Multi-joint actuation platform for lower extremity soft exosuits

Ding, Ye; Galiana, Ignacio; Asbeck, Alan T.; Quinlivan, Brendan; Rossi, Stefano Marco Maria De; Walsh, Conor J.

doi:10.1109/icra.2014.6907024

Cited by 100 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…2). Previous work from our laboratory describes in greater detail the controller and actuation platform used in both healthy (38) and poststroke (39) participants. Briefly, the actuation unit contains four linear actuators that allow simultaneous actuation of up to four Bowden cables; only two actuators were used in this study.…”

Section: Soft Exosuit Design and Operationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To address this opportunity, our team developed a lightweight, soft wearable robot (exosuit) that interfaces to the paretic limb of persons after stroke via garment-like, functional textile anchors. Exosuits produce gait-restorative joint torques by transmitting mechanical power from waist-mounted body-worn (37) or off-board (38,39) actuators to the wearer through the interaction of the textile anchors and a cable-based transmission.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A soft robotic exosuit improves walking in patients after stroke

et al. 2017

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Stroke-induced hemiparetic gait is characteristically slow and metabolically expensive. Passive assistive devices such as ankle-foot orthoses are often prescribed to increase function and independence after stroke; however, walking remains highly impaired despite-and perhaps because of-their use. We sought to determine whether a soft wearable robot (exosuit) designed to supplement the paretic limb's residual ability to generate both forward propulsion and ground clearance could facilitate more normal walking after stroke. Exosuits transmit mechanical power generated by actuators to a wearer through the interaction of garment-like, functional textile anchors and cable-based transmissions. We evaluated the immediate effects of an exosuit actively assisting the paretic limb of individuals in the chronic phase of stroke recovery during treadmill and overground walking. Using controlled, treadmill-based biomechanical investigation, we demonstrate that exosuits can function in synchrony with a wearer's paretic limb to facilitate an immediate 5.33 ± 0.91°increase in the paretic ankle's swing phase dorsiflexion and 11 ± 3% increase in the paretic limb's generation of forward propulsion (P < 0.05). These improvements in paretic limb function contributed to a 20 ± 4% reduction in forward propulsion interlimb asymmetry and a 10 ± 3% reduction in the energy cost of walking, which is equivalent to a 32 ± 9% reduction in the metabolic burden associated with poststroke walking. Relatively low assistance (~12% of biological torques) delivered with a lightweight and nonrestrictive exosuit was sufficient to facilitate more normal walking in ambulatory individuals after stroke. Future work will focus on understanding how exosuit-induced improvements in walking performance may be leveraged to improve mobility after stroke.

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Section: Soft Exosuit Design and Operationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A soft robotic exosuit improves walking in patients after stroke

et al. 2017

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“…The exosuit is an integration of the multiarticular ankle/hip suit and monoarticular hip suit described in [22]- [24], combined with improvements to each part. The exosuit assists walking by creating forces in two load paths, one that aids ankle plantarflexion and hip flexion (multiarticular load path), and one that aids hip extension (monoarticular load path).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…SUIT DESCRIPTION Several views of the exosuit presented in this paper are shown in Figure 1. The exosuit builds on the designs of the multiarticular exosuit described in [22]- [24] assisting ankle plantarflexion and hip flexion, as well as the hip extension exosuit described in [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-joint soft exosuit for gait assistance

Asbeck

Schmidt

Galiana

et al. 2015

2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

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Exosuits represent a new approach for applying assistive forces to an individual, using soft textiles to interface to the wearer and transmit forces through specified load paths. In this paper we present a body-worn, multi-joint soft exosuit that assists both ankle plantar flexion and hip flexion through a multiarticular load path, and hip extension through a separate load path, at walking speeds up to 1.79m/s (4.0mph). The exosuit applies forces of 300N in the multiarticular load path and 150N in hip extension, which correspond to torques of 21% and 19% of the nominal biological moments at the ankle and hip during unloaded walking. The multi-joint soft exosuit uses a new actuation approach that exploits joint synergies, with one motor actuating the multiarticular load paths on both legs and one motor actuating the hip extension load paths on both legs, in order to reduce the total system weight. Control is accomplished by an algorithm that uses only a gyroscope at the heel and a load cell monitoring the suit tension, and is shown to adapt within a single step to changes in cadence. Additionally, the control algorithm can create slack in the suit during non-level-ground walking motions such as stepping over obstacles so that the system can be transparent to the wearer when required. The resulting system consumes 137W, and has a mass of 6.5kg including batteries.

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“…Hence when smartly designed and controlled, the fact of having multiple point of equilibrium in the compliant structure, results in increased power efficiency. In this preliminary work, we present an actuator which has been designed to assist the elbow motion and meant to be used in a soft wearable arm exoskeleton currently under development which exploits principles similar to [11]. In the following sections the design process and experimental results are discussed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A series elastic composite actuator for soft arm exosuits

Cappello

Pirrera

Masia

2015

2015 IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR)

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Abstract-The paper introduces a novel type of actuator for soft wearable exoskeletons providing assistance to the elbow joint motion. The mechanism consists of two DC motors, a multistable composite transmission which introduces series elastic properties, a high-efficiency non-backdrivable mechanism and a pair of Bowden cables to transmit the motion from the actuator to the joint. A test bench has been designed to experimentally characterize the performance of the proposed device. The control architecture is then introduced and described. The results of preliminary tests are shown and discussed. In conclusion, future developments and a embodiment of the envisioned application are introduced.

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Multi-joint actuation platform for lower extremity soft exosuits

Cited by 100 publications

References 23 publications

A soft robotic exosuit improves walking in patients after stroke

A soft robotic exosuit improves walking in patients after stroke

Multi-joint soft exosuit for gait assistance

A series elastic composite actuator for soft arm exosuits

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