Medical Engineering and Physics 106 (2022) 103830

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Medical Engineering and Physics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/medengphy

Design, development and model analysis of lower extremity Exo-skeleton

R.Prashanna Rangan a, C. Maheswari b, S. Vaisali b, K. Sriram c, Albert Alexander Stonier d,
Geno Peter e, Vivekanada Ganji f, *
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Sriperambudur 602117, India
b
Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai 638060, India
c
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lampur 50603, Malaysia
d
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai 638 060, India
e
CRISD, School of Engineering and Technology, University of Technology Sarawak, Malaysia
f
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Debre Tabor University, Ethiopia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Over the past few years the growth and development of exo-skeleton has dramatically raised with the devel­
Exo-skeleton opment of precise control elements and actuation systems. Many exo-skeleton systems have been designed,
Locomotion assistant developed and tested for performance optimization. In the recent years, the significance of exo-skeleton in
Torque analysis
medical fields have got increased and are used in providing therapy and rehabilitation to the patients. With this
Lower limb analysis
Denavit-Hartenberg
development there comes the importance for analysis and control of the exo-skeleton for precise functioning and
Trajectory planning to avoid malfunction of the system in the later part. Dynamic analysis of limb joints is essential to better facilitate
a deeper understanding of the exo-skeleton limb during various environmental conditions like varied loading.
The dynamic model so developed will assist in choosing an apt actuation system based on the torque requirement
of the model.This paper focusses on the analysis of a 2DOF lower limb active control exo-skeleton system and
makes a torque calculation for actuator selection for the lower limb to provide rehabilitation to the patients as
wearable walking aid. The work also makes a trajectory planning for the lower limb to move in sequence for
making a walking cycle with angular limitations to avoid damage to the user’s limbs. The motion analysis for the
developed lower limb Exoskeleton as per the analysis is 52.055 Nm at hip joint 11.677 Nm at knee joint.

1. Introduction calculates the torque requirement for selecting an appropriate actuator

In today’s world, with the increased accidents resulting in bone
damages and locomotive ailments, and natural deterioration of human
joint strength there comes the exo-skeleton into picture and plays its
significance. In the recent years many exo-skeleton systems have been
developed and tested. These exo-skeleton systems are used as a loco­
motive assistant and provides rehabilitation to those having movement
impairments and also acts as a weight lifting aid. The lower extremity
exo-skeleton offers gait rehabilitation, acts as a locomotive assistance
and also supports the lower limb in weight lifting and walking tasks.
Many active lower limb models are evolving over the recent years due to
its high impact on ergonomics and posture correction along with assis­
tance. The evolution of such lower limb assistive exo-skeletons is mainly
due to the correct mathematical modeling and selection of appropriate
actuation systems. This paper mainly focusses on lower limb dynamic
modeling for a 2DOF active lower limb exo-skeleton model and
for the hip and knee joint while the ankle joint remains passively actu­
ated with spring tension. The dynamic model developed can be directly
related with the human user since the actual user measurements limb
lengths and weight of limb joints are taken into considerations. The
proposed model started with a DH matrix and calculated a kinematic
model and motion equation are arrived for the human lower limb. After
acquiring the safe travel angle data for each limb link the velocity and
acceleration profiles were plotted for the trajectory.
Ansari et al. [1] speaks in general about the utilization of
exo-skeleton to improvise the human strength and to enhance the
human body functions. The work is carried out by designing an
exo-skeleton and is been controlled by mechatronics system using
Artificial Pneumatic Muscles (PAM). The methodology proposed in this
paper involves a combined dynamic model of the musculoskeletal sys­
tem of the lower-body with the dynamics of pneumatic actuators [1].
Rahul et al. [2] is a research paper that deals with the design solutions

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: drvivek@bhu.edu.et (V. Ganji).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medengphy.2022.103830
Received 20 March 2022; Received in revised form 20 May 2022; Accepted 6 June 2022
Available online 9 June 2022
1350-4533/© 2022 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
R.Prashanna Rangan et al.
for a powered exo-skeleton for lifting heavy loads. The various issues
with human centered exo-skeletons have been addressed in this paper
and it creates a correlation between the limbs and the exo-skeleton. A
conceptual design is made and a prototype has been developed with
pneumatic actuators and is tested and analyzed for obtaining the overall
efficiency and accuracy. It concludes by putting forth the future needs of
exo-suits [2]. Latif et al. [3] developed a mathematical model for the
lower limb exo-skeleton system which is also fabricated in the later part
in their work. It also derives an actuator selection criterion after taking
into consideration of all the forces that acts on the lower limb joints. The
research work made a complete study on the torque analysis in lower
limb, using their developed model [3, 16].
Beomsoo et.al., (2015) makes an approach to find the torque
required at each joint by using a torque measurement sensor, which then
separates into human body viz, inertial, Coriolis, and gravitational tor­
ques as well as torque by active muscular effort. The paper insists the
importance of torque measurement before design for apt motor selection
[4]. Bing et al. [5] focusses on 3 major areas where the exo-skeleton
devices can be used as an assistive device, viz., gait rehabilitation,
human locomotion assistance, and human strength augmentation. Car­
los et al. [6] developed a lower body exo-skeleton and puts a novel
approach to control its actuating part, the DC motor via myoelectric
signals acquired from 2 muscles at a time to provide lower body reha­
bilitation. Graham et al. [7] speaks clearly in detail about the maximum
torque capacity that a human knee can produce. The research took 8
male subjects for comparing the peak values of angle specific (P) and
normalized torque (NP) which were compared in the isovelocity knee
flexion and extension at velocities between 50 and 250◦ s-1. It compares
both the methods and concludes that even though normalized torque
can seem to be more specific in determining the values, it lacked in
exposing the muscular imbalance, which is most required to be calcu­
lated for an athlete, since by which his risk factor could be estimated.
Such muscular imbalance may be identified by exploring neural, me­
chanical, and physiological mechanisms of torque production [7].
Lee et al. [8] says type II-A and type II-B muscle fibers in humans also
start to deteriorate with respect to aging and hence as a result the
aforesaid parameters start to decrease. Since knee becomes the first
weak-joint and deteriorates faster than other joints in the human body
during natural aging, the paper focusses on the development of a lower
limb powered exo-skeleton and provides with a detailed analysis of it [8,
17]. Luis et al. [9] says, as various exo-skeleton models have been
developed, they have slowly penetrated into the physiotherapy and
placed their footprints in limb rehabilitation therapy. Since the
exo-skeleton have the potential to enhance the wearer’s strength and
offers them the ability to carry out the tasks which they feel impossible
without an external aid, the research in the field of exo-skeleton study
has been tremendously increased. With the development of exo-skeleton
models there comes the importance of design calculations and assessing
the models being developed. The paper illustrates the developed
exo-skeleton system and makes a dynamic motion analysis. The lifting
capacity of humans without muscle damage is restricted to 600 N and
the muscle fiber can only handle forces less than 150Nm, there has to be
an external aid for working beyond those limits [9].
Tawakal et al. [10] develops a kinematic and dynamic analysis for a
lower limb exo-skeleton. It performs forward and inverse kinematics
using the Denavit-Hartenberg approach for their developed exo-skeleton
model. The proposed system is an 8-DOF manipulator, consisting of
2-DOF in the hip joint and has 1 DOF each in knee and ankle joints in
each leg. The work concludes by finding the torque calculations and
finds the energy needs for the actuator by using Lagrangian formulation
technique with which the energy is found for an individual of 65KG
weight and 1.6 m height [10]. Umit et al. [11] develops an anthropo­
morphic design of lower extremity exo-skeleton as walking aid for
disabled individuals with partial or completely lost lower limb muscular
activities. The system developed is a 2-DOF manipulator, which has
motor at hip and knee joints. The paper speaks in detail about the leg
2
Medical Engineering and Physics 106 (2022) 103830
motion and the body building balance by itself on the sagittal, coronal
and transverse planes and speaks the importance of it to consider in
mechanical design calculations. The paper then proceeds with the
actuator selection by finding the torque requirements at lower joints and
compares the various control system [11]. Yanhe et al.[12] develops a
6-DOF lower extremity exo-skeleton and analyses the kinematic pa­
rameters using Life Modeler and Adams software. The developed model
not only provide structural support to the user but also features comfort
and is a premise of the zero-force interaction design. The paper makes a
human muscle model for detailed analysis and derives the force required
to activate the respective muscles in the lower limb. The work concludes
by carrying out torque analysis at hip, knee and ankle [12, 18].
Massimo et.al., (2011) explains clearly in detail about the analysis of
human biomechanical aspects and speaks about the kinematic align­
ment, maximum torque required, joints of motion, compatibility of exo-
skeleton with human muscles for considerations before designing the
exo-skeleton model as lower limb rehabilitation. The paper reviews the
various exo-skeleton models in terms of DOF, torque, velocity etc. [13].
Vishnu et al. [14] designed an exo-skeleton system for sit to stand for the
elderly and is tested for structural strength. Static structural analysis is
made in Ansys workbench software. Modal analysis was also made to
obtain the natural frequency of the developed exo-skeleton system and
its deformation trend with respect to the mode vibrations. The paper
developed a 2-DOF lower limb manipulator and mainly focusses on
acquiring stability in the developed exo-skeleton system for lower limb
during the sit and stand cycle. Stress distribution and various possible
structural deformities are studied in detail in the hip and knee frame of
the developed exo-skeleton model [14].
Jyotindra et al. [15] proposed a low-cost lower limb rehabilitation
exo-skeleton system for pediatric of age between 8 and 12 years. The
system has 3-DOF and a wheel support model is added to ensure the
child safety and stability during operation. Dynamic analysis is carried
out on the developed model using Euler-Lagrange principle and Sim­
Mechanics model. The whole structure acts as a cradle like unit,
comprising of 4 wheeled back frames in which the lower limb assistive
exo-skeleton is attached at the front thus offering a medium for the gait
rehabilitation [15], 19, 19a, 19]. Maria et al. [16] is a review paper that
reviews the various mechanical design principles that are adapted and
taken into considerations during the fabrication of the lower limb
exo-skeleton system for various rehabilitations. It speaks the importance
of the mechanical design and speaks of its significance and in terms of
efficiency and effectiveness [16]. Romain et al. [17] reviews on the
various control strategies that are adapted in development of an
exo-skeleton system to control and interact with the user. The paper also
focuses on the control strategies for lower limb rehabilitation models.
The models are segregated into position / torque control, continuous
behavioral model, high level terrain detection & user intention detection
models and the control techniques are elaborately studied in this paper
[17].
Muscle fiber deterioration has to be kept in mind before designing
the exo-skeleton model to fulfill the needs. The deeper understanding of
human muscle structure paved a way for human centric rehabilitation
like physiotherapy, gait rehabilitation, assistance to Spinal Cord Injury
patients etc. The earlier studies have focused on developing exo-skeleton
devices with various actuation devices like Pneumatic Actuation Mus­
cles (PAM), hydraulics, electric motors etc. While somefocused-on
design aspects to create a user centric exo-skeleton model very few
have developed a real-time model of the exo-skeleton post mathematical
modeling.This paper makes an approach to develop an exo-skeleton
system that could be used for a variety of purposes ranging from reha­
bilitation to strength augmentation. The idea behind this work is to
develop a low-cost model after analyzing the critical modeling param­
eters for providing an apt model that suits the user and fulfills the needs.
In addition to the weight lifting application, the proposed Exo skeleton
can be used for soldiers in war fields to carry the heavy weight, elderly
people assistive device, physiotherapy trainer etc.,.
R.Prashanna Rangan et al. Medical Engineering and Physics 106 (2022) 103830

2. Materials and methodology

2.1. Development of model

A full body wearable exo-skeleton unit is designed and assembled

using the Solidworks designing tool. The 3D design of the fabricated
model is as shown in the Fig. 1. For the experimental study, the designed
model is fabricated as a full body Exo-skeleton using aluminum.
Aluminum body enhances the weight to performance ratio and the total
weight is brought to 16Kg. The developed model is tested and is actuated
with a rotary-linear conversion unit to flex the joints and worked fine for
all extension and retraction cycles. All rotary joints are coupled with
bearings to reduce the actuator strain. Since the model is grounded
through the ankle joint and has a passive bottom support there will be no
load transferred over the human wearer. The developed model, actuated
by 24 V DC electrical linear actuator is controlled by Arduino based
direct motor control with dual bridge motor driver for offering direction
control.

2.2. Lower limb segment model

Fig. 2. Link segment model of lower limb.
For reducing the complexity, a single complete structure with two
joint frames (i.e.), the lower limb is taken into consideration for analysis,
Table 1
where the whole body and exo-skeleton structure’s weight falls into the BMI parameters.
picture and is borne by the foot of the structure.
Person Height Weight BMI Age L1 L2
The model consists of two rigid segments (thigh and shank) and two
pin joints (hip and knee). The hip joint has single DOF and moves along S1 1.86 78 20.96 21 0.48 0.53
in front and back direction only and does not move along the transverse S2 1.74 75 24.77 22 0.45 0.49
S3 1.80 70 21.6 21 0.46 0.51
direction.
In the analysis, the subject was strapped to the Exo-Skeleton and is
made to stand in upright position at 90◦ flexion [11, 14]. Let the length trajectory while the subject was asked to fully relax his leg muscles.
of the lower leg be L1 and the upper leg length be L2. Let θ1 be the angle
between the hip pivot point and the thigh extension and θ2 be the angle 2.3. Motion equation of lower limb
between the knee pivot point and shank extension as shown in the Fig. 2.
Three male test subjects were taken for the experiment and the de­ Let θ be the joint angle, θ be the angular velocity and θ¨be the angular
tails are furnished in the BMI Table 1. In each experiment, the hip and acceleration. The equation of motion for human limb be expressed as
knee angles were imposed by the exoskeleton, and the subject was asked shown in “(1)”.
to fully relax his leg to allow the leg to move passively against the torque
imposed by the Exo-Skeleton. The subject was in the standing position, MH (θ)θ + VH (θ, θ) + GH (θ) + P(θ) = τM + τext (1)
which allowed the entire leg to swing. After the experiments on the
Where,
subjects were completed, experiments on the exoskeleton alone (i.e.,
MH is the symmetric positive definite inertial matrix of the human
exoskeleton not worn by a human subject) were performed in the same
limb.
configuration to separate the parameters of the exoskeleton and human
VH(θ,θ) is the vector of the centrifugal and coriolis torques of the
limb.
human limb
L1 and L2 in Table 1 are shank length and thigh length respectively.
GH(θ) is the gravitational torque of the human limb
The actuators placed on the hip and knee joint moves in correlation and
P(θ) is the vector of passive elastic torque of the human limb
in opposite direction to make a sequential walking cycle. During the
τM is the vector of muscular torque
experiment, the exoskeleton was controlled to move along a given
τext is the vector of external torque from the environment
In general two type of torques will be applied on the Exo-Skeleton,
Viz,. Passive torque (motion dependent) and Active torque (muscular)
which is as depicted in “(2)”.

τext = τA − [MA (θ)θ + VA (θ, θ̇) + GA (θ)] (2)

Where,
τA is the vector of actuator torque
MA is the symmetric positive definite inertial matrix of the Exo-
Skeleton
VA(θ,θ) is the vector of the centrifugal and Coriolis torques of the
Exo-Skeleton
GA(θ) is the gravitational torque of the Exo-Skeleton
On combining “(1)” and “(2)”, the combined torque for human and
actuator equation will be as shown in “(3)”.
MHA (θ)θ + VHA (θ, θ) + GHA (θ) + P(θ) = τM + τA (3)
Fig. 1. 3D model of the fabricated exo-skeleton system.

3
R.Prashanna Rangan et al. Medical Engineering and Physics 106 (2022) 103830

Where, HA is the combined torque of human and actuator position of the end effector (foot) relative to the base serves as the input
and the rotation of the hip and knee serve as the output. Equations
MHA = MH + MA (4) “(10)” and “(11)” explains the theta values that can be obtained as a
result of reverse kinematics model.
VHA = VH + VA (5) ( )
(y) l2 s2
θ1 = tan− 1 − tan− 1 (10)
GHA = GH + GA (6) x l1 + l2 c2

As the subject’s leg moves passively, the measured joint torque only √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
[ ( )2 ]
contains motion-dependent “passive” torque. ± (2l1 l2 )2 − x2 + y2 − l1 2 + l2 2
θ2 = ( ) (11)
x2 + y2 − l1 2 + l2 2
2.4. Kinematic analysis

The lower limb of the exo-skeleton system is considered to be a
Rotational-Rotational-Rotational series, since the pivoted joints
comprise of bearing joints are able to rotate either with actuator aid (hip
and knee) or free motion (ankle). The relationship between the foot and
the joint angles must be identified in order to control its motion. If the
joint angles are known, then the position of foot can be identified by
applying forward kinematics model. Table 2 shows the Denavit-
Hartenberg table that is developed in accordance to the reference
frame assigned to the lower limb of the exo-skeleton system [10].
The joint angle be θi, joint distance be di, link length be ai and twist
angle be αi. The position of the ankle with respect to the base in the x and
y axes can be obtained from the position vector in the transformation
matrix as shown in “(7)”.
⎡ ⎤
C12 − S120 l1 C1 + l2 C12
⎢ S12 C120 l1 S1 + l2 S12 ⎥
0
3T = ⎣
⎢ ⎥ (7)
0010 ⎦ respect to the actuator is identified individually for the hip and knee
0001
Since the actuator is fixed only at hip and knee joints, the angles of
hip and knee θ1 & θ2 are taken into consideration for deriving the
equation. An equation consisting of x and y axes, correlating the hip and
knee angles is written as explained in “(8)” and “(9)”.
x = l1 c1 + l2 c12
y = l1 s1 + l2 s12
Here,
Cos12 = Cos1Cos2 − Sin1Sin2
Sin12 = Sin1Cos2 + Cos1Sin2
Let, θ1 = 35◦ andθ2 = − 60◦
Upon substituting the values of θ1 & θ2 to the forward kinematics
equation,
x = (0.51 ∗ cos(35)) + (0.49 ∗ (cos(35) ∗ cos(− 60) − sin(35) ∗ sin(− 60)))
x = (0.4177) + (0.49 ∗ (0.409 + 0.4967))
x = 0.8614 m
2.5. Trajectory planning
The trajectory of the lower limb during a walking cycle is as shown in
the Fig. 3. For ensuring the safety of the user, the motion of travel θ
values has to be restricted and the allowable safe travel values are θ1 to
be 5 and 40◦ and θ2 to be − 5 and − 70◦ The values are so obtained after a
set of analysis on the walking cycles. The above said values provide
structural stability for the exo-skeleton during walking and will not fall
down. The lower limb of the exo-skeleton acts as a 2 Degree of Freedom
manipulator. Table 3 explains about the joint angles for both the links. A
value of 90◦ will be added to each of the angles.
2.6. Velocity and acceleration mapping
The dynamic data viz, velocity and acceleration of the links with
joints and graphs will be drawn accordingly by applying dynamic
analysis with the help of the third order motion equations.
Let θi & θf be the initial and final joint angles for the links at time ti
and tf.
Let the initial and final velocities be 0.
The third order polynomial can be expressed as shown in Eq. (12)
(8) and 13 below which represents the final joint angle of the link deter­
mined with respect to time
(9)
θ(f ) = C0 + C1 t + C2 t2 + C3 t3 (12)
Let the initial and final conditions be,
θ(ti ) = θ(i)
( )
θ tf = θ(f )
θ̇(ti ) = 0
( )
θ̇ tf = 0
From the Eq. (12), let the equation be rewritten as,

y = (0.51 ∗ sin(35)) + (0.49 ∗ (sin(35) ∗ cos(− 60) + cos(35) ∗ sin(− 60)))

y = (0.2925) + (0.49 ∗ (0.2867 − 0.7094))

y = 0.0853 m
Inverse Kinematics is applied to find the joint angles if the foot po­
sition is known. For obtaining the inverse kinematics of the leg, the

Table 2
Denavit-Hartenberg table for lower limb Exo-skeleton.
Joint αi − 1 ai − 1 di θi

Hip 1 0 0 0 θ1
Knee 2 0 l1 0 θ2
Ankle 3 0 l2 0 0
Fig. 3. Trajectory of motion for lower limb during walking cycle.

4
R.Prashanna Rangan et al. Medical Engineering and Physics 106 (2022) 103830

Table 3 3.1. Dynamic analysis for hip frame

Joint angles for the leg links.
(+90◦ ) θ2 (+90◦ ) As elucidated earlier, take the angle values of θ1 from the Table 3. Let
the initial angle be 5◦ and the final angle be 40◦ The time taken is 55 s.
5 -5
15 -27.75 θ(ti ) = C0 = 5∘
22.5 -41.625
40 -70 ( ) ( ) ( )
θ tf = 5 + C1 (55) + C2 552 + C3 553 = 40∘

θ̇(ti ) = C1 + 2C2 t + 3C3 t2 (13) θ̇(ti ) = C1 = 0

( ) ( ) ( )
θ(ti ) = C0 = θi θ̇ tf = 5 + C2 552 + C3 553 = 0
( )
θ tf = C0 + C1 tf + C2 tf2 + C3 tf3 5 + 3025C2 + 166375C3 = 40

θ̇(ti ) = C1 = 0 3025C2 + 166375C3 = 35

( ) 110C2 + 9075C3 = 0
θ̇ tf = C1 + 2C2 t + 3C3 t2 = 0
Upon simplifying the equations,
2.7. Torque analysis
121C2 + 6655C3 = 1.4
The torque to be generated by the actuator at each of the joints is
110C2 + 9075C3 = 0
expressed in the equations below. Based on the general torque equation
which correlates with the length of the lever arm and the angle between Upon solving the above two equations, the values of C2 and C3 will
point of force and its pivot point, the basic equation is reframed to obtain be,
the exact torque requirement of the lower limb section comprising of the
C2 = 0.03470
active and passive joints with human limb, which is as shown below in
Eqs. (14) and (15). C3 = − 0.0004207
[ ( ) ] [ ( )]
T1 = sinθ (m2 + mL1 )g
l1
+ m3 g(l1 ) sinθ (m4 + mL2 )g l1 +
l2 Now the position profile be,
2 2
+ sinθ[m5 g(l1 + l2 )] + sinθ[(m6 + mL3 )g(l1 + l2 )] θ(t) = C0 + C1 t + C2 t2 + C3 t3
[ ( )]
l3 (16)
+ cosθ (m6 + l3 )g (14) θ(t) = 5 + 0.347t2 − 0.0004207t3
2
The velocity profile be,
[ ( )]
l2
T2 = sinθ (m4 + mL2 )g + sinθ[m5 g(l2 )] + sinθ[m6 g(l2 )] θ(t) = C1 + 2C2 t + 3C3 t2
2
[ ( )]
+ cosθ (m6 + mL3 )g
l3
(15) θ(t) = 0.0347t − 0.0004207t2 (17)
2
The acceleration profile be,
Where, m1 = mass of actuator and bearing fixtures at hip joint m2 =
θ(t) = 2C2 + 6C3 t
mass of thigh m3 = mass of actuator and bearing fixtures at knee joint
m4 = mass of shank m5 = mass of bearing fixtures at ankle joint m6 = θ(t) = 0.0347 − 0.0004207t (18)
mass of foot mL1 = mass of thigh link mL2 = mass of shank link mL3 =
mass of ankle link l1 = length of thigh l2 = length of shank l3 = length of Upon substituting the values for time in “(16)”, “(17)” and “(18)”,
foot the values obtained for position, velocity and acceleration is mentioned
T1 = torque required at hip joint in the Table 4 and the plot is being shown in Fig. 4. The plot gives a
T2 = torque required at knee joint comparison between the velocity and acceleration and gives out the
position of the actuator with respect to time.
3. Results and discussions
3.2. Dynamic analysis for knee frame
A trajectory has been arrived with safe movement angles and will be
mechanically constrained with the help of a slot in the fabricated model
As elucidated earlier, take the angle values of θ2 from the Table 3. Let
of the lower limb, so that if any failure occurs in the actuation system the
the initial angle be 5◦ and the final angle be 70◦ The time taken is 55 s.
user will not be harmed in any way. In order to acquire the path
movement, the actuator must run in forward and reverse directions
Table 4
alternatively to mimic the human lower limb gait sequence. The motion
Position, velocity and acceleration profile wrt time for hip joint.
has to be achieved with the required velocity and acceleration in order
to push/pull the human limb along with the mechanically fabricated Time (s) θ(t) θ(t) θ(t)
exo-skeleton limb. For the actuator to complete one full cycle of 0 5 0 0.347
extension or retraction, it takes 55 s. The velocity and acceleration 7 6.56 0.223 0.0318
equations have been derived and upon substituting the angle values of 15 11.387 0.426 0.0281
23 18.237 0.576 0.0250
the lower limb to “(12)” and “(13)”, the velocity and acceleration pro­ 30 24.871 0.663 0.0220
files can be obtained individually for hip and knee frames. 38 32.022 0.712 0.0187
46 69.831 0.705 0.0153
55 98.468 0 0.0115

5
R.Prashanna Rangan et al. Medical Engineering and Physics 106 (2022) 103830

Table 5
Position, velocity and acceleration profile wrt time for knee joint.
TIME (s) θ(t) θ(t) θ(t)

0 5 0 0.129
7 7.893 0.7883 0.0962
15 16.876 1.4085 0.0588
23 29.614 1.7291 0.0214
30 41.954 1.7640 -0.0114
38 55.266 1.5230 -0.0488
46 65.433 0.9825 -0.0863
55 70.1237 0 -2.445

Fig. 4. Motion profile for Hip joint.

θ(ti ) = C0 = 5∘
( )
θ tf = 5 + C1 (55) + C2 (552) + C3 (553) = 70∘

θ(ti ) = C1 = 0
( )
θ tf = 5 + C2 (552) + C3 (553) = 0

5 + 3025C2 + 166375C3 = 70

3025C2 + 166375C3 = 65 Fig. 5. Motion profile forKnee joint.

110C2 + 9075C3 = 0 80KGs and 1.86 m tall. Both the active and passive torque can be ob­
Upon simplifying the equations, tained from the above three equations. Table 6 depicts the values of the
various parameters mentioned in “(14)” and “(15)” for measuring the
121C2 + 6655C3 = 2.6 torque of lower limb.
Since both the actuators are placed in the same link and moves in
110C2 + 9075C3 = 0 opposite direction with respect to the other, the angle of both the links at
Upon solving the above two equations, the values of C2 and C3 will any point will be the same. Let θ be fixed at 30◦ The torque of each joint
be, is estimated by substituting the above said values in the above two
torque equations “(14)” and “(15)”.
C2 = 0.0645 [ ( ) ]
0.51
T1 = sin(30) (14.78 + 0.46) ∗ 9.81 ∗ + 1.35 ∗ 9.81 ∗ 0.51
C3 = − 0.0007813 2
[ ( ( ))]
0.49
Now the position profile be, + sin(30) (4.81 + 0.44) ∗ 9.81 ∗ 0.51 +
2
θ(t) = C0 + C1 t + C2 t2 + C3 t3 + sin(30)[0.10 ∗ 9.81 ∗ (0.51 + 0.49)]

θ(t) = 5 + 0.0645t2 − 0.0007813t3 (19) + sin(30)[(1.37 + 0.23) ∗ 9.81 ∗ (0.51 + 0.49)]

[ ( )]
0.27
The velocity profile be, + cos(30) (1.37 + 0.23) ∗ 9.81 ∗
2
θ(t) = C1 + 2C2 t + 3C3 t2
T1 = 52.055Nm
θ̇(t) = 0.129t − 0.00234t2 (20) [ ( )]
0.49
T2 = sin(30) (4.81 + 0.44) ∗ 9.81 ∗ + sin(30)[0.10 ∗ 9.81 ∗ 0.49]
The acceleration profile be, 2
[ ( )]
θ(t) = 2C2 + 6C3 t 0.27
+ sin(30)[1.37 ∗ 9.81 ∗ 0.49] + cos(30) (1.37 + 0.23) ∗ 9.81 ∗
2
θ(t) = 0.129 − 0.00468t (21)
Upon substituting the values for time in “(19)”, “(20)” and “(21)”, T2 = 11.677Nm
the values obtained for position, velocity and acceleration is mentioned
in the Table 5 and the plot is being shown in Fig. 5. The plot gives a 4. Conclusion
comparison between the velocity and acceleration and gives out the
position of the actuator with respect to time. The design idea for a weight-supporting lower extremity exo-
skeleton with a compliant joint to reduce compressive load in the knee
is presented in this study. The fabricated model is experimentally
3.3. Combined torque analysis assessed together with a leg dynamic model and a knee bio-joint model.
A dynamic analysis has been carried out with real-time data of the user’s
The actuator and link mass are identified in order to calculate the limb length and weight on the developed 2DOF lower limb manipulator.
torque required for each joints. The user is targeted to be weighing

6
R.Prashanna Rangan et al.
Table 6
Parameters of the user.
User m1(Kg) m2(Kg) m3(Kg) m4(Kg) m5(Kg)
1 1.35 14.78 1.35 4.81 0.10
Generally Dynamic analysis is most important for design, development
and analysis of exo-skeleton system for apt selection of the actuation
system to offer real-time accurate and precise control of the limb.
From the graphs of hip and knee joint motion profile plot, it is found
that the acceleration required for knee joint is higher than the hip joint,
since the angular travel is high, which is to maintain stability in the exo-
skeleton unit. Torque at ankle joint is neglected for this calculation,
since it is only induced by the active muscle fibers of the ankle joint,
which is human-centric and does not relate with the actuation mecha­
nism. For our consideration only passive torque is taken into account,
since it contains the actuator data, by which the torque requirement for
making the leg to move as per our intention can be obtained. The motion
dependent Passive torque obtained as per the analysis are: T1 = 52.055
Nm at hip joint and T2 = 11.677 Nm at knee joint. The torque obtained
are applicable for exo-skeleton unit and wearer only and if the wearer is
carrying an additional weight, then the weight has to be added to the
equations and derived separately as values will not be the same. All
actuators used are holding torque rated and in case of power failure to
the system, the structure will not collapse and hence structural stability
is ensured. The method proposed in this study is valid only when the
user moves in the air with no ground contact because ground reaction
force (GRF) cannot be measured with the current Exo-Skeleton system.
By incorporating Force /Torque sensor the system can be made more
robust with adding variable torque elastic actuators which can offer
torque on a need basis to perform various activities with the lower limb
exo-skeleton system.
Ethical approval
Work on human beings that is submitted to Medical Engineering &
Physics should comply with the principles laid down in the Declaration
of Helsinki; Recommendations guiding physicians in biomedical
research involving human subjects. Adopted by the 18th World Medical
Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, June 1964, amended by the 29th World
Medical Assembly, Tokyo, Japan, October 1975, the 35th World Medical
Assembly, Venice, Italy, October 1983, and the 41st World Medical
Assembly, Hong Kong, September 1989. You should include information
as to whether the work has been approved by the appropriate ethical
committees related to the institution(s) in which it was performed and
that subjects gave informed consent to the work
Declaration of Competing Interest
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships
with other people or organisations that could inappropriately influence
(bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include
employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert
testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other
funding.
References
[1] Ahmed Ansari Shakir, Naved Farooqui, Tanvir Khan, Mahenoor Khan, Khan Irfan.
Research paper on paralysis Exo-skeleton. Int J Res Appl Sci Eng Technol 2018;6:
3139–42.
[2] Rahul R, Alexander Tanishq Philip, Rinkkhesh V, Vikram H. Structural analysis of
exoskeleton model through human synchronization parameters. Int J Biosci 2018;
8:172–80. Biochemistry and Bioinformatics..
[3] Latif A. Shaari N, Isa Ida SMd, Jun Tan Chee. Torque analysis of the lower limb
exoskeleton robot design. ARPN J Eng Appl Sci Oct 2015;10(19):9140–9.
Medical Engineering and Physics 106 (2022) 103830
m6(Kg) mL1(Kg) mL2(Kg) mL3(Kg) l1(m) l2(m) l3(m)
1.37 0.46 0.44 0.23 0.51 0.49 0.27
[4] Hwang Beomsoo, Jeon Doyoung. A method to accurately estimate the muscular
torques of human wearing exoskeletons by torque sensors. Sensors 2015;15:
8337–57.
[5] Chen Bing, Ma Hao, Qin Lai-Yin, Gao Fei, Chan Kai-Ming, Law Sheung-Wai,
Qin Ling, Liao Wei-Hsin. Recent developments and challenges of lower extremity
exoskeletons. J Orthop Translat 2015;5:26–37.
[6] Sherine A, Peter G. A novel biometric recognition system for fingerprint using polar
harmonic transform. Int J Pharmaceutical Res Jan. 2021;13(01).
[7] Caldwell Graham E, Adams III William B, Whetstone Melinda R. TorquelVelocity
properties of human knee muscles: peak and angle-specifc estimates. Canadian J
Appl Physio 1993;18:274–90.
[8] Lee WS, Cheung WH, Qin L, Tang N, Leung KS. Age-associated decrease of type
IIA/B human skeletal muscle fibers. Clin Ortho. Relat Res 2006;450:231–7.
[9] Benitez Luis Manuel Vaca, Tabie Marc, Will Niels, Schmidt Steffen, Jordan Mathias,
Kirchner Elsa Andrea. Exoskeleton technology in rehabilitation: towards an emg-
based orthosis system for upper limb neuromotor rehabilitation. J Robotics 2013;
2013:1–13.
[10] Tawakal Hasnain Baluch Adnan, Masood Javaid Iqbal. Kinematic and dynamic
analysis of a lower limb exoskeleton. World Acad Sci Eng Technol 2012;69:904–8.
[11] Ö¨nen Ümit, Botsalı Fatih M, Kalyoncu Mete, Tınkır Mustafa, Yılmaz Nihat,
Sahin Yusuf. Design and actuator selection of a lower extremity exoskeleton. Ieee/
Asme Trans Mechatronics Apr 2014;19(2):623–32.
[12] Zhu Yanhe, Zhang Guoan, Zhang Chao, Liu Gangfeng, Zhao Jie. Biomechanical
modeling and load-carrying simulation of lower limb exoskeleton. Biomed Mater
Eng 2015;26:729–38.
[13] Cenciarini Massimo, Dollar Aaron M. Biomechanical considerations in the design of
lower limb exoskeletons. In: IEEE international conference on rehabilitation
robotics; 2011.
[14] Dadi Vishnu Vardhan, Sathwik PVNS, Mahesh D, Kumar DalaJaswanth SKarthik,
Ramya MM, Dinakaran D. Structural design and analysis of a lower limb
exoskeleton for elderly. Int J Adv Mechatronic Syst 2020;8(2):65–74.
[15] Narayan Jyotindra, Dwivedy Santosha Kumar. Preliminary design and
development of a low-cost lower-limb exoskeleton system for paediatric
rehabilitation. J Eng Med Jan 2021;235(5):530–45.
[16] Maria del Carmen Sanchez-Villamañan, Jose Gonzalez-Vargas, Diego Torricelli,
Juan C. Moreno and Jose L. Pons, “Compliant lower limb exoskeletons: a
comprehensive review on mechanical design principles”, J Neuro Eng Rehabil Vol.
16, No. 55, pp. 1–16, 2019.
[17] Baud Romain, Manzoori Ali Reza, Ijspeert Auke, Bouri Mohamed. Review of
control strategies for lower limb exoskeletons to assist gait. J Neuro Eng Rehabil
2021;18(119):1–34.
[18] Sposito M, Di Natali C, Toxiri S, Caldwell DG, De Momi E, Ortiz J. Exoskeleton
kinematic design robustness: an assessment method to account for human
variability. Wearable Technol 2020;1:1–26. https://doi.org/10.1017/wtc.2020.7.
[19] Zhao C, Zhang C, Liu H, Li W (2020) Design of Weight Lifting Robot Controlled by
Multi-Steering Gear. In: 2020 IEEE 11th International Conference on Mechanical
and Intelligent Manufacturing Technologies (ICMIMT). IEEE, Cape town, South
Africa, pp 108-112.
R.PRASHANNA RANGAN was born in India in 1998. He
received his Bachelor’s degree (Mechatronics) from the Kongu
Engineering College, Perundurai, India in 2019. He started his
career as Senior Engineer, automation and machine mainte­
nance with TITAN Company Limited, Hosur, India and has
gained hands-on experience on Thin film technology especially
PVD decorative plating and Industrial automation for two and
a half years and is pursuing his Master’s degree (Industrial
Automation and Robotics) with Sri Venkateswara College of
Engineering, Sriperambudur, India. His-research area includes,
Human assistive Robotics, PLC automation, Machine Vision
system and IoT. He has published his Research findings in 10
International Journals. He has presented his research findings in 12 International/National
Conferences.
7
R.Prashanna Rangan et al.
C.MAHESWARI was born in 1985. She has completed B.E in
Electrical and Electronics Engineering during 2005 and Mater
of Engineering in Mechatronics during 2007. She has
completed her Ph.D in process control during 2015. She has
published 30 reputed journals and received 5 R&D project
findings. Her research area includes, IoT, Remote and condi­
tion monitoring, PLC and Embedded systems.
S.VAISALI was born in 1996. She received her Bachelor’s de­
gree (Mechanical) from the Arulmurugan College of Engi­
neering, Karur, India in 2017. She worked as team lead with
Hindustan Unilever for one year. She did her Master’s degree
(Industrial Safety Engineering) with the N.S.N College of En­
gineering, Karur, India in 2020. She then worked as design
engineer using AutoCAD, CATIAand Autodesk Inventor. She is
pursuing her Ph.D in Assistive robotic devices with Kongu
Engineering College. Her research area includes, Solar energy
conversion, PLC, CIM.
K.SRIRAM was born in India in 1997. He received his Bache­
lor’s degree (Electronics and Instrumentation) from the Kongu
Engineering College, Perundurai, India in 2019. He received
his master’s degree (Industrial Electronics and Control Engi­
neering) from the University of Malaya, Kuala Lampur,
Malaysia in 2021 and is currently a research assistant at UM.
His-research areas includes, Deep learning, Computer vision
and IoT. He is currently working in Deep Tech program to
commercialize products on AI.
Medical Engineering and Physics 106 (2022) 103830
ALBERT ALEXANDER STONIER(Senior Member, IEEE) was
born in Tamil Nadu, India. He was a Postdoctoral Research
Fellow with Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA. He is
currently working as an Associate Professor with the Depart­
ment of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Kongu Engi­
neering College, India. He is also the Vice President of the
Energy Conservation Society, India. His-research interests
include neural networks and fuzzy logic control for power
converters, solar energy conversion systems, and smart grid.
He has received 25 awards from national and international
societies; a few to say are recipient of the Teaching Innovator
Award (National Level) from MHRD, Government of India, in
2019, the Premium Award for Best Paper in IET Renewable Power Generation, in 2017,
and the Best Researcher Award from IEEE Madras Section and IET, in 2021.
GENO PETER received the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in
Electrical Engineering from Anna University, India. He started
his career as Test Engineer with General Electricals (Trans­
former Manufacturing Company) in India, subsequently
worked with Emirates Transformer & Switchgear, Dubai as
Test Engineer and then with Al-Ahleia Switchgear Company,
Kuwait as Quality Assurance Engineer. He is a trained person to
work on HAEFELY, Impulse Test system, Switzerland as well as
a trained person to work on Morgan Schaffer, Dissolved Gas
Analyzer Test system, Canada. His-research interests are in
Transformers, Power Electronics, Power Systems, Switchgears,
Smart Grid & Electric Vehicle (EV) Technology. He has pub­
lished his Research findings in 41 International/National Journals. He has presented his
research findings in 17 International Conferences. He is the author of the book title “A
Typical Switchgear Assembly”. He is a Chartered Engineer and Professional Engineer of
Institution of Engineers (India).
VIVEKANANDA GANJIis with the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering, Bulehora University, Bulehora,
Ethiopia under the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP). He received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Electronics
Engineering from Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU), India.
His-current research focusing on Power systems and Electric
Vehicle (EV).