Design of a Novel Wheelchair-Exoskeleton Robot for Human Multi-mobility Assist

Abstract

Lower limb exoskeleton robots are able to provide walking assist and training for paraplegic and hemiplegic patients and elder people with lower limb motor dysfunction. However the lower limb exoskeleton robot can’t support the patient to move for a long time and distance, because the patient needs to consume a lot of energy to maintain balance. As a traditional movement assist device, wheelchairs can guarantee the balance for patients during their moving, however most of them can only allow patients sit to use them, and can not provide walking assist and training, which induces bedsore and muscle atrophy. In this paper, a novel movement assist robot combining the advantages of wheelchair and exoskeleton is proposed and designed, which can assist patients to sit, stand and walk. The novel structure and mechanisms are proposed to implement three mobility assist and their transfer movement. Then the kinematics analysis of the transfer process from sitting to stance is analyzed. The coupling relationship between rotation speed of each joint of exoskeleton and the forward and upward speed of the device are calculated. Finally, the trunk speed of walking process in a gait cycle is analyzed, and the simulation is completed in ADAMS software, which verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method.