Lower Extremity Exoskeletons and Active Orthoses: Challenges and State-of-the-Art

Contents
• Important Definitions
• Performance Augmenting Exoskeletons
• Active Orthoses
• Future development

Lower Extremity Exoskeletons and Active Orthoses: Challenges and State-of-the-Art

 Important Definitions
• Coronal Plane
• Sagittal Plane
• Transverse Plane
• Flexion/Extension
• Degree Of Freedom
• Metabolic Cost
• Eversion/Inversion

Lower Extremity Exoskeletons and Active Orthoses: Challenges and State-of-the-Art

 Performance Augmenting
Exoskeletons
• Early Exoskeletons
• Berkeley Exoskeleton
• Sarcos Exoskeleton
• MIT Exoskeleton
• Enabling Technologies
• Hybrid Assistive Leg
• Nurse-Assisting Exoskeleton
• RoboKnee
Lower Extremity Exoskeletons and Active Orthoses: Challenges and State-of-the-Art
 Early Exoskeletons
• 1890 – Yagn’s running aid
– Not successfully demonstrated
• 1963 – Zaroodny of the U.S. Army
Exterior Ballistics Laboratory
– Published paper with practical problems
• Portable power supplies
• Sensing and controlling challenges
• Physical interface with humain
• Biomechanics of locomotion

Lower Extremity Exoskeletons and Active Orthoses: Challenges and State-of-the-Art

 Early Exoskeletons (cont …)

• 1960 - General Electric Research

– Physical model
– 30 DOF and 680 kg
– Strength amplification 25:1
– Lower limb problems not resolved
• 1980 - Jeffrey Moore at the Los Alamos National
Laboratory
– Not started due to lacking of funding, but seeded Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
• Mark Rosheim
– Paper published with 26 DOF exoskeleton concept.

Lower Extremity Exoskeletons and Active Orthoses: Challenges and State-of-the-Art

 Berkeley Exoskeleton
• Power source is inbuilt
• Has 3 DOF at hip, 1 at knee and 3 at ankle

Lower Extremity Exoskeletons and Active Orthoses: Challenges and State-of-the-Art

 Active Orthoses
• Early Active Orthoses
• Mihailo Pupin Institute Exoskeletons
• University of Wisconsin Exoskeleton
• Other Full Lower limb Exoskeletons
• ActiveModular Orthosis for Lower Limbs
project
• University of Belgrade and Zotovic
Rehabilitation Institute
• Mihailo Pupin Institute
Lower Extremity Exoskeletons and Active Orthoses: Challenges and State-of-the-Art
 Active Orthoses (Cont ...)

• MIT Ankle–Foot Orthosis

• University of Michigan Orthoses
• Other Ankle–Foot Orthoses
• Active Knee Orthoses
• Other Orthotic Devices

Lower Extremity Exoskeletons and Active Orthoses: Challenges and State-of-the-Art