Control of flexible knee joint exoskeleton robot based on dynamic model

Abstract

The knee joint plays a significant role in ground clearness, which is a crucial subtask of normal walking and avoiding falls. While post-stroke survivors are often faced with muscle weakness during walking, which leads to inadequate knee flexion. The lack of ground clearance caused by inadequate knee flexion will severely impede walking, increase metabolic exertion, and increase the risk of falls. A compliant exoskeleton robot possesses more favorable edges than other rigid ones in lightweight, safety, sense of comfort, and so on. We developed a new type of soft exoskeleton robot to assist the knee joint to achieve desired movements with Bowden cable transmitting force and torque. With the agonist–antagonist driving method, like a group of muscles working, we have explored dual-motors structure to realize the knee flexion function. It has built a standard dynamic model to analyze stability and realize the control law. We have conducted simulation and prototype experiments to verify the feasibility and usefulness of our method. The results show that the device can compensate for the lack of the knee joint driving force and realize the reference movement. Finally, we concluded that our method is a desirable way, and the scheme could improve the knee flexion ability and clearing ground.