Prasad Rajan, El-Rich Marwan, Awad Mohammad I, Hussain Irfan, Jelinek H F, Huzaifa Umer, Khalaf Kinda
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khalifa University of Science Technology and Research, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Health Engineering Innovation Center, Khalifa University of Science Technology and Research, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2022 Jun 20;10:920462. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.920462. eCollection 2022.
The global increase in the number of stroke patients and limited accessibility to rehabilitation has promoted an increase in the design and development of mobile exoskeletons. Robot-assisted mobile rehabilitation is rapidly emerging as a viable tool as it could provide intensive repetitive movement training and timely standardized delivery of therapy as compared to conventional manual therapy. However, the majority of existing lower limb exoskeletons continue to be heavy and induce unnecessary inertia and inertial vibration on the limb. Cable-driven exoskeletons can overcome these issues with the provision of remote actuation. However, the number of cables and routing can be selected in various ways posing a challenge to designers regarding the optimal design configuration. In this work, a simulation-based generalized framework for modelling and assessment of cable-driven mobile exoskeleton is proposed. The framework can be implemented to identify a 'suitable' configuration from several potential ones or to identify the optimal routing parameters for a given configuration. For a proof of concept, four conceptual configurations of cable-driven exoskeletons (one with a spring) were developed in a manner where both positive and negative moments could be generated for each joint (antagonistic configuration). The models were analyzed using the proposed framework and a decision metric table has been developed based on the models' performance and requirements. The weight of the metrics can be adjusted depending on the preferences and specified constraints. The maximum score is assigned to the configuration with minimum requirement or error, maximum performance, and . The metric table indicated that the 4-cable configuration is a promising design option for a lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton based on tracking performance, model requirements, and component forces exerted on the limb.
中风患者数量的全球增长以及康复途径的有限性推动了可穿戴外骨骼设计与开发的增加。机器人辅助的移动康复正迅速成为一种可行的工具，因为与传统手动治疗相比，它可以提供强化的重复运动训练和及时的标准化治疗。然而，现有的大多数下肢外骨骼仍然很重，并会在肢体上产生不必要的惯性和惯性振动。缆索驱动的外骨骼可以通过提供远程驱动来克服这些问题。然而，缆索的数量和布线方式可以有多种选择，这给设计师在优化设计配置方面带来了挑战。在这项工作中，提出了一种基于模拟的缆索驱动可穿戴外骨骼建模与评估的通用框架。该框架可用于从几种潜在配置中识别出“合适”的配置，或为给定配置识别最佳布线参数。为了进行概念验证，以一种可以为每个关节产生正负力矩的方式（对抗配置）开发了四种缆索驱动外骨骼的概念配置（一种带有弹簧）。使用所提出的框架对模型进行了分析，并根据模型的性能和要求制定了决策指标表。指标的权重可以根据偏好和指定的约束条件进行调整。最高分被赋予要求或误差最小、性能最佳的配置。指标表表明，基于跟踪性能、模型要求以及施加在肢体上的分力，四缆索配置是下肢康复外骨骼的一个有前景的设计选项。
