LOWER –LIMB EXOSKELETON FOR SIT TO STAND

Abstract

A significant number of people suffer from musculoskeletal pathologies, which result in limitations in sit-to-stand (STS) movement or during locomotion. Allowing disabled people to stand, can reduce secondary conditions, increasing their life expectancy and reducing healthcare costs. Exoskeletons can be used to support human motion, helping to solve these problems. Exoskeletons are becoming a very powerful tool to help therapists in the rehabilitation of patients who have suffered from neurological conditions, in particular stroke or spinal cord injury. STS movement is an important daily living activity and usually a difficult task to achieve, particularly, by post stroke or spinal cord injury patients. The mechanical design is based on utilizing the center of mass transition through the upper body motion of the user. A passive mechanism powered by gas springs realizes the posture transition using the center of mass transition. The supporting torque produced by the device can be adjusted depending on the user’s remaining function by changing the fixing position of the gas springs. The purpose of this paper is to analyze complete kinematics and dynamics, along with the joint position analysis of a 3 DOF lower-limb robotic exoskeleton.