This paper presents the design of a wearable upper arm exoskeleton that can be used to assist and train arm movements of stroke survivors or subjects with weak musculature. In the last ten years, a number of upper-arm training devices have emerged. However, due to their size and weight, their use is restricted to clinics and research laboratories. Our proposed wearable exoskeleton builds upon our extensive research experience in wire driven manipulators and design of rehabilitative systems. The exoskeleton consists of three main parts: an inverted U-shaped cuff that rests on the shoulder, a cuff on the upper arm, and a cuff on the forearm. Six motors, mounted on the shoulder cuff, drive the cuffs on the upper arm and forearm, using cables. In order to assess the performance of this exoskeleton, prior to use on humans, a laboratory test-bed has been developed where this exoskeleton is mounted on a model skeleton, instrumented with sensors to measure joint angles and transmitted forces to the shoulder. This paper describes design details of the exoskeleton and addresses the key issue of parameter optimization to achieve useful workspace based on kinematic and kinetic models.

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This paper presents the design and preliminary evaluation of an elas-tic lower-body exoskeleton. Human legs behave in a spring-like fashion while running. We selected a design that relied solely on material elasticity to store and release energy during the stance phase of running. The exoskeleton included a novel knee joint with a cam and a Bowden cable transferring energy to and from a waist-mounted extension spring. We used a friction-lock clutch controlled by hip angle via a pneumatic cylinder to release the cable during swing phase for free movement of the leg. The design also incorpora-ted a composite leaf spring to store and release energy in the distal portion of the exoskeleton about the foot and ankle. Preliminary test data for our target subject showed that his typical leg deflection was 0.11 m with leg stiffness of 16 kN/m while running at 3.0 m/s. We used these values to set the desired stiffness (60%15% of the normal leg stiffness, or 9.62.4 kN/m) and deflection (0.11 m) of the exoskeleton. We created simplified multi-body and full finite element quasi-static models to achieve the desired system stiffness and validate our results, respectively. The final design model had an overall stiffness of 7.3 kN/m, which was within the desired range. We fabricated a single-leg prototype of the exoskeleton that weighed 7.1 kg. We tested the exoskeleton stiffness quasi-statically and found a stiffness of 3.6 kN/m. While running, the exoskeleton provided 30% of the total leg stiffness for two subjects. Although the stiffness was lower than desired, the fabricated prototype demonstrated the ability of a quasi-passive exoskeleton to provide a significant portion of an individual’s leg stiffness while running.

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