Design of a Passive Knee Exoskeleton Reducing the Load of Walking

Abstract

With the development of science and technology, the modern high-tech war has put forward a higher demand for soldiers. Soldiers often carry loads beyond safety standards, which can reduce combat effectiveness and cause non-combat diseases. Aiming at the complex and changeable battlefield environment, this paper designed a light passive knee exoskeleton for walking assistance. It has the advantages of simple structure and comfortable wearing, and can realize the functions of assist, reduce the load of knee joint and auxiliary support. Through the optimal design of the six-bar mechanism, the trajectory matching of the ICR of the man-machine joint was realized and the joint was self-locked in the standing state. In order to verify the assistance effect of the exoskeleton, the human-machine coupling model was established in the OpenSim biomechanical analysis software to simulate and calculate the changes of some muscle forces before and after wearing the exoskeleton, and the prototype was completed to detect the changes of EMG signals before and after wearing the exoskeleton. Simulation and experimental results show that the exoskeleton can significantly reduce the acting force on extensor knee muscle and calf plantarflexion muscle during the gait of the wearer.