Design and motion control of exoskeleton robot for paralyzed lower limb rehabilitation

Introduction Patients suffering from limb movement disorders require more complete rehabilitation treatment, and there is a huge demand for rehabilitation exoskeleton robots. Flexible and reliable motion control of exoskeleton robots is very important for patient rehabilitation. Methods This paper proposes a novel exoskeleton robotic system for lower limb rehabilitation. The designed lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton robot mechanism is mainly composed of the hip joint mechanism, the knee joint mechanism and the ankle joint mechanism. The forces and motion of the exoskeleton robot were analyzed in detail to determine its design parameters. The robot control system was developed to implement closed-loop position control and trajectory planning control of each joint mechanism. Results Multiple experiments and tests were carried out to verify robot's performance and practicality. In the robot angular response experiments, the joint mechanism could quickly adjust to different desired angles, including 15°, 30°, 45°, and 60°. In the trajectory tracking experiments, the exoskeleton robot could complete tracking movements of typical actions such as walking, standing up, sitting down, go upstairs and go downstairs, with a maximum tracking error of ±5°. Robotic wearing tests on normal people were performed to verify the assistive effects of the lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton at different stages. Discussion The experimental results indicated that the exoskeleton robot has excellent reliability and practicality. The application of this exoskeleton robotic system will help paralyzed patients perform some daily movements and sports.