The Journal of Korea Robotics Society (로봇학회논문지)

Korea Robotics Society (한국로봇학회)
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Development of a Passive Knee Mechanism for Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Robot

근력 지원용 외골격 로봇을 위한 수동형 무릎 관절 메커니즘 개발

  • Received : 2017.03.02
  • Accepted : 2017.05.04
  • Published : 2017.05.31
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Abstract

In this paper, four-bar linkage mechanism for the knee joint is developed which is used in prosthetics. But unlike the prosthetics, the feature of this mechanism is that the instantaneous center of rotation of the four-bar linkages can be moved behind the ground reaction force vector so that it can be passively supported without any external power. In addition, this mechanism is developed similar to the structure of the human knee joint for eliminating the sense of heterogeneity of the wearer. In order to design the mechanism with these two objectives, optimization design process is done using the PIAnO tool and detailed design is carried out through optimized variable values. The developed mechanism is attached to the robot which can assist the hip and ankle joints. In order to verify the operation of the developed knee mechanism, an insole type sensor was attached to the shoes to compare data values before and after wearing the robot. Result data showed that wearer wearing the exoskeleton robot with the knee mechanism was the same value regardless of whether the heavy tool is loaded or not.

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References

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  1. Knee Exoskeletons Design Approaches to Boost Strength Capability: A Review vol.11, pp.21, 2017, https://doi.org/10.3390/app11219990