Design of a powered full-body exoskeleton for physical assistance of elderly people

Abstract

The development of full-body exoskeletons has been limited due to design complexities, mechanical integration intricacies, and heavier weight, among others. Consequently, very few full-body powered exoskeletons were developed to address these challenges, in spite of increasing demand for physical assistance at full-body level. This article presents an overall design and development of a powered full-body exoskeleton called “FB-AXO.” Primarily, FB-AXO consists of two main subsystems, a lower-body and an upper-body subsystem connected together through waist and spine modules. FB-AXO is developed for the support of weaker ageing adults so that they can continue functioning their daily activities. At the onset of the project, a set of functional and design requirements has been formulated with an extensive end-user involvement and then used in realizing the FB-AXO. The final FB-AXO design comprises of 27 degrees of freedom, of which 10 are active and 17 are passive, having a total system weight of 25 kg. Overall, the article elaborates comprehensively the design, construction, and preliminary testing of FB-AXO. The work effectively addresses design challenges including kinematic compatibility and modularity with innovative solutions. The details of the mechanics, sensors, and electronics of the two subsystems along with specifics of human-exoskeleton interfaces and ranges of motion are also provided. The FB-AXO exoskeleton effectively demonstrated to assist full-body motions such as normal walking, standing, bending as well as executing lifting and carrying tasks to meet the daily living demands of older users.

The Use of Sports Rehabilitation Robotics to Assist in the Recovery of Physical Abilities in Elderly Patients with Degenerative Diseases: A Literature Review

“…Furthermore, it can also provide corresponding training for patients with limb dysfunction to help restore the working ability of their limbs [62]. At present, robotic exoskeletons can be divided into the following four types, according to where they are worn: upper limb robotic exoskeletons [20][21][22][23][24], lower limb robotic exoskeletons [25][26][27][28][29][30], whole body robotic exoskeletons [15], and ground robotic exoskeletons [31,32].…”

Exoskeletons: Contribution to Occupational Health and Safety

“…The tremendous physical demands due to the use of tools and machine tools by workers is another factor that has driven the development and use of exoskeletons to provide the worker with resistance and physical capacity, reducing the impact of disorders derived from the handling of these tools, including situations of work carried out at height [16,17].…”

Manipulating device-to-body forces in passive exosuit: An experimental investigation on the effect of moment arm orientation using passive back-assist exosuit emulator

“…Moreover, regarding the type of actuation, both active and passive exosuits have been developed in the past for industrial and professional use (de Looze et al, 2016 ; Toxiri et al, 2019 ). However, in the current scenario, with active devices being limited by available actuator options, multi-faceted control schemes and power supplies (Wolff et al, 2014 ; Christensen et al, 2021 ), passive devices have attracted particular attention in terms of practical utility. These reasons make passive exosuits a more practical solution for load lifting applications (Bosch et al, 2016 ; Goršič et al, 2021 ).…”