With the growing aging population, there is an increasing demand and oppor-tunity to develop exoskeletons, which are typically designed for military or industrial use, to be used on a daily basis to provide power assistance. Such exoskeletons could be used by the physically impaired and injured, in addition to the elderly. This report describes the design of a power-assist exoskeleton specifically for the pronation and supination motion of the forearm. The exoskeleton is controlled by two push-button sensors to indicate the direction of rotation, which is controlled by the user at all times. As a safety precaution, visual feedback was implemented to confirm the user’s inputs were received by the exoskeleton and that the robot is actuating. A stepper motor, whose torque is transferred to the system using a bidirectional winch system, is used such that the exoskeleton is able to output such holding torques to lock the position of the arm. The mechanical structure is composed of various PVC and ABS coupling hubs, which form a stationary and rotating unit. The exoskeleton is fixed onto the user’s forearm through a blood pressure cuff, and torque is transferred from the motor to the user’s wrist through a custom-carved Styrofoam wrist cuff. From testing, the average running torque of the system ranged from 5.24 Nm to 9.17 Nm for motor speeds from 60 rpm to 45 rpm, respectively, which confirmed that decreasing motor speeds increased running torque. The amount of holding torque could not be quantified because the testing setup was unable to produce sufficient loads (>55Nm) to move the system out of its fixed position. However, when in “idle”, the system still produced a holding torque of 30 Nm, suggesting a significant source of torque transfer loss in the system. The exoskeleton was worn by a user and tested for comfort, usability and overall functionality. While there were a few sources of discomfort that were expected, the robot was able to actuate the proper motions for the user and provide powered assistance. Overall, the system was able to pronate, supinate and hold the user’s forearm as controlled, demonstrating that the exoskeleton successfully provided powered-assistance.

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A lower extremity exoskeleton includes: at least one power unit; two leg supports designed to rest on the ground; two knee joints configured to allow flexion and extension between respective shank and thigh links of the leg supports; an exoskeleton trunk rotatably connectable to the leg supports; and two hip actuators configured to create torques between the exoskeleton trunk and the leg supports. In use, the hip actuators create a torque to move the leg supports backward relative to the exoskeleton trunk during a stance phase, which pushes the exoskeleton trunk forward. A second torque may be used to move the leg supports forward relative to the exoskeleton trunk into a swing phase. Additionally, a swing torque may be generated during the swing phase to move the leg support forward relative to the exoskeleton trunk. This results in decreased oxygen consumption and heart rate of a user wearing the exoskeleton.

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An exoskeleton bracing system includes: a trunk support for affixing to the trunk of a disabled person and leg braces for connecting to the legs of the person, each leg brace including limb segment braces. Motorized joints are adapted to provide relative angular movement between the limb segment braces of the leg braces and between the leg braces and the trunk support. One or more ground force sensors are designed to sense ground force exerted on each of the leg braces. The system also includes a controller for receiving sensed signals from said one or more ground force sensors, with an algorithm for identifying a stance from the sensed signals and, based on the identified stance, actuating the motorized joints to perform an action relating to a mode of locomotion selected from a set of predefined actions corresponding to the identified stance.

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An actuator subsystem preferably for a robot or bionic linkage. A joint between two robotic or bionic members includes at least first and second actuators such as piston-cylinder assemblies connected between the members. A hydraulic circuit includes a sensor subsystem for sensing the magnitude of the load on the piston-cylinder assemblies and/or members. A fluid supply system includes an actuatable control valve operable to supply fluid to one or both piston-cylinder assemblies. A control circuit is responsive to the sensor and is configured to electronically control the fluid subsystem to supply fluid to the first piston-cylinder assembly when the sensor subsystem senses a load below a predetermined magnitude and to supply fluid to both piston-cylinder assemblies when the sensor subsystem senses a load above the predetermined magnitude.

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(EN)In a frame structure of a wearable motion assisting device, a waist section connection mechanism (200) comprises a top end mounting metal fitting (210) fitted and fixed to an upper socket section secured to the waist support section of a waist tightening member (30) and a bottom end mounting metal fitting (220) fitted and fixed to a lower socket section formed at the upper part of the housing of a drive motor. An assembly (250) formed by combining an elastic member (230) with a rigid member (240) is disposed between the top end mounting metal fitting (210) and the bottom end mounting metal fitting (220). The assembly is elastically deformed according to the motions of the waist and the legs of the wearer (12), and supports the weight applied to the waist of the wearer. The assembly (250) of the waist section connection mechanism (200) is the combination of an elastic member (230) formed of an elastic block (260) with elasticity and a rigid member (240) formed by vertically arranging a plurality of metal plates (270) parallel to each other.
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