Design and simulation of leg exoskeleton cycling-actuated wheelchair

Huang, Gao; Zhang, Weimin; Yu, Zhangguo; Chen, Xuechao; Meng, Fei; Ceccarelli, Marco; Huang, Qiang

doi:10.1177/1729881417741739

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…A user-oriented pedal-actuated exoskeletal wheelchair robot for rehabilitation and locomotion that ensures user safety was proposed in [32]. To meet leg muscles exercise requirements, a crank-rock mechanism was affixed on the wheelchair to enable the leg cycling motion when the wheelchair was active.…”

Section: Conceptual Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The exoskeletons are designed to guide and assist leg motion while maintaining user safety. Previous work proposed a leg exoskeleton cycling-actuated wheelchair robot with a master-slave control to provide locomotion and rehabilitation functions [32,33,34,35,36] using a crank-rocker mechanism. However, experimentation showed that leg exoskeleton motion was difficult to control when the motor was affixed to the rocker [30] because motion passing through the ‘dead point’ of the crank was user-assisted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the pedaling force used for motion control changed during the cycling [33]. Previous work showed that the wheelchair scheme with the leg cycling exoskeleton was convenient for lower limb muscle exercises in a wheelchair [32,33,34]. This paper investigates the main deficiencies of the original design then presents an improved mechanical design and control system to deliver better operational experience for the user.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Design and Feasibility Study of a Leg-exoskeleton Assistive Wheelchair Robot with Tests on Gluteus Medius Muscles

Huang

Ceccarelli

Mai

2019

Sensors

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The muscles of the lower limbs directly influence leg motion, therefore, lower limb muscle exercise is important for persons living with lower limb disabilities. This paper presents a medical assistive robot with leg exoskeletons for locomotion and leg muscle exercises. It also presents a novel pedal-cycling actuation method with a crank-rocker mechanism. The mechanism is driven by a single motor with a mechanical structure that ensures user safety. A control system is designed based on a master-slave control with sensor fusion method. Here, the intended motion of the user is detected by pedal-based force sensors and is then used in combination with joystick movements as control signals for leg-exoskeleton and wheelchair motions. Experimental data is presented and then analyzed to determine robotic motion characteristics as well as the assistance efficiency with attached electromyogram (EMG) sensors. A typical muscle EMG signal analysis shows that the exercise efficiency for EMG activated amplitudes of the gluteus medius muscles approximates a walking at speed of 3 m/s when cycling at different speeds (i.e., from 16 to 80 r/min) in a wheelchair. As such, the present wheelchair robot is a good candidate for enabling effective gluteus medius muscle exercises for persons living with gluteus medius muscle disabilities.

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Section: Conceptual Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Design and Feasibility Study of a Leg-exoskeleton Assistive Wheelchair Robot with Tests on Gluteus Medius Muscles

Huang

Ceccarelli

Mai

2019

Sensors

Self Cite

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“…In recent years Research Institutes around the world have been looking to increase the quality of life of spinal cord injury (SCI) people by the development of different devices like assistive robots, the design of a mechanism for therapies and devices to transport patients between different zones of the hospital or house [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. There are several examples of devices [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design of an Automated Multiposition Dynamic Wheelchair

Aguilar-Peréz

Paredes-Rojas

Sanchez-Cruz

et al. 2021

Sensors

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This work presents a design for an automatized multiposition dynamic wheelchair used to transport quadriplegic patients by reconfiguring a manual wheelchair structure. An electric actuator is attached to a four-bar mechanism fixed to each side of a wheelchair’s backrest to reach multiposition. The entire device is actuated through a PID controller. An experimental test is carried out in a simplified wheelchair structure. Finally, the structure of the wheelchair is evaluated through the Dynamic analysis and Finite Element Method under the payload computed with the most critical position reached by the mechanism.

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“…Some of them included the conventional knee ankle foot orthosis (KAFOs) and others were assistive devices such as wheelchairs and crutches, along with modern-day lower-body exoskeletons. 2 Despite providing some sort of assistance, generally, these conventional KAFOs could not provide the desired comfort which leads to unnatural motions. Furthermore, conventional assistive devices have also failed to provide complete independence to the users.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative study of knee joint torque estimations for linear and rotary actuators using bond graph approach for stand–sit–stand motions

Jain

Bera

Rafique

et al. 2020

International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems

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Stand–sit–stand (STS) motions are the most frequently performed activities of everyday life and require extensive movement of knee joint. People suffering from knee joint disorders face difficulties in performing this motion. The compact knee exoskeleton (KE) has proven to be a viable, less complex, and cheaper alternative to the available entire lower-, upper-, and full-body exoskeletons. With growing number of technical glitches and finite battery life problems, there exist risks of sudden failure of the actuator of KE that could be detrimental for the vulnerable users. To overcome this problem, there is a need to accommodate a backup actuator in KE which can continue providing assistance during movement if the primary actuator ceases to function. This article provides a performance comparison of a four-bar mechanism-driven KE that can accommodate both the linear and the rotary actuators. The modelling and simulation of the system are performed using the bond graph (BG) technique. The results successfully showed that both actuators offered desired ranges of motions needed for STS motion. Furthermore, the knee joint torques developed by the linear and rotary actuators were found to be 40 Nm and 57 Nm, respectively, which corresponds to 60% and 85% of the total torque required by the knee joint to perform STS motions, thereby reducing the user effort to 40% and 15%, respectively. Thus, both actuators are self-capable to provide necessary assistance at the knee joint even if the primary actuator ceases to work due to a sudden fault, the secondary actuator will provide the required rotation of the thigh link and will continue to deliver the assistive torque. The article also effectively shows the application of BG approach to model the multidisciplinary systems like KE as it conveniently models the system containing various elements in different energy domains.

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Design and simulation of leg exoskeleton cycling-actuated wheelchair

Cited by 11 publications

References 32 publications

Design and Feasibility Study of a Leg-exoskeleton Assistive Wheelchair Robot with Tests on Gluteus Medius Muscles

Design and Feasibility Study of a Leg-exoskeleton Assistive Wheelchair Robot with Tests on Gluteus Medius Muscles

Design of an Automated Multiposition Dynamic Wheelchair

Comparative study of knee joint torque estimations for linear and rotary actuators using bond graph approach for stand–sit–stand motions

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