Towards a reconfigurable inferior limbs exoskeleton for assistive, rehabilitation, and empowering application Academic Article in Scopus uri icon

abstract

  • © 2015, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This paper aims to set a framework to design reconfigurable lower limbs exoskeletons that can be used as assistive, rehabilitation, and empowering applications. Reconfigurability will bring to exoskeletons users benefits that will compensate some of the challenges faced to accomplish their activities and go through incidences during normal use such as rough terrain or falling. In the present, exoskeleton design is constrained by its application as rehabilitation therapy, as an assistive gait driver, or as force/power enhancer, nevertheless, great sophistication has been made to design and implementation of inferior limbs exoskeletons the demands for more adaptable devices and lower costs are still unmet. This paper brings new evidence to think ahead and broaden the design paradigm for exoskeletons, considering the complex setting in which users are immersed during normal operation, fixating a framework for a reconfigurable manufacturing system that acknowledges a common ground that will be used as reference for future development of the product and the processes integrally. The present analysis considers feasible to develop this novel type of reconfigurable exoskeleton with better performance in real setting and cost efficient.

publication date

  • May 1, 2015