Musculoskeletal Symptoms(MSS)often arise from prolonged maintenance of bent postures in the neck and trunk during surgical procedures.To prevent MSS,a passive exoskeleton utilizing carbon fiber beams to offer support ...Musculoskeletal Symptoms(MSS)often arise from prolonged maintenance of bent postures in the neck and trunk during surgical procedures.To prevent MSS,a passive exoskeleton utilizing carbon fiber beams to offer support to the neck and trunk was proposed.The application of support force is intended to reduce muscle forces and joint compression forces.A nonlinear mathematical model for the neck and trunk support beam is presented to estimate the support force.A validation test is subsequently conducted to assess the accuracy of the mathematical model.Finally,a preliminary functional evaluation test is performed to evaluate movement capabilities and support provided by the exoskeleton.The mathematical model demonstrates an accuracy for beam support force within a range of 0.8–1.2 N Root Mean Square Error(RMSE).The exoskeleton was shown to allow sufficient Range of Motion(ROM)for neck and trunk during open surgery training.While the exoskeleton showed potential in reducing musculoskeletal load and task difficulty during simulated surgery tasks,the observed reduction in perceived task difficulty was deemed non-significant.This prompts the recommendation for further optimization in personalized adjustments of beams to facilitate improvements in task difficulty and enhance comfort.展开更多
The lower limb assisted exoskeleton is a prominent area of research within the field of exoskeleton technology.However,several challenges remain,including the development of flexible actuators,high battery consumption...The lower limb assisted exoskeleton is a prominent area of research within the field of exoskeleton technology.However,several challenges remain,including the development of flexible actuators,high battery consumption,the risk of joint misalignment,and limited assistive capabilities.This paper proposes a compact flexible actuator incorporating two elastic elements named Adjustable Energy Storage Series Elastic Actuator(AES-SEA),which combining an adjustable energy storage device with a series elastic actuator for application in exoskeleton hip joints.This design aims to enhance energy efficiency and improve assistive effects.Subsequently,we introduce a novel knee joint bionic structure based on a pulley-groove configuration and a four-link mechanism,designed to replicate human knee joint motion and prevent joint misalignment.Additionally,we propose an innovative controller that integrates concepts from Linear Quadratic Regulator(LQR)control and virtual tunnel for level walking assistance.This controller modulates the assisted reference trajectory using the virtual tunnel concept,enabling different levels of assistance both inside and outside the tunnel by adjusting the parameters Q and R.This approach enhances the assisting force while ensuring the safety of human-computer interaction.Finally,metabolic experiments were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the exoskeleton assistance.展开更多
The study of exoskeletons has been a popular topic worldwide.However,there is still a long way to go before exoskeletons can be widely used.One of the major challenges is control,and there is no specific research tren...The study of exoskeletons has been a popular topic worldwide.However,there is still a long way to go before exoskeletons can be widely used.One of the major challenges is control,and there is no specific research trend for controlling exoskeletons.In this paper,we propose a novel exoskeleton control strategy that combines Active Disturbance Rejection Control(ADRC)and Deep Reinforcement Learning(DRL).The dynamic model of the exoskeleton is constructed,followed with the design of the ADRC.To automatically adjust the control parameters of the ADRC,the Twin-Delayed Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient(TD3)is utilized.Then a reward function is defined in terms of the joint angle,angular velocity,and their errors to the desired values,to maximize the accuracy of the joint angle.In the simulations and experiments,a conventional ADRC,and ADRC based on Genetic Algorithm(GA)and Particle Swarm Optimization(PSO)were carried out for comparison with the proposed control method.The results of the tests show that TD3-ADRC has a rapid response,small overshoot,and low Mean Absolute Error(MAE)and Root Mean Square Error(RMSE)followed with the desired,demonstrating the superiority of the proposed control method for the self-learning control of exoskeleton.展开更多
Accurate trajectory tracking in lower-limb exoskeletons is challenged by the nonlinear,time-varying dynamics of human-robot interaction,limited sensor availability,and unknown external disturbances.This study proposes...Accurate trajectory tracking in lower-limb exoskeletons is challenged by the nonlinear,time-varying dynamics of human-robot interaction,limited sensor availability,and unknown external disturbances.This study proposes a novel control strategy that combines flatness-based control with two cascaded observers:a high-gain observer to estimate unmeasured joint velocities,and a nonlinear disturbance observer to reconstruct external torque disturbances in real time.These estimates are integrated into the control law to enable robust,state-feedback-based trajectory tracking.The approach is validated through simulation scenarios involving partial state measurements and abrupt external torque perturbations,reflecting realistic rehabilitation conditions.Results confirm that the proposed method significantly enhances tracking accuracy and disturbance rejection capability,demonstrating its strong potential for reliable and adaptive rehabilitation assistance.展开更多
With the acceleration of the global aging process and the increase of cardiovascular ancerebrovascular diseases,more and more patients are paralyzed due to accidents,so theexoskeleton robot began to appear in people&#...With the acceleration of the global aging process and the increase of cardiovascular ancerebrovascular diseases,more and more patients are paralyzed due to accidents,so theexoskeleton robot began to appear in people's sight,and the lower limb exoskeleton robot withrehabilitation training is also favored by more and more people.In this paper,the structural designand analysis of the lower limb exoskeleton robot are carried out in view of the patients'expectation ofnormal walking.First,gait analysis and structural design of lower limb exoskeleton robot.Based onthe analysis of the walking gait of normal people,the freedom of the three key joints of the lower limbexoskeleton robot hip joint,knee joint and ankle joint is determined.at the same time,according tothe structuralcharacteristics of each joint,the three key joints are modeled respectively,and theoverall model assembly of the lower limb exoskeleton robot is completed.Secondly,the kinematicsanalysis of the lower limb exoskeleton robot was carried out to obtain the relationship between thelinear displacement,linear speed and acceleration of each joint,so as to ensure the coordination ofthe model with the human lower limb movement.Thirdly,the static analysis of typical gait of hipjoint,knee joint and ankle joint is carried out to verify the safety of the design model under thepremise of ensuring the structural strength requirements.Finally,the parts of the model were 3Dprinted,and the rationality of the design was further verified in the process of assembling the model.展开更多
To overcome the limitations of traditional exoskeletons in complex outdoor terrains,this study introduces a novel lower limb exoskeleton inspired by the snow leopard’s forelimb musculoskeletal structure.It features a...To overcome the limitations of traditional exoskeletons in complex outdoor terrains,this study introduces a novel lower limb exoskeleton inspired by the snow leopard’s forelimb musculoskeletal structure.It features a non-fully anthropomorphic design,attaching only at the thigh and ankle with a backward-knee configuration to mimic natural human knee movement.The design incorporates a single elastic element at the hip for gravity compensation and dual elastic elements at the knee for terrain adaptability,which adjust based on walking context.The design’s effectiveness was assessed by measuring metabolic cost reduction and motor output torque under various walking conditions.Results showed significant metabolic cost savings of 5.8–8.8%across different speeds and a 7.9%reduction during 9°incline walking on a flat indoor surface.Additionally,the spring element decreased hip motor output torque by 7–15.9%and knee torque by 8.1–14.2%.Outdoor tests confirmed the design’s robustness and effectiveness in reducing motor torque across terrains,highlighting its potential to advance multi-terrain adaptive exoskeleton research.展开更多
Disability is defined as a condition that makes it difficult for a person to perform certain vital activities.In recent years,the integration of the concepts of intelligence in solving various problems for disabled pe...Disability is defined as a condition that makes it difficult for a person to perform certain vital activities.In recent years,the integration of the concepts of intelligence in solving various problems for disabled persons has become more frequent.However,controlling an exoskeleton for rehabilitation presents challenges due to their nonlinear characteristics and external disturbances caused by the structure itself or the patient wearing the exoskeleton.To remedy these problems,this paper presents a novel adaptive control strategy for upper-limb rehabilitation exoskeletons,addressing the challenges of nonlinear dynamics and external disturbances.The proposed controller integrated a Radial Basis Function Neural Network(RBFNN)with a disturbance observer and employed a high-dimensional integral Lyapunov function to guarantee system stability and trajectory tracking performance.In the control system,the role of the RBFNN was to estimate uncertain signals in the dynamic model,while the disturbance observer tackled external disturbances during trajectory tracking.Artificially created scenarios for Human-Robot interactive experiments and periodically repeated reference trajectory experiments validated the controller’s performance,demonstrating efficient tracking.The proposed controller is found to achieve superior tracking accuracy with Root-Mean-Squared(RMS)errors of 0.022-0.026 rad for all joints,outperforming conventional Proportional-Integral-Derivative(PID)by 73%and Neural-Fuzzy Adaptive Control(NFAC)by 389.47%lower error.These results suggested that the RBFNN adaptive controller,coupled with disturbance compensation,could serve as an effective rehabilitation tool for upper-limb exoskeletons.These results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method in enhancing rehabilitation accuracy and robustness,offering a promising solution for the control of upper-limb assistive devices.Based on the obtained results and due to their high robustness,the proposed control schemes can be extended to other motor disabilities,including lower limb exoskeletons.展开更多
This paper proposes virtual impedance adaptation of the lower-limb exoskeleton for human performance augmentation(LEHPA) based on deep reinforcement learning(VIADRL) to mitigate reliance on model accuracy and address ...This paper proposes virtual impedance adaptation of the lower-limb exoskeleton for human performance augmentation(LEHPA) based on deep reinforcement learning(VIADRL) to mitigate reliance on model accuracy and address the ever-changing human-exoskeleton interaction(HEI) dynamics. The classical sensitivity amplification control strategy is expanded to the virtual impedance control strategy with more learnable virtual impedance parameters. The adjustment of these virtual impedance parameters is formalized as finding the optimal policy for a Markov Decision Process and can then be effectively resolved using deep reinforcement learning algorithms. To ensure safe and efficient policy training, a multibody simulation environment is established to facilitate the training process, supplemented by the innovative hybrid inverse-forward dynamics simulation approach for executing the simulation. For comparison purposes, the SADRL strategy is introduced as a benchmark. A novel control performance evaluation method based on the HEI forces at the back, thighs, and shanks is proposed to quantitatively evaluate the performance of our proposed VIADRL strategy. The VIADRL controller is systematically compared with the SADRL controller at five selected walking speeds. The lumped ratio of HEI forces under the SADRL strategy relative to those under the SADRL strategy is as low as 0.81 in simulation and approximately 0.89 on the LEHPA prototype. The overall reduction of HEI forces demonstrates the superiority of the VIADRL strategy in comparison to the SADRL strategy.展开更多
Focusing on the rehabilitation training of hemiplegia patients,this paper proposes a gait-planning strategy based on a central pattern generator and an adaptive time-delay control scheme that utilizes recursive termin...Focusing on the rehabilitation training of hemiplegia patients,this paper proposes a gait-planning strategy based on a central pattern generator and an adaptive time-delay control scheme that utilizes recursive terminal sliding mode for lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton robots.The central pattern generator network plans a reference gait trajectory for the affected leg,synchronized with the movement of the healthy leg.The proposed adaptive time-delay control scheme possesses a model-independent property due to the mechanism of time-delay estimation,with adaptive control gains that enhance the resilience against system perturbations and a recursive terminal sliding mode control component to achieve a fast convergence rate.According to the Lyapunov stability criterion,it is proved that the gait trajectory-tracking error is uniformly ultimately bounded.Experiments are conducted on a lower limb exoskeleton experimental platform,and the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed strategies.展开更多
Portability is an important performance to the design of exoskeleton for rehabilitation and assistance.However,the structure of traditional exoskeletons will decrease the portability because of their heavy weight and ...Portability is an important performance to the design of exoskeleton for rehabilitation and assistance.However,the structure of traditional exoskeletons will decrease the portability because of their heavy weight and large volume.This paper proposes a novel bionic portable elbow exoskeleton based on a human-exoskeleton gravity-balancing coupled model.The variable stiffness characteristics of the coupled model is analyzed based on the static analysis.In addition,the optimization of human-exoskeleton joint points is analysis to improve the bionic motor characteristics of the exoskeleton.Theoretical prototype is designed and its driving power and dynamic performance are analyzed.Then,a prototype is designed and manufactured with a total weight of 375 g.The merits of driving power reducing is verified by simulation and the isokinetic experiments.The simulation and isokinetic results show that the driving torque and the driving power of the subject were significantly decreased with wearing the proposed exoskeleton.The driving torques are reduced 79.28%and 57.38%from the simulation results and isokinetic experiment results,respectively.The driving work of experiment was reduced by 56.5%.The development of the novel elbow exoskeleton with gravity-balancing mechanism can expand the application of exoskeleton in home-based rehabilitation.展开更多
Modern conflicts demand substantial physical and psychological exertion,often resulting in fatigue and diminished combat or operational readiness.Several exoskeletons have been developed recently to address these chal...Modern conflicts demand substantial physical and psychological exertion,often resulting in fatigue and diminished combat or operational readiness.Several exoskeletons have been developed recently to address these challenges,presenting various limitations that affect their operational or everyday usability.This article evaluates the performance of a dual-purpose passive ankle exoskeleton developed for the reduction of metabolic costs during walking,seeking to identify a force element that could be applied to the target population.Based on the 6-min walk test,twenty-nine subjects participated in the study using three different force elements.The results indicate that it is possible to reduce metabolic expenditure while using the developed exoskeleton.Additionally,the comfort and range of motion results verify the exoskeleton's suitability for use in uneven terrain and during extended periods.Nevertheless,the choice of the force element should be tailored to each user,and the control system should be adjustable to optimise the exoskeleton's performance.展开更多
Lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton robots integrate sensing, control, and other technologies and exhibit the characteristics of bionics, robotics, information and control science, medicine, and other interdisciplin...Lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton robots integrate sensing, control, and other technologies and exhibit the characteristics of bionics, robotics, information and control science, medicine, and other interdisciplinary areas. In this review, the typical products and prototypes of lower limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robots are introduced and stateof-the-art techniques are analyzed and summarized. Because the goal of rehabilitation training is to recover patients’ sporting ability to the normal level, studying the human gait is the foundation of lower limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot research. Therefore, this review critically evaluates research progress in human gait analysis and systematically summarizes developments in the mechanical design and control of lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton robots. From the performance of typical prototypes, it can be deduced that these robots can be connected to human limbs as wearable forms;further, it is possible to control robot movement at each joint to simulate normal gait and drive the patient’s limb to realize robot-assisted rehabilitation training. Therefore human–robot integration is one of the most important research directions, and in this context, rigid-flexible-soft hybrid structure design, customized personalized gait generation, and multimodal information fusion are three key technologies.展开更多
After more than half a century of intense efforts, the development of exoskeleton has seen major advances, and several remarkable achievements have been made. Reviews of developing history of exoskeleton are presented...After more than half a century of intense efforts, the development of exoskeleton has seen major advances, and several remarkable achievements have been made. Reviews of developing history of exoskeleton are presented, both in active and passive categories. Major models are introduced, and typical technologies are commented on. Difficulties in control algorithm, driver system, power source, and man-machine interface are discussed. Current researching routes and major developing methods are mapped and critically analyzed, and in the process, some key problems are revealed. First, the exoskeleton is totally different from biped robot, and relative studies based on the robot technologies are considerably incorrect. Second, biomechanical studies are only used to track the motion of the human body, the interaction between human and machines are seldom studied. Third, the traditional developing ways which focused on servo-controlling have inborn deficiency from making portable systems. Research attention should be shifted to the human side of the coupling system, and the human ability to learn and adapt should play a more significant role in the control algorithms Having summarized the major difficulties, possible future works are discussed. It is argued that, since a distinct boundary cannot be drawn in such strong-coupling human-exoskeleton system, the more complex the control system gets, the more difficult it is for the user to learn to use. It is suggested that the exoskeleton should be treated as a simple wearable tool, and downgrading its automatic level may be a change toward a brighter research outlook. This effort at simplification is definitely not easy, as it necessitates theoretical supports from fields such as biomechanics, ergonomics, and bionics.展开更多
Due to the close physical interaction between human and machine in process of gait training, lower limb exoskeletons should be safe, comfortable and able to smoothly transfer desired driving force/moments to the patie...Due to the close physical interaction between human and machine in process of gait training, lower limb exoskeletons should be safe, comfortable and able to smoothly transfer desired driving force/moments to the patients. Correlatively, in kinematics the exoskeletons are required to be compatible with human lower limbs and thereby to avoid the uncontrollable interactional loads at the human-machine interfaces. Such requirement makes the structure design of exoskeletons very difficult because the human-machine closed chains are complicated. In addition, both the axis misalignments and the kinematic character difference between the exoskeleton and human joints should be taken into account. By analyzing the DOF（degree of freedom） of the whole human-machine closed chain, the human-machine kinematic incompatibility of lower limb exoskeletons is studied. An effective method for the structure design of lower limb exoskeletons, which are kinematically compatible with human lower limb, is proposed. Applying this method, the structure synthesis of the lower limb exoskeletons containing only one-DOF revolute and prismatic joints is investigated; the feasible basic structures of exoskeletons are developed and classified into three different categories. With the consideration of quasi-anthropopathic feature, structural simplicity and wearable comfort of lower limb exoskeletons, a joint replacement and structure comparison based approach to select the ideal structures of lower limb exoskeletons is proposed, by which three optimal exoskeleton structures are obtained. This paper indicates that the human-machine closed chain formed by the exoskeleton and human lower limb should be an even-constrained kinematic system in order to avoid the uncontrollable human-machine interactional loads. The presented method for the structure design of lower limb exoskeletons is universal and simple, and hence can be applied to other kinds of wearable exoskeletons.展开更多
In order to overcome the drawbacks of traditional rehabilitation method,the robot-aided rehabilitation has been widely investigated for the recent years.And the hand rehabilitation robot,as one of the hot research fie...In order to overcome the drawbacks of traditional rehabilitation method,the robot-aided rehabilitation has been widely investigated for the recent years.And the hand rehabilitation robot,as one of the hot research fields,remains many challenging issues to be investigated.This paper presents a new hand exoskeleton system with some novel characteristics.Firstly,both active and passive rehabilitative motions are realized.Secondly,the device is elaborately designed and brings advantages in many aspects.For example,joint motion is accomplished by a parallelogram mechanism and high level motion control is therefore made very simple without the need of complicated kinematics.The adjustable joint limit design ensures that the actual joint angles don＇t exceed the joint range of motion（ROM） and thus the patient safety is guaranteed.This design can fit to the different patients with different joint ROM as well as to the dynamically changing ROM for individual patient.The device can also accommodate to some extent variety of hand sizes.Thirdly,the proposed control strategy simultaneously realizes the position control and force control with the motor driver which only works in force control mode.Meanwhile,the system resistance compensation is preliminary realized and the resisting force is effectively reduced.Some experiments were conducted to verify the proposed system.Experimentally collected data show that the achieved ROM is close to that of a healthy hand and the range of phalange length（ROPL） covers the size of a typical hand,satisfying the size need of regular hand rehabilitation.In order to evaluate the performance when it works as a haptic device in active mode,the equivalent moment of inertia（MOI） of the device was calculated.The results prove that the device has low inertia which is critical in order to obtain good backdrivability.The experiments also show that in the active mode the virtual interactive force is successfully feedback to the finger and the resistance is reduced by one-third;for the passive control mode,the desired trajectory is realized satisfactorily.展开更多
Propulsion during push-off is the key to realizing human locomotion.Humans have evolved a way of walking with high energy utilization,but it can be further improved.Drawing inspiration from the muscle-tendon unit,a pa...Propulsion during push-off is the key to realizing human locomotion.Humans have evolved a way of walking with high energy utilization,but it can be further improved.Drawing inspiration from the muscle-tendon unit,a passive spring-actuated ankle-foot exoskeleton is designed to assist with human walking and to lengthen walking duration by mechanically enhancing walking efficiency.Detection of the gait events is realized using a smart clutch,which is designed to detect the contact states between the shoe sole and the ground,and automatically switch its working state.The engagement of a suspended spring behind the human calf muscles is hence controlled and is in synchrony with gait.The device is completely passive and contains no external power source.Energy is stored and returned passively using the clutch.In our walking trials,the soleus electromyography activity is reduced by as much as 72.2%when the proposed ankle-foot exoskeleton is worn on the human body.The influence of the exoskeleton on walking habits is also studied.The results show the potential use of the exoskeleton in humans’daily life.展开更多
基金funded by China Scholarship Council,Grant Number 201906840121department of rehabilitation medicine,University Medical Center Groningen,University of Groningen,grant number:O/085350.
文摘Musculoskeletal Symptoms(MSS)often arise from prolonged maintenance of bent postures in the neck and trunk during surgical procedures.To prevent MSS,a passive exoskeleton utilizing carbon fiber beams to offer support to the neck and trunk was proposed.The application of support force is intended to reduce muscle forces and joint compression forces.A nonlinear mathematical model for the neck and trunk support beam is presented to estimate the support force.A validation test is subsequently conducted to assess the accuracy of the mathematical model.Finally,a preliminary functional evaluation test is performed to evaluate movement capabilities and support provided by the exoskeleton.The mathematical model demonstrates an accuracy for beam support force within a range of 0.8–1.2 N Root Mean Square Error(RMSE).The exoskeleton was shown to allow sufficient Range of Motion(ROM)for neck and trunk during open surgery training.While the exoskeleton showed potential in reducing musculoskeletal load and task difficulty during simulated surgery tasks,the observed reduction in perceived task difficulty was deemed non-significant.This prompts the recommendation for further optimization in personalized adjustments of beams to facilitate improvements in task difficulty and enhance comfort.
基金supported by Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Minimally Invasive Surgical Instruments and Manufacturing Technology(MISIMT-2021-4)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(N2329001).
文摘The lower limb assisted exoskeleton is a prominent area of research within the field of exoskeleton technology.However,several challenges remain,including the development of flexible actuators,high battery consumption,the risk of joint misalignment,and limited assistive capabilities.This paper proposes a compact flexible actuator incorporating two elastic elements named Adjustable Energy Storage Series Elastic Actuator(AES-SEA),which combining an adjustable energy storage device with a series elastic actuator for application in exoskeleton hip joints.This design aims to enhance energy efficiency and improve assistive effects.Subsequently,we introduce a novel knee joint bionic structure based on a pulley-groove configuration and a four-link mechanism,designed to replicate human knee joint motion and prevent joint misalignment.Additionally,we propose an innovative controller that integrates concepts from Linear Quadratic Regulator(LQR)control and virtual tunnel for level walking assistance.This controller modulates the assisted reference trajectory using the virtual tunnel concept,enabling different levels of assistance both inside and outside the tunnel by adjusting the parameters Q and R.This approach enhances the assisting force while ensuring the safety of human-computer interaction.Finally,metabolic experiments were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the exoskeleton assistance.
基金funded by Zhiyuan Laboratory(Grant NO.ZYL2024017a).
文摘The study of exoskeletons has been a popular topic worldwide.However,there is still a long way to go before exoskeletons can be widely used.One of the major challenges is control,and there is no specific research trend for controlling exoskeletons.In this paper,we propose a novel exoskeleton control strategy that combines Active Disturbance Rejection Control(ADRC)and Deep Reinforcement Learning(DRL).The dynamic model of the exoskeleton is constructed,followed with the design of the ADRC.To automatically adjust the control parameters of the ADRC,the Twin-Delayed Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient(TD3)is utilized.Then a reward function is defined in terms of the joint angle,angular velocity,and their errors to the desired values,to maximize the accuracy of the joint angle.In the simulations and experiments,a conventional ADRC,and ADRC based on Genetic Algorithm(GA)and Particle Swarm Optimization(PSO)were carried out for comparison with the proposed control method.The results of the tests show that TD3-ADRC has a rapid response,small overshoot,and low Mean Absolute Error(MAE)and Root Mean Square Error(RMSE)followed with the desired,demonstrating the superiority of the proposed control method for the self-learning control of exoskeleton.
基金funded by the King Salman Center for Disability Research,through Research Group No.KSRG-2024-468.
文摘Accurate trajectory tracking in lower-limb exoskeletons is challenged by the nonlinear,time-varying dynamics of human-robot interaction,limited sensor availability,and unknown external disturbances.This study proposes a novel control strategy that combines flatness-based control with two cascaded observers:a high-gain observer to estimate unmeasured joint velocities,and a nonlinear disturbance observer to reconstruct external torque disturbances in real time.These estimates are integrated into the control law to enable robust,state-feedback-based trajectory tracking.The approach is validated through simulation scenarios involving partial state measurements and abrupt external torque perturbations,reflecting realistic rehabilitation conditions.Results confirm that the proposed method significantly enhances tracking accuracy and disturbance rejection capability,demonstrating its strong potential for reliable and adaptive rehabilitation assistance.
基金College Student Innovation andEntrepreneurship Project(Grant No.:S202414435026)ingkou Institute of Technology campus level research project——Development of food additive supercritical extraction equipment and fluid transmission systemresearch(Grant No.HX202427).
文摘With the acceleration of the global aging process and the increase of cardiovascular ancerebrovascular diseases,more and more patients are paralyzed due to accidents,so theexoskeleton robot began to appear in people's sight,and the lower limb exoskeleton robot withrehabilitation training is also favored by more and more people.In this paper,the structural designand analysis of the lower limb exoskeleton robot are carried out in view of the patients'expectation ofnormal walking.First,gait analysis and structural design of lower limb exoskeleton robot.Based onthe analysis of the walking gait of normal people,the freedom of the three key joints of the lower limbexoskeleton robot hip joint,knee joint and ankle joint is determined.at the same time,according tothe structuralcharacteristics of each joint,the three key joints are modeled respectively,and theoverall model assembly of the lower limb exoskeleton robot is completed.Secondly,the kinematicsanalysis of the lower limb exoskeleton robot was carried out to obtain the relationship between thelinear displacement,linear speed and acceleration of each joint,so as to ensure the coordination ofthe model with the human lower limb movement.Thirdly,the static analysis of typical gait of hipjoint,knee joint and ankle joint is carried out to verify the safety of the design model under thepremise of ensuring the structural strength requirements.Finally,the parts of the model were 3Dprinted,and the rationality of the design was further verified in the process of assembling the model.
基金sponsored by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities[N2329001].
文摘To overcome the limitations of traditional exoskeletons in complex outdoor terrains,this study introduces a novel lower limb exoskeleton inspired by the snow leopard’s forelimb musculoskeletal structure.It features a non-fully anthropomorphic design,attaching only at the thigh and ankle with a backward-knee configuration to mimic natural human knee movement.The design incorporates a single elastic element at the hip for gravity compensation and dual elastic elements at the knee for terrain adaptability,which adjust based on walking context.The design’s effectiveness was assessed by measuring metabolic cost reduction and motor output torque under various walking conditions.Results showed significant metabolic cost savings of 5.8–8.8%across different speeds and a 7.9%reduction during 9°incline walking on a flat indoor surface.Additionally,the spring element decreased hip motor output torque by 7–15.9%and knee torque by 8.1–14.2%.Outdoor tests confirmed the design’s robustness and effectiveness in reducing motor torque across terrains,highlighting its potential to advance multi-terrain adaptive exoskeleton research.
基金funded by the King Salman Center For Disability Research,through Research Group No.KSRG-2024-468。
文摘Disability is defined as a condition that makes it difficult for a person to perform certain vital activities.In recent years,the integration of the concepts of intelligence in solving various problems for disabled persons has become more frequent.However,controlling an exoskeleton for rehabilitation presents challenges due to their nonlinear characteristics and external disturbances caused by the structure itself or the patient wearing the exoskeleton.To remedy these problems,this paper presents a novel adaptive control strategy for upper-limb rehabilitation exoskeletons,addressing the challenges of nonlinear dynamics and external disturbances.The proposed controller integrated a Radial Basis Function Neural Network(RBFNN)with a disturbance observer and employed a high-dimensional integral Lyapunov function to guarantee system stability and trajectory tracking performance.In the control system,the role of the RBFNN was to estimate uncertain signals in the dynamic model,while the disturbance observer tackled external disturbances during trajectory tracking.Artificially created scenarios for Human-Robot interactive experiments and periodically repeated reference trajectory experiments validated the controller’s performance,demonstrating efficient tracking.The proposed controller is found to achieve superior tracking accuracy with Root-Mean-Squared(RMS)errors of 0.022-0.026 rad for all joints,outperforming conventional Proportional-Integral-Derivative(PID)by 73%and Neural-Fuzzy Adaptive Control(NFAC)by 389.47%lower error.These results suggested that the RBFNN adaptive controller,coupled with disturbance compensation,could serve as an effective rehabilitation tool for upper-limb exoskeletons.These results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method in enhancing rehabilitation accuracy and robustness,offering a promising solution for the control of upper-limb assistive devices.Based on the obtained results and due to their high robustness,the proposed control schemes can be extended to other motor disabilities,including lower limb exoskeletons.
文摘This paper proposes virtual impedance adaptation of the lower-limb exoskeleton for human performance augmentation(LEHPA) based on deep reinforcement learning(VIADRL) to mitigate reliance on model accuracy and address the ever-changing human-exoskeleton interaction(HEI) dynamics. The classical sensitivity amplification control strategy is expanded to the virtual impedance control strategy with more learnable virtual impedance parameters. The adjustment of these virtual impedance parameters is formalized as finding the optimal policy for a Markov Decision Process and can then be effectively resolved using deep reinforcement learning algorithms. To ensure safe and efficient policy training, a multibody simulation environment is established to facilitate the training process, supplemented by the innovative hybrid inverse-forward dynamics simulation approach for executing the simulation. For comparison purposes, the SADRL strategy is introduced as a benchmark. A novel control performance evaluation method based on the HEI forces at the back, thighs, and shanks is proposed to quantitatively evaluate the performance of our proposed VIADRL strategy. The VIADRL controller is systematically compared with the SADRL controller at five selected walking speeds. The lumped ratio of HEI forces under the SADRL strategy relative to those under the SADRL strategy is as low as 0.81 in simulation and approximately 0.89 on the LEHPA prototype. The overall reduction of HEI forces demonstrates the superiority of the VIADRL strategy in comparison to the SADRL strategy.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(62473337,62003305)the Key Research and Development Program of Zhejiang Province(2024C03040,2022C03029)the funding of Leading Innovative and Entrepreneur Team Introduction Program of Zhejiang Province(2023R01006).
文摘Focusing on the rehabilitation training of hemiplegia patients,this paper proposes a gait-planning strategy based on a central pattern generator and an adaptive time-delay control scheme that utilizes recursive terminal sliding mode for lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton robots.The central pattern generator network plans a reference gait trajectory for the affected leg,synchronized with the movement of the healthy leg.The proposed adaptive time-delay control scheme possesses a model-independent property due to the mechanism of time-delay estimation,with adaptive control gains that enhance the resilience against system perturbations and a recursive terminal sliding mode control component to achieve a fast convergence rate.According to the Lyapunov stability criterion,it is proved that the gait trajectory-tracking error is uniformly ultimately bounded.Experiments are conducted on a lower limb exoskeleton experimental platform,and the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed strategies.
基金the financial support by National Natural Science Foundation of China(61803265,61903255)Shanghai Science and Technology Development Foundation,China(Grant no.20S31905400).
文摘Portability is an important performance to the design of exoskeleton for rehabilitation and assistance.However,the structure of traditional exoskeletons will decrease the portability because of their heavy weight and large volume.This paper proposes a novel bionic portable elbow exoskeleton based on a human-exoskeleton gravity-balancing coupled model.The variable stiffness characteristics of the coupled model is analyzed based on the static analysis.In addition,the optimization of human-exoskeleton joint points is analysis to improve the bionic motor characteristics of the exoskeleton.Theoretical prototype is designed and its driving power and dynamic performance are analyzed.Then,a prototype is designed and manufactured with a total weight of 375 g.The merits of driving power reducing is verified by simulation and the isokinetic experiments.The simulation and isokinetic results show that the driving torque and the driving power of the subject were significantly decreased with wearing the proposed exoskeleton.The driving torques are reduced 79.28%and 57.38%from the simulation results and isokinetic experiment results,respectively.The driving work of experiment was reduced by 56.5%.The development of the novel elbow exoskeleton with gravity-balancing mechanism can expand the application of exoskeleton in home-based rehabilitation.
基金the Portuguese Army,through CINAMIL,within project ELITE2-Enhancement LITe ExoskeletonFoundation for Science and Technology (FCT),through IDMEC,under LAETA,project UIDB/50022/2020 for supporting this research。
文摘Modern conflicts demand substantial physical and psychological exertion,often resulting in fatigue and diminished combat or operational readiness.Several exoskeletons have been developed recently to address these challenges,presenting various limitations that affect their operational or everyday usability.This article evaluates the performance of a dual-purpose passive ankle exoskeleton developed for the reduction of metabolic costs during walking,seeking to identify a force element that could be applied to the target population.Based on the 6-min walk test,twenty-nine subjects participated in the study using three different force elements.The results indicate that it is possible to reduce metabolic expenditure while using the developed exoskeleton.Additionally,the comfort and range of motion results verify the exoskeleton's suitability for use in uneven terrain and during extended periods.Nevertheless,the choice of the force element should be tailored to each user,and the control system should be adjustable to optimise the exoskeleton's performance.
基金Supported by National Key R&D Program of China(Grant No.2016YFE0105000)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.91848104)
文摘Lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton robots integrate sensing, control, and other technologies and exhibit the characteristics of bionics, robotics, information and control science, medicine, and other interdisciplinary areas. In this review, the typical products and prototypes of lower limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robots are introduced and stateof-the-art techniques are analyzed and summarized. Because the goal of rehabilitation training is to recover patients’ sporting ability to the normal level, studying the human gait is the foundation of lower limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot research. Therefore, this review critically evaluates research progress in human gait analysis and systematically summarizes developments in the mechanical design and control of lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton robots. From the performance of typical prototypes, it can be deduced that these robots can be connected to human limbs as wearable forms;further, it is possible to control robot movement at each joint to simulate normal gait and drive the patient’s limb to realize robot-assisted rehabilitation training. Therefore human–robot integration is one of the most important research directions, and in this context, rigid-flexible-soft hybrid structure design, customized personalized gait generation, and multimodal information fusion are three key technologies.
基金Supported by National Defense Pre-Research Foundation of China
文摘After more than half a century of intense efforts, the development of exoskeleton has seen major advances, and several remarkable achievements have been made. Reviews of developing history of exoskeleton are presented, both in active and passive categories. Major models are introduced, and typical technologies are commented on. Difficulties in control algorithm, driver system, power source, and man-machine interface are discussed. Current researching routes and major developing methods are mapped and critically analyzed, and in the process, some key problems are revealed. First, the exoskeleton is totally different from biped robot, and relative studies based on the robot technologies are considerably incorrect. Second, biomechanical studies are only used to track the motion of the human body, the interaction between human and machines are seldom studied. Third, the traditional developing ways which focused on servo-controlling have inborn deficiency from making portable systems. Research attention should be shifted to the human side of the coupling system, and the human ability to learn and adapt should play a more significant role in the control algorithms Having summarized the major difficulties, possible future works are discussed. It is argued that, since a distinct boundary cannot be drawn in such strong-coupling human-exoskeleton system, the more complex the control system gets, the more difficult it is for the user to learn to use. It is suggested that the exoskeleton should be treated as a simple wearable tool, and downgrading its automatic level may be a change toward a brighter research outlook. This effort at simplification is definitely not easy, as it necessitates theoretical supports from fields such as biomechanics, ergonomics, and bionics.
基金Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.61273342)Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.3113026,3132005)
文摘Due to the close physical interaction between human and machine in process of gait training, lower limb exoskeletons should be safe, comfortable and able to smoothly transfer desired driving force/moments to the patients. Correlatively, in kinematics the exoskeletons are required to be compatible with human lower limbs and thereby to avoid the uncontrollable interactional loads at the human-machine interfaces. Such requirement makes the structure design of exoskeletons very difficult because the human-machine closed chains are complicated. In addition, both the axis misalignments and the kinematic character difference between the exoskeleton and human joints should be taken into account. By analyzing the DOF（degree of freedom） of the whole human-machine closed chain, the human-machine kinematic incompatibility of lower limb exoskeletons is studied. An effective method for the structure design of lower limb exoskeletons, which are kinematically compatible with human lower limb, is proposed. Applying this method, the structure synthesis of the lower limb exoskeletons containing only one-DOF revolute and prismatic joints is investigated; the feasible basic structures of exoskeletons are developed and classified into three different categories. With the consideration of quasi-anthropopathic feature, structural simplicity and wearable comfort of lower limb exoskeletons, a joint replacement and structure comparison based approach to select the ideal structures of lower limb exoskeletons is proposed, by which three optimal exoskeleton structures are obtained. This paper indicates that the human-machine closed chain formed by the exoskeleton and human lower limb should be an even-constrained kinematic system in order to avoid the uncontrollable human-machine interactional loads. The presented method for the structure design of lower limb exoskeletons is universal and simple, and hence can be applied to other kinds of wearable exoskeletons.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50975009)
文摘In order to overcome the drawbacks of traditional rehabilitation method,the robot-aided rehabilitation has been widely investigated for the recent years.And the hand rehabilitation robot,as one of the hot research fields,remains many challenging issues to be investigated.This paper presents a new hand exoskeleton system with some novel characteristics.Firstly,both active and passive rehabilitative motions are realized.Secondly,the device is elaborately designed and brings advantages in many aspects.For example,joint motion is accomplished by a parallelogram mechanism and high level motion control is therefore made very simple without the need of complicated kinematics.The adjustable joint limit design ensures that the actual joint angles don＇t exceed the joint range of motion（ROM） and thus the patient safety is guaranteed.This design can fit to the different patients with different joint ROM as well as to the dynamically changing ROM for individual patient.The device can also accommodate to some extent variety of hand sizes.Thirdly,the proposed control strategy simultaneously realizes the position control and force control with the motor driver which only works in force control mode.Meanwhile,the system resistance compensation is preliminary realized and the resisting force is effectively reduced.Some experiments were conducted to verify the proposed system.Experimentally collected data show that the achieved ROM is close to that of a healthy hand and the range of phalange length（ROPL） covers the size of a typical hand,satisfying the size need of regular hand rehabilitation.In order to evaluate the performance when it works as a haptic device in active mode,the equivalent moment of inertia（MOI） of the device was calculated.The results prove that the device has low inertia which is critical in order to obtain good backdrivability.The experiments also show that in the active mode the virtual interactive force is successfully feedback to the finger and the resistance is reduced by one-third;for the passive control mode,the desired trajectory is realized satisfactorily.
基金Supported by Beijing Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. L172021)National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51875033)Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2019YJS164)
文摘Propulsion during push-off is the key to realizing human locomotion.Humans have evolved a way of walking with high energy utilization,but it can be further improved.Drawing inspiration from the muscle-tendon unit,a passive spring-actuated ankle-foot exoskeleton is designed to assist with human walking and to lengthen walking duration by mechanically enhancing walking efficiency.Detection of the gait events is realized using a smart clutch,which is designed to detect the contact states between the shoe sole and the ground,and automatically switch its working state.The engagement of a suspended spring behind the human calf muscles is hence controlled and is in synchrony with gait.The device is completely passive and contains no external power source.Energy is stored and returned passively using the clutch.In our walking trials,the soleus electromyography activity is reduced by as much as 72.2%when the proposed ankle-foot exoskeleton is worn on the human body.The influence of the exoskeleton on walking habits is also studied.The results show the potential use of the exoskeleton in humans’daily life.
