An untethered cable-driven ankle exoskeleton with plantarflexion-dorsiflexion bidirectional movement assistance  

作　　者：Tian-miao WANG Xuan PEI Tao-gang HOU Yu-bo FAN Xuan YANG Hugh MHERR Xing-bang YANG 

机构地区：[1]School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation,Beihang University,Beijing 100083,China [2]Shenyuan Honors College,Beihang University,Beijing 100083,China [3]School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering,Beihang University,Beijing 100083,China [4]MIT Media Lab,Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Cambridge,MA 02139-4307,USA [5]Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering,Beihang University,Beijing 100083,China

出　　处：《Frontiers of Information Technology & Electronic Engineering》2020年第5期723-739,共17页信息与电子工程前沿（英文版）

基　　金：Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.61703023);Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation,China(No.3184054);China Scholarship Council(No.201706025021);National Undergraduate Training Programs for Innovation and Entrepreneurship(No.201910006118)。

摘　　要：Lower-limb assisted exoskeletons are widely researched for movement assistance or rehabilitation training.Due to advantages of compliance with human body and lightweight,some cable-driven prototypes have been developed,but most of these can assist only unidirectional movement.In this paper we present an untethered cable-driven ankle exoskeleton that can achieve plantarflexion-dorsiflexion bidirectional motion bilaterally using a pair of single motors.The main weights of the exoskeleton,i.e.,the motors,power supplement units,and control units,were placed close to the proximity of the human body,i.e.,the waist,to reduce the redundant rotation inertia which would apply on the wearer’s leg.A cable force transmission system based on gear-pulley assemblies was designed to transfer the power from the motor to the end-effector effectively.A cable self-tension device on the power output unit was designed to tension the cable during walking.The gait detection system based on a foot pressure sensor and an inertial measurement unit(IMU)could identify the gait cycle and gait states efficiently.To validate the power output performance of the exoskeleton,a torque tracking experiment was conducted.When the subject was wearing the exoskeleton with power on,the muscle activity of the soleus was reduced by 5.2%compared to the state without wearing the exoskeleton.This preliminarily verifies the positive assistance effect of our exoskeleton.The study in this paper demonstrates the promising application of a lightweight cable-driven exoskeleton on human motion augmentation or rehabilitation.

关 键 词：Ankle exoskeleton Plantarflexion-dorsiflexion bidirectional assistance Biological gait torque CABLE-DRIVEN Gait detection 

分 类 号：TP242[自动化与计算机技术—检测技术与自动化装置] TH789[自动化与计算机技术—控制科学与工程]