Hip joint exoskeleton robot

Abstract

A hip joint exoskeleton robot belongs to the technical field of robots and comprises a waist binding piece, leg binding pieces, driving mechanisms and executing mechanisms, the two driving mechanisms are installed on the front portion of the waist binding piece, and the executing mechanisms are installed on the two sides of the waist binding piece respectively; each driving mechanism controls the corresponding executing mechanism through a steel wire rope arranged in the Bowden cable pipe. Each actuating mechanism comprises a shell, an outer connecting disc, a rope wheel, a connecting plate and two transition wheels; the connecting plate is rotationally connected with the waist binding piece; the rope wheel and the two transition wheels are rotatably arranged on the same side face of the connecting plate respectively, the two transition wheels are connected into a whole, the outer connecting disc is installed on the side face of the rope wheel, the shell is installed on the connecting plate and provided with a space enabling the outer connecting disc to rotate, and a steel wire rope is wound around a wheel groove of the rope wheel and wheel grooves of the two transition wheels. According to the invention, collaborative optimization of topological configuration and high power density driving is realized, and balance of light weight and large torque output is realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an exoskeleton robot, in particular to a hip joint exoskeleton robot driven by a wire lasso, belonging to the technical field of robots. Background Art

[0002] At present, hip joint exoskeleton robots have been initially applied in industrial handling, logistics warehousing, emergency rescue and other fields. They can assist the human body in completing actions such as walking, squatting, and weight bearing, reducing muscle fatigue and joint injuries. However, there are two major problems with the existing exoskeleton robots on the market: excessive weight and insufficient output torque. The existing mechanical structure has limited movement flexibility due to redundant design, while the low torque limits its practicality in heavy-load scenarios. How wearable exoskeletons can achieve lightweight and high-torque compatibility through the coordinated optimization of topological configuration and high-power density drive units is still an engineering problem that needs to be overcome urgently. Summary of the invention

[0003] In order to overcome the existing technology, the present invention provides a hip joint exoskeleton robot, which realizes the coordinated optimization of topological configuration and high power density drive, and achieves a balance between lightweight and high torque output.

[0004] The hip joint exoskeleton robot comprises a waist binding, a leg binding, a driving mechanism and an actuator. Two driving mechanisms are installed at the front of the waist binding, and actuators are installed at both sides of the waist binding respectively.

[0005] Each of the driving mechanisms controls the corresponding actuator through a steel wire rope arranged in the Bowden cable tube; each of the actuators comprises an outer shell, an outer connecting disk, a rope pulley, a connecting plate and two transition wheels; the connecting plate is rotatably connected to the waist binding part, and the outer connecting disk is used to connect the leg binding part; the rope pulley and the two transition wheels are rotatably arranged on the same side of the connecting plate, the two transition wheels are connected as a whole, the outer connecting disk is installed on the side of the rope pulley, the outer shell is installed on the connecting plate, the outer shell is provided with a space for the outer connecting disk to rotate, and the wheel groove of the rope pulley and the wheel groove of the two transition wheels are wound with an 8-shaped steel wire rope I.

[0006] Furthermore, the driving mechanism includes a high-torque motor, an output wheel, a reduction wheel, a driving wheel and a frame; the frame is installed on the waist binding, and the high-torque motor is installed on the frame; the output shaft of the high-torque motor is installed with an output wheel, and the reduction wheel and the driving wheel are coaxially arranged and rotatably arranged on the frame.

[0007] Furthermore, an 8-shaped steel wire rope II is wound around the wheel groove of the output wheel and the wheel groove of the reduction wheel to form a coupling structure to transmit power. The 8-shaped steel wire rope I passes through the guide groove on the connecting plate and is reversely wound around the two wheel grooves of the driving wheel.

[0008] Further, the driving mechanism further includes a force sensor, which has an inner ring and an outer ring. The inner ring is connected to the shaft supporting the driving wheel, and the outer ring is connected to the reduction wheel.

[0009] The beneficial effects of the present invention compared with the prior art are as follows:

[0010] 1. In this application, the driving mechanism of the high-power frameless motor set is centrally arranged in the waist area, significantly reducing the additional mass of the knee joint kinematic pair; by decoupling the driving mechanism and the execution mechanism and adopting a remote flexible transmission method based on Bowden cables, both the multiplication effect of joint torque output is achieved, and the influence of the motion load on the wearer is reduced, realizing lightweight weight reduction drive.

[0011] 2. Adopting a lasso transmission topological structure combined with a distal drive layout, the waist space advantage supports the deployment of high-power motors. At the same time, using the high stiffness-to-mass ratio characteristic of wire rope transmission, the balance between lightweight and large torque output is achieved. Through the decoupling design of the driving mechanism and the execution mechanism, the robot structure takes into account both motion flexibility and high dynamic response ability, providing a high-precision and low-energy consumption solution for the robot joint module.

[0012] 3. The wire rope transmission method can also improve the stability of the robot's motion and improve the operation performance and motion effect of the exoskeleton robot.

[0013] 4. This application breaks through the limitations of traditional gear reduction mechanisms: through a precisely designed driving mechanism with wire rope transmission, on the premise of maintaining the same transmission efficiency, the system volume is reduced by about 40% compared with the gearbox solution, and the unit mass power density is increased to 2.3 times that of the traditional structure.

[0014] The following further illustrates the solution of the application with reference to the drawings and embodiments: Description of the Drawings

[0015] Figure 1 is a perspective view of the hip exoskeleton robot of this application;

[0016] Figure 2 is a perspective view of the execution mechanism;

[0017] Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the execution mechanism;

[0018] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the wire winding method of the execution mechanism;

[0019] Figure 5 is a perspective view of the driving mechanism;

[0020] Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the driving mechanism;

[0021] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the control module.

[0022] Attached drawings: 1. Control module, 2. Driving mechanism, 3. Execution mechanism, 4. IMU sensor, 5. Stm32 control board, 6. Raspberry Pi main control board, 7. Force sensor, 8-0. High-torque motor, 8-1. Output wheel, 8-2. Reduction gear, 8-3. Driving wheel 8-3, 8-4. Frame, 10. Guide groove, 11. Ball joint, 12. Housing, 13. Control box, 15. Idler wheel, 16. Rope wheel, 17. Connecting plate, 18. Waist binding piece, 19. Leg binding piece, 20. Outer connection plate, 21. Wheel axle. Detailed implementation mode

[0023] Hereinafter, embodiments of the technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Unless otherwise specified, the technical terms or scientific terms used in this application have the ordinary meanings understood by those skilled in the art.

[0024] Refer to Figures 1 - 3 , the hip exoskeleton robot of this embodiment includes a waist binding piece 18, a leg binding piece 19, a driving mechanism 2 and an execution mechanism 3. Two driving mechanisms 2 are installed at the front of the waist binding piece 18, and execution mechanisms 3 are respectively installed on both sides of the waist binding piece 18;

[0025] Each of the driving mechanisms 2 controls the corresponding execution mechanism 3 through a steel wire rope arranged in a Bowden tube;

[0026] Each of the execution mechanisms 3 includes a housing 12, an outer connection plate 20, a rope wheel 16, a connecting plate 17 and two idler wheels 15; the connecting plate 17 is rotatably connected to the waist binding piece 18, and the outer connection plate 20 is used to connect the leg binding piece 19;

[0027] The rope wheel 16 and the two idler wheels 15 are respectively rotatably arranged on the same side of the connecting plate 17. The two idler wheels 15 are connected as a whole. The outer connection plate 20 is installed on the side of the rope wheel 16. The housing 12 is installed on the connecting plate 17. The housing 12 is provided with a space for the outer connection plate 20 to rotate. As Figure 4 shown, a figure-eight-shaped steel wire rope I is wound around the groove of the rope wheel 16 and the grooves of the two idler wheels 15.

[0028] The wire rope is introduced from the driving mechanism 2 through the guiding groove 10 to the transition pulley 15. The two guiding grooves 10 are respectively placed in two hole grooves diagonally above the inner connecting plate 17. The two transition pulleys 15 are tightly connected. The transition pulley 15 is connected to the small wheel shaft 21 through two bearings 15-1, and the two bearings 15-1 are fixed by a retaining ring 15-2 to prevent them from slipping. At the same time, 4 screw holes are drilled at the other end of the wheel shaft 21 (the left side in the figure), and 4 screw holes are also drilled in the inner connecting plate 17, so that the wheel shaft 21 can be fixed to the inner connecting plate 17. At the transition pulley 15, the wire rope is connected to the rope pulley 16 by the figure-eight winding method, and the reciprocating rotation of the rope pulley 16 and the groove track in the inner connecting plate 17 achieve rigid limit. The inner connecting plate 17 is connected to the rope pulley 16 through a bearing and fixed by a washer for positioning. The connecting plate 17 and the waist binding member 18 are connected by a ball hinge 11. For example, the waist side ring plate is fixed to the waist binding structure 18 by punching holes at the four corners, and the inner connecting plate 17 and the waist side ring plate are connected by a ball hinge 11. The 360-degree rotation of the ball hinge can increase the flexibility of the leg rotation. At the same time, a space for the connecting disk 20 to rotate by 105° is provided on the outer shell 12, and an opening of 105° is designed at the outer shell 12, so that when the outer connecting disk 20 swings back and forth, there is more space, ensuring the free movement of the legs without being restricted by parts. The leg binding structure 19 adopts the cross-binding method, making the binding more firm and not easily slipping during the movement. The outer shell 12 is fixed to the inner connecting plate 16 through three threaded holes.

[0029] Referring to Figure 5 and Figure 6 , the driving mechanism 2 includes a high-torque motor 8-0, an output wheel 8-1, a reduction gear 8-2, a driving wheel 8-3 and a frame 8-4; the frame 8-4 is installed on the waist binding member 18, and the high-torque motor 8-0 is installed on the frame 8-4;

[0030] The output shaft of the high-torque motor 8-0 is installed with an output wheel 8-1, the reduction gear 8-2 and the driving wheel 8-3 are coaxially arranged and rotatably arranged on the frame 8-4.

[0031] After the high-torque motor 8-0, as the core driving component, is started, its output wheel 8-1 generates a high-speed rotational motion. Through a coupling structure, for example: a wire rope II in the shape of an 8 is wound around the wheel grooves of the output wheel 8-1 and the reduction gear 8-2 to form a coupling structure for power transmission. For example, a plurality of wheel grooves are arranged on the outer surface of the output wheel 8-1, and the wire rope I in the shape of an 8 is reversely wound around the two wheel grooves of the driving wheel 8-3 after passing through the guiding groove 10 on the connecting plate 17 to transmit the torque to the reduction gear 8-2.

[0032] The step of reducing the rotational speed and amplifying the output torque is completed by the reduction gear 8-2, which is effectively applied to the scenario of precise control. At the same time, the force sensor 7 is placed inside the reduction gear 8-2. The force sensor 7 has an inner ring and an outer ring. The inner ring has 4 threaded holes, and the outer ring has 4 threaded holes. The inner ring is connected to the shaft supporting the drive wheel 8-3, and the outer ring is connected to the reduction gear 8-2 to monitor the torque value transmitted in real time. The drive wheel 8-3 serves as the drive wheel for the wire rope.

[0033] The robot further includes a control module 1 installed on the waist binding member 18. The control module 1 includes an IMU sensor 4, an stm32 control board 5, and a Raspberry Pi main control board 6 disposed inside the control box 13; the stm32 control board 5 is electrically connected to the Raspberry Pi main control board 6, and the IMU sensor 4 is electrically connected to the stm32 control board 5. The hardware architecture consists of a sensing layer, an operation layer, and an execution layer to form a complete closed loop. The sensing layer includes components such as the IMU sensor 4 and is responsible for capturing the joint motion state and mechanical parameters; the operation layer relies on the Raspberry Pi 6 main control board to achieve multi-source data fusion processing and complete real-time signal conversion through the stm32 control board 5.

[0034] The present invention has been disclosed above with preferred embodiments. However, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the technical solution of the present invention, can make some changes or modifications to equivalent embodiments of equivalent changes by using the disclosed structure and technical content, and all still fall within the scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. Hip exoskeleton robot, characterized in that: It includes a waist binding member (18), leg binding members (19), a driving mechanism (2) and an actuating mechanism (3). Two driving mechanisms (2) are installed at the front of the waist binding member (18), and the actuating mechanisms (3) are respectively installed on both sides of the waist binding member (18). Each driving mechanism (2) controls the corresponding actuating mechanism (3) through a steel wire rope arranged in a Bowden cable tube. Each actuating mechanism (3) includes a housing (12), an outer connection disk (20), a rope wheel (16), a connecting plate (17) and two idler wheels (15); the connecting plate (17) is rotatably connected to the waist binding member (18), and the outer connection disk (20) is used to connect the leg binding members (19); the rope wheel (16) and the two idler wheels (15) are respectively rotatably arranged on the same side of the connecting plate (17), the two idler wheels (15) are connected as a whole, the outer connection disk (20) is installed on the side of the rope wheel (16), the housing (12) is installed on the connecting plate (17), and the housing (12) is provided with a space for the outer connection disk (20) to rotate. An 8-shaped steel wire rope I is wound around the groove of the rope wheel (16) and the grooves of the two idler wheels (15).

2. The hip exoskeleton robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The driving mechanism (2) includes a high-torque motor (8-0), an output wheel (8-1), a reduction gear (8-2), a driving wheel (8-3) and a frame (8-4). The frame (8-4) is installed on the waist binding member (18), and the high-torque motor (8-0) is installed on the frame (8-4). The output shaft of the high-torque motor (8-0) is installed with an output wheel (8-1), the reduction gear (8-2) and the driving wheel (8-3) are coaxially arranged and rotatably arranged on the frame (8-4).

3. The hip exoskeleton robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: An 8-shaped steel wire rope II is wound around the groove of the output wheel (8-1) and the groove of the reduction gear (8-2) to form a coupling structure for power transmission. The 8-shaped steel wire rope I is reversely wound around the two grooves of the driving wheel (8-3) after passing through the guiding groove (10) on the connecting plate (17).

4. The hip exoskeleton robot according to claim 1, wherein: The connecting plate (17) is connected to the waist binding member (18) through a ball hinge (11).

5. The hip exoskeleton robot according to claim 1, wherein: A space for the connection disk (20) to rotate 105° is opened on the housing (12).

6. The hip exoskeleton robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: The driving mechanism (2) further includes a force sensor (7). The force sensor (7) has an inner ring and an outer ring. The inner ring is connected to the shaft supporting the driving wheel (8-3), and the outer ring is connected to the reduction gear (8-2).

7. The hip exoskeleton robot according to claim 1, wherein: The robot further includes a control module (1) installed on the waist binding member (18). The control module (1) includes an IMU sensor (4), an stm32 control board (5) and a Raspberry Pi main control board (6); the stm32 control board (5) is electrically connected to the Raspberry Pi main control board (6), and the IMU sensor (4) is electrically connected to the stm32 control board (5).

8. The hip exoskeleton robot according to claim 1, wherein: The actuating mechanism (3) further includes a wheel shaft (21). The wheel shaft (21) is installed on the connecting plate (17), and the idler wheel (15) is installed on the wheel shaft (21) through a bearing.

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