Design of an Ankle Exoskeleton That Recycles Energy to Assist Propulsion During Human Walking

Wang, Cunjin; Dai, Lei; Shen, Donghua; Wu, Jiyuan; Wang, Xingsong; Tian, Mengqian; Shi, Yunde; Su, Chun

doi:10.1109/tbme.2021.3120716

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…We can find that the simulation results of the three passive-assist regimens in different subjects indicated that the ankle-assist regimen presented the greatest metabolic reduction in weight-bearing walking. This result is similar to the effect of most current experimental ankle plantarflexion devices [ 27 – 30 ]. However, it also be found that the hip assist scheme differs from most current experimental hip flexion devices [ 4 , 31 – 33 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Concept design of hybrid-actuated lower limb exoskeleton to reduce the metabolic cost of walking with heavy loads

et al. 2023

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This paper proposes the conceptual design method for a hybrid-actuated lower limb exoskeleton based on energy consumption simulation. Firstly, the human-machine coupling model is established in OpenSim based on the proposed three passive assistance schemes. On this basis, the method of simulating muscle driving is used to find out the scheme that can reduce the metabolic rate the most with 3 passive springs models. Then, an active-passive cooperative control strategy is designed based on the finite state machine to coordinate the operation of the power mechanism and the passive energy storage structure and improve the mobility of the wearer. In the end, a simulation experiment based on the human-machine coupled model with the addition of active actuation is proceeded to evaluate its assistance performance according to reducing metabolic rate. The results show that the average metabolic cost decreased by 7.2% with both spring and motor. The combination of passive energy storage structures with active actuators to help the wearer overcome the additional consumption of energy storage can further reduce the body’s metabolic rate. The proposed conceptual design method can also be utilized to implement the rapid design of a hybrid-actuated lower limb exoskeleton.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Concept design of hybrid-actuated lower limb exoskeleton to reduce the metabolic cost of walking with heavy loads

et al. 2023

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“…A frame resembling the design in Ref. [12] can replace the shank brace to serve as the attachment point and prevent the slippage. The weight of the design can also be further decreased.…”

Section: Potential Improvement Of the Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative analysis of energy saving effect of passive exoskeleton designs

Wang

2024

ACE

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Nowadays, exoskeletons have a wide range of application in many fields. Among various types of exoskeletons, passive exoskeletons have become a major development field in exoskeleton device due to their lightweight and simple structure characteristics. This study provides an analysis of an ankle passive exoskeleton and a full lower limb passive exoskeleton design on their respective energy-saving effect during walking. The two selected designs both represent common approaches within the fields of ankle and full lower limb exoskeleton. Through a comparative evaluation of the structures and energy-saving methods of the two designs, the study validates the effectiveness of both designs. Drawing from the characteristics of the designs and comparative analysis, the study discusses the performance and limitations of both designs and outlines potential improvement and applications of both designs. Base on the analysis and the findings, the study aims to contribute to further advancement of passive exoskeleton design and offers some suggestions for its development.

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“…The foot-strike energy is a final, short-time energy change, so the utilizing of the strike energy is, in the contact process between the foot and the ground, using the spring system to transfer the works done by the joint torques and gravity on the human body to the elastic potential energy within the exoskeleton system. In previous research, Wang et al 11 and Collins et al 12 both assisted the ankle propulsion using foot-strike energy.…”

Section: System Design Of the Exoskeletonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10] In addition to load-supporting exoskeletons, passive exoskeletons that do not have actuating elements achieve the assistance ability by improving the utilization efficiency of human energy. 29 Using the energy changes of the foot-strike energy, 11,12 the human-bodycentroid fluctuations [13][14][15] and joint movements [22][23][24][25][26][27]29 that mainly include hip, knee, and ankle joints in the lower extremity and elbow and shoulder joints in the upper extremity, where are capable of generating large energy recovery benefits, various passive exoskeletons based on ergonomics are developed, considering the basic design ideas such as gravity compensation structures, [16][17][18][19][20] seat-shape structures, 21 and transformations between joint positive and negative work within a single joint 11,12,22,23 and multiple joints. [24][25][26] Human movement during stair climbing is more complex and relevant exoskeleton researches are relatively few, but the knee joint is the execution key to motion assistance for the human body.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[24][25][26] Human movement during stair climbing is more complex and relevant exoskeleton researches are relatively few, but the knee joint is the execution key to motion assistance for the human body. [1][2][3] For climbing movements, the energy transfer strategy that recovers foot-strike energy to compensate for joint positive work at the knee joint is more efficient, because not only do they occur continuously and fill the entire supporting period together, 11 but the utilization mechanism for foot-strike energy inherently has the potential of discrete power assistance for knee joint, in which when the foot is removed from contact with the ground, the re-flexion of the knee joint is allowed to the reverse drive for the strike-energy-recovery mechanism during the swing period, thus ensuring that the exoskeleton does not interfere with human motion during the swing period. To apply and verify the above research, this paper designs a knee exoskeleton with an inverted cam mechanism.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exoskeleton design utilizing foot-strike energy for enhancing the climbing ability of the wearer

Sun

2022

Proc Inst Mech Eng H

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In this paper, a passive exoskeleton is developed to strengthen the motion ability of the knee joint bearing four times the body weight during climbing mountains or stairs. With the novel design, an inverted cam mechanism is designed to transform foot-strike energy to joint positive work of the knee joint, a type-selection mechanism for spring steel bars, and further their application model based on the linear elastic theory of metal materials are established, and to attach the exoskeleton assistance torque to the energy consumption characteristics of the knee joint, the moment-arm variation and the cam profile of the inverted cam mechanism are investigated. In addition, this paper proposes the potential link between the utilization of foot-strike energy and discrete power assistance for the knee joint, which creates simplifying conditions for exoskeleton designs with clutch mechanisms. Finally, to verify the effectiveness of the exoskeleton design, two exoskeleton prototypes were used for respiratory metabolism tests, in which 75% of the test results obtained an average power-assistant efficiency of 14.15%.

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Design of an Ankle Exoskeleton That Recycles Energy to Assist Propulsion During Human Walking

Cited by 11 publications

References 29 publications

Concept design of hybrid-actuated lower limb exoskeleton to reduce the metabolic cost of walking with heavy loads

Concept design of hybrid-actuated lower limb exoskeleton to reduce the metabolic cost of walking with heavy loads

Comparative analysis of energy saving effect of passive exoskeleton designs

Exoskeleton design utilizing foot-strike energy for enhancing the climbing ability of the wearer

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