User-centered development and performance assessment of a modular full-body exoskeleton (AXO-SUIT)

Abstract

This paper presents the design and preliminary performance assessment of a full-body assistive exoskeleton (AXO-SUIT) for older adults. AXO-SUIT is a system that consists of separate lower-body and upper-body modular exoskeletons, which can be combined to form a full-body system to provide flexible physical assistance as needed. The full-body exoskeleton comprises 27 degrees of freedom (dof), of which 17 are passive and 10 active. It can assist people in walking, standing, carrying and handling tasks. A user-centered design approach was adopted throughout the development of the exoskeleton. This paper describes the design process of AXO-SUIT, involving a review of user needs, a kinematic and kinetic motion study, and innovative system design. Tests with the developed systems were conducted on selected end-user subjects, covering both performance evaluations at different levels and useability testing. End-user testing results show the effectiveness of the exoskeleton in providing flexible physical assistance.

Keywords

• Exoskeletons
• Physical assistance for the elderly
• User-centered design
• Performance assessment