Pneumatic muscle-driven upper extremity exoskeleton assist mechanism

Abstract

The invention discloses an upper limb exoskeleton assisting mechanism driven by pneumatic muscles. It includes two single-arm components and a back support with the same structure; the shoulder joints in the two single-arm components are respectively installed on both sides of the top plate of the back support, and the two elbow joint shafts are connected to the back support through their respective elbow steel wire traction lines. The respective pneumatic muscles are connected, and the two shoulder joint shafts are respectively connected with the respective pneumatic muscles in the back bracket through respective shoulder steel wire traction lines. There are four degrees of freedom in the single-arm component, which are flexion-extension of the elbow, flexion-extension of the shoulder joint, abduction-adduction of the shoulder joint, and internal rotation-external rotation joint of the shoulder joint. After wearing the upper limbs of the power-assisted exoskeleton driven by pneumatic muscles, with the help of the tension generated by the contraction of pneumatic muscles, the lifting strength can be greatly increased when the wearer lifts heavy objects, and the purpose of improving the wearer's mechanical strength can be achieved. The present invention is of great significance in occasions where the power of people such as military operations and disaster rescue and ambulance is not enough to support the required load.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to a robot with a bionic structure, in particular to an upper limb exoskeleton power-assisted mechanism driven by pneumatic muscles. Background technique [0002] Exoskeleton technology is a wearable robot technology, a new mechatronic device developed by imitating the exoskeleton in the biological world, which can be worn on the outside of the operator's body, providing the operator with protection, body support, sports assistance, etc. and other functions. [0003] Most exoskeletons are driven by motors or hydraulics, only a few are driven by pneumatics, and they are mainly used in light-load applications such as medical rehabilitation. The disadvantage of motor drive is that the power / mass ratio is small, and the motor with limited weight is difficult to bear a large load. The disadvantages of hydraulic drive are mainly leakage problems, low system efficiency and high system cost. Although the pneumatic drive method has the ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

The disadvantage of motor drive is that the power / mass ratio is small, and the motor with limited weight is difficult to bear a large load

The disadvantages of hydraulic drive are mainly leakage problems, low system efficiency and high system cost

Although the pneumatic drive method has the advantages of being friendly to the environment and the human body, light components, and cheap prices, the power / volume-to-mass ratio of conventional air cylinder actuators is far inferior to that of hydraulic cylinders, so it cannot meet the needs of large customers. The need for exoskeleton booster systems with load requirements but limited installation space and high requirements for portability has not been widely used

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