Active Assistive Design and Multiaxis Self-Tuning Control of a Novel Lower Limb Rehabilitation Exoskeleton

Abstract

This paper presented the mechanical design and control of a lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton named “the second lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton (LLRE-II)”. The exoskeleton with a lightweight mechanism comprises a 16-cm stepless adjustable thigh and calf rod. The LLRE-II weighs less than 16 kg and has four degrees of freedom on each leg, including the waist, hip, knee, and ankle, which ensures fitted wear and comfort. Motors and harmonic drives were installed on the joints of the hip and knee to operate the exoskeleton. Meanwhile, master and slave motor controllers were programmed using a Texas Instruments microcontroller (TMS320F28069) for the walking gait commands and evaluation boards (TMS320F28069/DRV8301) of the joints. A self-tuning multiaxis control system was developed, and the performance of the controller was investigated through experiments. The experimental results showed that the mechanical design and control system exhibit adequate performance. Trajectory tracking errors were eliminated, and the root mean square errors reduced from 6.45 to 1.22 and from 4.15 to 3.09 for the hip and knee, respectively.