Design and evaluation of a 7-DOF cable-driven upper limb exoskeleton

摘要

This paper presents a seven degrees of freedom cable-driven upper limb exoskeleton (CABXLexo-7), which is compact, lightweight, and comfortable for post-stroke patients. To achieve the compactness of exoskeleton, two types of cable-driven differential mechanisms were designed. The cable-conduit mechanisms were applied to transmit the power of motors mounted on the backboard to the corresponding joints, then the whole weight of the exoskeleton could be light to ensure a comfortable motion assistance. In the course of experiments, the surface electromyography signals of major muscles related with the movements of upper limb were collected to evaluate the assistant ability of exoskeleton. The experimental results showed that the activation levels of corresponding muscles were reduced by using the seven degrees of freedom cable-driven upper limb exoskeleton in the course of rehabilitation, and it demonstrated that the exoskeleton can provide effective movements assistance to the post-stroke patients.