JZUS - Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE

Frontiers of Information Technology & Electronic Engineering 2019 Vol.20 No.3 P.318-329

Development of a novel autonomous lower extremity exoskeleton robot for walking assistance

Author(s): Yong He, Nan Li, Chao Wang, Lin-qing Xia, Xu Yong, Xin-yu Wu
Affiliation(s): Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Robotics and Intelligent System, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China; more
Corresponding email(s): xy.wu@siat.ac.cn
Key Words: Lower-limb, Exoskeleton, Self-balancing, Bipedal walking, Modular design

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Abstract: Today, exoskeletons are widely applied to provide walking assistance for patients with lower limb motor incapacity. Most existing exoskeletons are under-actuated, resulting in a series of problems, e.g., interference and unnatural gait during walking. In this study, we propose a novel intelligent autonomous lower extremity exoskeleton (Auto-LEE), aiming at improving the user experience of wearable walking aids and extending their application range. Unlike traditional exoskeletons, Auto-LEE has 10 degrees of freedom, and all the joints are actuated independently by direct current motors, which allows the robot to maintain balance in aiding walking without extra support. The new exoskeleton is designed and developed with a modular structure concept and multi-modal human-robot interfaces are considered in the control system. To validate the ability of self-balancing bipedal walking, three general algorithms for generating walking patterns are researched, and a preliminary experiment is implemented.

一种新型自主下肢外骨骼助行机器人的研制

摘要：目前，外骨骼被广泛应用于下肢运动障碍患者的步行辅助。现有外骨骼机器人大部分采用欠驱动模式，导致一系列使用问题，如行走过程中步行干扰和不自然步态。提出一种新型智能自主下肢外骨骼(Auto-LEE)，旨在改善穿戴式助行器用户体验，扩大应用范围。与传统外骨骼不同，Auto-LEE有10个自由度，所有关节都由直流电机独立驱动，使机器人能在无外部支撑下保持平衡行走。此外，在设计中采用模块化结构理念，在控制系统中考虑多模态人机交互。为验证机器人自主平衡双足行走能力，对比3种常用步态规划算法，初步实现行走实验。

关键词：下肢；外骨骼；自平衡；双足行走；模块化设计

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一种新型自主下肢外骨骼助行机器人的研制

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