experimental results with eight healthy volunteers and three stroke patients are encouraging.

Tooling system for monorail finishing conveyors

The construction industry is labor-intensive and physically demanding even with continuous development of advanced tools and machines. Workers are heavily involved in manual procedures, which constantly expose them to a great risk of injury. Recently, exoskeletons and their potential to protect workers from injury have received wide attention. Significant advances have been made in both of their industrial developments and scholarly assessment. This paper reviewed existing exoskeleton technologies and analyzed their potential for manual handling tasks in construction. It first retrieved 85 relevant research articles and categorized them based on exoskeleton types, functions, and assessment procedures. Then, the potential of the exoskeleton use in construction at trade level was analyzed. A map was generated to suggest the potential exoskeleton type for each trade with evaluation of benefits and challenges. The map is expected to provide construction professionals with insights and guidelines when integrating exoskeletons into their current routine construction practices.