• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.162-170
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• 2015

This paper describes the development of a hand module of NREX (National Rehabilitation Center Robotic Exoskeleton) designed to assist individuals with sustained neurological impairments such as stroke and spinal cord injuries. To construct a simple and lightweight hand module, the robotic hand adopts a mechanism driven by a motor and moved by two four-bar linkages. The motor facilitates the flexion-extension movements of the thumb and the other four fingers simultaneously. Thus, an individual using the robotic hand module can effectively grip and release objects related to daily life activities. The robotic hand module has been designed to cover the range of motion with respect to its link distance. This hand module can be used in therapeutic rehabilitation as well as for daily life assistance. In addition, this hand module can either be mounted on an NREX or used as a standalone module.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.471-477
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• 2022

Objective: The greatest motor impairment after stroke is a decreased ability to walk. Most stroke patients achieve independent gait, but approximately 70% do not reach normal speed, making it difficult to reach a standard of daily living. Therefore, a wearable exoskeleton is recommended for optimal independent gait because different residual disorders hinder motor function after stroke. This review synthesized the effect on gait speed in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which gait training using a wearable exoskeleton was performed on post-stroke patients for qualitative and quantitative analysis. Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis of a randomized controlled trials Methods: RCTs using wearable exoskeletons in robotic rehabilitation of post-stroke patients were extracted from an international electronic database. For quality assessment and quantitative analysis, RevMan 5.4 was used. Quantitative analysis was calculated as the standardized mean difference (SMD) and presented as a random effect model. Results: Five studies involving 197 post-stroke patients were included in this review. As a result of the analysis using a random effect model, gait training using a wearable exoskeleton in post-stroke patients showed a significant improvement in gait speed compared to the non-wearing exoskeleton (SMD=1.15, 95% confidence interval: 0.52 to 1.78). Conclusions: This study concluded that a wearable exoskeleton was more effective than conventional gait training in improving the gait speed in post-stroke patients.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.3-6
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• 2014

Robotic exoskeletons are kind of wearable robots enabling operators to amplify the force. There are several possible applications in plenty of options: to put very heavy products into right positions for assemblies, to rescue people from natural disasters, and to work for medical rehabilitation etc. In this study, the exoskeleton hands were designed and fabricated using 3-D printer. It would be the good case of application of 3-D printer to design and fabricate the exoskeleton hands.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.309-315
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• 2015

This paper presents a lower-limb exoskeleton testbed and its control method. An exoskeleton is a wearable robotic system that can enhance wearer's muscle power or assist human's movements. Among a variety of its applications, especially for military purpose, a wearable robot can be very useful for carrying heavy loads during locomotion by augmenting soldiers' mobility and endurance. The locomotion test on a treadmill was performed up to maximum 4km/h walking speed wearing the lower-limb exoskeleton testbed with a 45kg backpack load.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2015

This paper reviews trends of the rehabilitation welfare devices on the basis of products and markets. Latest assistive devices tend to have a fold function. Auxiliary power assist module has been added. The completion of products has been improved. The folding function has strong relationship with portability. Specifically, various mobility devices, including foldable devices, are associated with enhanced portability. Powered auxiliary wheels and upper extremity supporting modules have entered the market. The leading-edge technology like Segway's control technology applies to two-wheel wheelchairs. The brand- new technology, lower extremity robotic exoskeleton, applies to markets. Standing wheelchairs, ramps, stair climbing assistive devices becomes more common. In addition, a combination of a variety of smart devices is being promoted to the classical assistive devices' part. Rehabilitation welfare devices can be more valuable due to nice industrial design, improved materials, and processing technology.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.524-530
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• 2015

Early wearable robotic devices were big, powerful and manipulator-like. Recently, various applications of wearable robotics have shown a greater demand for lower weight and compliancy. One approach to achieve these objectives is the use of novel actuators such as twisted string actuators. These actuator are very light, quiet, mechanically simple and compliant. Therefore, they can drastically decrease the weight and size of robotic systems such as exoskeletons. However, one drawback of this actuator is its nonlinear transmission ratio, which is established as a ratio between the angle of twisting of the strings and their resulting contraction. In this paper, we propose a transmission mechanism with rotational motion as the output incorporating a twisted string actuator (TSA). The designed mechanism allows the linearization of the relationships between the input and output displacements and forces of a TSA. The proposed design has been validated theoretically and through a set of computer simulations. A detailed analysis of the performance of the proposed mechanism is presented in this paper along with a design guideline.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.134-141
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• 2009

Recently, many researchers have tried to develop wearable robots for various fields such as medical and military purposes. We have been studying robotic exoskeletons to assist the motion of persons who have problems with their muscle function in daily activities and rehabilitation. The upper-limb motions (shoulder, elbow and wrist motion) are especially important for such persons to perform daily activities. Generally for shoulder motion 300F is needed to describe its motion(extension/flexion, abduction/adduction, internal/external rotation) but we have used a redundant actuator thus making a 4 DOF system. In this paper, we proposed the mechanism design of the exoskeleton which consists of 4-DOF for shoulder and 1-DOF for elbow robotic exoskeleton to assist upper-limb motion. Then we compared the new mechanism design and prototype mechanism design. Here we also analyze the proposed system kinematically to find out and to avoid the singular point. This research will ensure that the proposed wearable robot system make human's motion more powerfully and more easily.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.191-197
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• 2022

In this research, we developed the muscle-strength-assistant device, named as LEXO-W, and conducted suitability test for army when transporting high weights. LEXO-W relieves the burden when carrying heavy weights by distributing the load concentrated on the arms throughout the body. LEXO-W weighs 4 kg and is designed to handle objects weighing up to 55 kg. To verify the effectiveness of the device, object handling tests (high explosive shell, simple assembly bridges, and ammunition boxes) were conducted. Working time, metabolic rate, and electromyogram (EMG) signals were measured in each test. As a result, it was confirmed that the working time, metabolic rate and EMG signal before and after wearing LEXO-W were decreased. This research has great significance in that it verified the performance of the wearable device from the perspective of military operation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.989-990
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• 2009

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.531-537
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• 2015

Hand function is one of the essential functions required to perform the activities of daily living, and wearable robots that assist or recover hand functions have been consistently developed. Previously, wearable robots commonly employed conventional robotic technology such as linkage which consists of rigid links and pin joints. Recently, as the interest in soft robotics has increased, many attempts to develop a wearable robot with a soft structure have been made and are in progress in order to reduce size and weight. This paper presents the concept of a soft wearable robot composed of a soft structure by comparing it with conventional wearable robots. After that, currently developed soft wearable robots and related issues are introduced.