1. Design and prototyping of passive exoskeleton for lower limb to assist walking.
- Author
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Rasheed, Shummaila, Masud, Manzar, Gaidan, Ibrahim, Haroon, Muhammad, and Ahad, Inam Ul
- Subjects
KNEE joint ,ROBOTIC exoskeletons ,GRAVITY ,GAIT in humans ,TORQUE ,HIP joint - Abstract
This paper presents a passive exoskeleton for the lower limb with hip and knee joints for walking assistance. The exoskeleton is designed with built-in spring mechanisms at the hip and knee joints to account for the gravity-balanced human leg during the gait cycle. The tension force generated by the internal springs is transformed into balanced torques at the hip and knee joints to counteract the effects of gravity by a set of mating gears. A compact layout and minimal protrusion created by such a design enhance the exoskeleton's safety and user acceptance. In this research, the working principle and design methodology for gravity compensation during the gait cycle is described. An exoskeleton prototype was created by designing and installing all the mechanical components inside the frame in the form of linkages at the thigh and shank, and early tests on healthy volunteers confirmed the exoskeleton's utility. The results show that the required torque of the passive exoskeleton mostly depends upon the tension force generated by the spring and a significant torque reduction was observed when performing the gait cycle at a slower speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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