TY - GEN
T1 - Design and characterization of a torque-controllable actuator for knee assistance during sit-to-stand
AU - Shepherd, Max K.
AU - Rouse, Elliott J.
PY - 2016/10/13
Y1 - 2016/10/13
N2 - Individuals with post-stroke hemiparesis often have difficulty standing out of a chair. One way to potentially improve sit-to-stand is to provide knee extension assistance using a powered knee exoskeleton. An exoskeleton providing unilateral, partial assistance during sit-to-stand would need to be torque-controllable. There are no knee exoskeletons on the market suitable for conducting experiments assisting stroke patients with sit-to-stand, so to enable such experiments a research device was developed. The purpose of this report is to present the design of a novel knee exoskeleton actuator that uses a fiberglass leaf spring in series to improve torque-controllability, and present a characterization of the actuator performance. The actuator is capable of the required torque and speed for sit-to-stand, has high bandwidth (25 Hz), low output impedance at low frequencies (<0.5 Nm), and excellent torque tracking. An orthotic brace built upon this actuator will enable an in-depth study on the biomechanical effects of providing stroke subjects with knee extension assistance during sit-to-stand.
AB - Individuals with post-stroke hemiparesis often have difficulty standing out of a chair. One way to potentially improve sit-to-stand is to provide knee extension assistance using a powered knee exoskeleton. An exoskeleton providing unilateral, partial assistance during sit-to-stand would need to be torque-controllable. There are no knee exoskeletons on the market suitable for conducting experiments assisting stroke patients with sit-to-stand, so to enable such experiments a research device was developed. The purpose of this report is to present the design of a novel knee exoskeleton actuator that uses a fiberglass leaf spring in series to improve torque-controllability, and present a characterization of the actuator performance. The actuator is capable of the required torque and speed for sit-to-stand, has high bandwidth (25 Hz), low output impedance at low frequencies (<0.5 Nm), and excellent torque tracking. An orthotic brace built upon this actuator will enable an in-depth study on the biomechanical effects of providing stroke subjects with knee extension assistance during sit-to-stand.
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U2 - 10.1109/EMBC.2016.7591172
DO - 10.1109/EMBC.2016.7591172
M3 - Conference contribution
C2 - 28324960
AN - SCOPUS:85009105006
T3 - Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS
SP - 2228
EP - 2231
BT - 2016 38th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC 2016
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 38th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC 2016
Y2 - 16 August 2016 through 20 August 2016
ER -