Concept and prototype design of a soft knee exoskeleton with continuum structure (SoftKEX)

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this paper, we proposed a novel soft knee exoskeleton based on continuum structure. The bionic design is from the knee extension mechanism: extensor contraction stretching the patella on the gap of the femur and tibia. Concept and prototype design were presented in detail. In the continuum structure, two adjacent modules have two major degrees of freedom, which are bilateral siding and unilateral rotation. The end motion area of the continuum can meet the knee joint feature which is coupled motion with sliding and rotating between the femur and tibia. In addition, a high-power cable-driven actuator was developed to drive the exoskeleton. Tension control results indicated that the actuator can track the force quickly and accurately at fast movement. Walking experiments on two subjects wearing the proposed exoskeleton at slow, normal and fast speeds were carried out. Knee joint kinematic data show flexible and natural gait motion.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationIntelligent Robotics and Applications - 12th International Conference, ICIRA 2019, Proceedings
EditorsHaibin Yu, Jinguo Liu, Lianqing Liu, Yuwang Liu, Zhaojie Ju, Dalin Zhou
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages73-82
Number of pages10
ISBN (Print)9783030275259
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019
Externally publishedYes
Event12th International Conference on Intelligent Robotics and Applications, ICIRA 2019 - Shenyang, China
Duration: 8 Aug 201911 Aug 2019

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume11740 LNAI
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference12th International Conference on Intelligent Robotics and Applications, ICIRA 2019
Country/TerritoryChina
CityShenyang
Period8/08/1911/08/19

Keywords

  • Cable-driven and continuum
  • Soft exoskeleton

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