Preliminary test of a zero-torque controlled exoskeleton on a treadmill

RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen), vol. 1, pp. 021

Abstract

Variable stiffness actuators help to guarantee a safe human interaction when it is used as the active joints in lowerlimb exoskeletons.Therefore, we designed a unilateral exoskeleton consisting of a mechanical-rotary variable impedance actuator (MeRIA) assisting the human knee.In this paper, a first walking trial with a healthy, human subject has been carried out on a treadmill to validate the mechanical performance of the actuator.Even though the implemented zero-torque controller does not yet actively strengthen the human subject, the preliminary test shows that the exoskeleton can follow the human motion while providing a low impedance and thus a patient-cooperative behavior during walking.

Authors 5

1. Lukas Bergmann Aachen Lehrstuhl für Medizinische Informationstechnik (MedIT)

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen

   Lehrstuhl für Medizinische Informationstechnik, RWTH Aachen

2. Lin Liu Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen

3. Bernhard Penzlin Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen

4. Steffen K. Leonhardt Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen

5. Chuong Ngo Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen