Miller-Jackson Tiana M, Natividad Rainier F, Lim Daniel Yuan Lee, Hernandez-Barraza Luis, Ambrose Jonathan W, Yeow Raye Chen-Hua
Evolution Innovation Lab, Advanced Robotics Centre, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Front Robot AI. 2022 Apr 28;9:835237. doi: 10.3389/frobt.2022.835237. eCollection 2022.
Leg motion is essential to everyday tasks, yet many face a daily struggle due to leg motion impairment. Traditional robotic solutions for lower limb rehabilitation have arisen, but they may bare some limitations due to their cost. Soft robotics utilizes soft, pliable materials which may afford a less costly robotic solution. This work presents a soft-pneumatic-actuator-driven exoskeleton for hip flexion rehabilitation. An array of soft pneumatic rotary actuators is used for torque generation. An analytical model of the actuators is validated and used to determine actuator parameters for the target application of hip flexion. The performance of the assembly is assessed, and it is found capable of the target torque for hip flexion, 19.8 Nm at 30°, requiring 86 kPa to reach that torque output. The assembly exhibits a maximum torque of 31 Nm under the conditions tested. The full exoskeleton assembly is then assessed with healthy human subjects as they perform a set of lower limb motions. For one motion, the Leg Raise, a muscle signal reduction of 43.5% is observed during device assistance, as compared to not wearing the device. This reduction in muscle effort indicates that the device is effective in providing hip flexion assistance and suggests that pneumatic-rotary-actuator-driven exoskeletons are a viable solution to realize more accessible options for those who suffer from lower limb immobility.
腿部运动对于日常活动至关重要，但许多人因腿部运动功能受损而每天面临困难。传统的下肢康复机器人解决方案已经出现，但由于成本问题可能存在一些局限性。软体机器人技术使用柔软、柔韧的材料，这可能提供成本较低的机器人解决方案。这项工作展示了一种用于髋关节屈曲康复的软气动驱动外骨骼。一系列软气动旋转执行器用于产生扭矩。对执行器的分析模型进行了验证，并用于确定髋关节屈曲目标应用的执行器参数。对该组件的性能进行了评估，发现它能够实现髋关节屈曲的目标扭矩，即在30°时为19.8 Nm，达到该扭矩输出需要86 kPa。在测试条件下，该组件表现出最大扭矩为31 Nm。然后，对健康受试者在进行一组下肢运动时的完整外骨骼组件进行了评估。对于抬腿这一动作，与不佩戴设备相比，在设备辅助期间观察到肌肉信号减少了43.5%。肌肉用力的减少表明该设备在提供髋关节屈曲辅助方面是有效的，并表明气动旋转执行器驱动的外骨骼是为下肢行动不便者实现更多可行选择的一种可行解决方案。
