This paper presents a passive exoskeleton with 17 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) for load-carrying, which includes two 3DOFs ankle joint, two 2DOFs hip joint, two 1DOF knee joint, one 1DOF backpack, and two redundant DOFs at the thigh and shank, respectively, to improve the compatibility of human-machine locomotion. The modular backpack was designed to facilitate carrying of different loads. A horn-shaped spatial mechanism was designed to connect the hip joint and the backpack, and transfer the payload to the ground. A tension spring was adopted to absorb the gravitational potential energy of the load when walking, and fix the horn-shaped spatial mechanism at both sides. The segmented brace at the thigh and the shank were designed to adjust different legs. In order to improve the force transmission performance, we cancelled the extension DOF of the hip joint, and moved the rotation axis of the knee joint backward. The knee joint assistance mechanism was designed to allow the knee joint move freely when the flexion angle did not exceed 60°. However, when the knee bends over 60°, the knee joint presses the torsion spring to store energy. After then, it releases energy to assist knee extending. The Cooper-Harper scale tests demonstrated that the exoskeleton had excellent static support effect and movement flexibility, which verified the rationality of the exoskeleton design.

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