A quasi-passive lower limb exoskeleton for partial body weight support

Autor: Andrea Collo, Gentiane Venture, Vincent Bonnet
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
Zdroj: BioRob
Popis: Over the last decade, quasi-passive exoskeletons have been proposed and developed as mobility assistive devices. Such legged structures may serve elderly and physically impaired subjects to improve motor recovery during early stage rehabilitation. Unfortunately, state-of-the-art technologies have high power requirements which negatively influence their efficiency and operation range. This work aims to propose a robust, versatile and affordable exoskeleton able to combine partial body weight support and the high portability offered by crutches. The device relies on the use of passive components and only two compact actuators. The fabrication of a proof-of-concept prototype allowed to qualitatively assess the system working principle. Level walking, squat-like, stand-to-sit and sit-to-stand movements were successfully carried out wearing the device. The outcomes of this preliminary experimental validation stage provided positive indications for future work and improvements.
Databáze: OpenAIRE