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Mechanical design and control of a novel variable impedance actuator (VIA) for knee joint of a rehabilitation exoskeleton

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Abstract

In the presented paper, a novel mechanical design is suggested to utilize in the variable impedance actuators called VSAPLM. This mechanism is proposed for a knee rehabilitation portable exoskeleton and functions based on a lever mechanism with an adjustable pivot. To improve the mechanism efficiency, both actuation and stiffness transmission systems are designed completely symmetrically. Therefore, the energy loss and internal friction are reduced. Regarding the parallel configuration of the motors through two four-bar mechanisms, the actuator load is evenly distributed between each motor. Pivot moves along a straight line in the radial direction without any linear guide. Due to the spring frame, the spring’s deflection and output arms are perpendicular to each other, so the stored energy conversion of output torque is improved. Design feasibility is investigated via simulation and the results show that the proposed mechanism, i.e., VSAPLM using proportional derivative feedback with feedforward controller has high accuracy and good response in the control of position, adjustment of stiffness, and tracking goals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran

    Babak Sarani & Habib Ahmadi

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  1. Babak Sarani
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  2. Habib Ahmadi
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Correspondence to Habib Ahmadi.

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All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Technical Editor: Adriano Almeida Gonçalves Siqueira.

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Sarani, B., Ahmadi, H. Mechanical design and control of a novel variable impedance actuator (VIA) for knee joint of a rehabilitation exoskeleton. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 44, 81 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-022-03377-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-022-03377-2

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