Design and Implementation of a Lightweight Lower Extremity Exoskeleton

Abstract

This paper summarizes the biomechanics simulation and design of a lightweight lower extremity exoskeleton. The biomechanics simulation was carried out using LifeMOD to obtain joint torques of human body in the condition of its applications including walking on flat ground, ascending stairs, sitting down and standing up which provided the design criteria of actuating torques. The anthropomorphically based exoskeleton has 7 degrees of freedom per leg, two of which are powered by brushless DC motors, and the total mass is less than 12 kg due to the use of carbon fiber material and the compact structural design and optimization. Controlling and sensing system based on CANopen communication protocol is proposed which can provide high communication efficiency and reliability for the control of the exoskeleton.