軽量・低複雑性のソフト両側足関節外骨格の設計と生体力学的評価
Design and Biomechanical Evaluation of a Lightweight Low-Complexity Soft Bilateral Ankle Exoskeleton
靴の上から装着できる軽量でシンプルなソフト両側足関節外骨格を開発し、ゼロトルクモードで歩行を妨げないことを確認した。
著者: Josée Mallah, Zakii Javed, Zafer Azak, Thomas Stone, Luigi G. Occhipinti
分類: cs.RO, cs.SY, eess.SY
原文アブストラクト
Many people could benefit from exoskeleton assistance during gait, for either medical or nonmedical purposes. But exoskeletons bring added mass and structure, which in turn require compensating for. In this work, we present a lightweight, low-complexity, soft bilateral ankle exoskeleton for plantarflexion assistance, with a shoe attachment design that can be mounted on top of any pair of shoes. Experimental tests show no significant difference in lower limb kinematics and kinetics when wearing the exoskeleton in zero-torque mode relative to not wearing an exoskeleton, showing that our device does not obstruct healthy gait, and proving it as a compliant and comfortable device, promising to provide effective assistance. Hence, a control system was developed, and additional tests are underway.