Walking assisting exoskeleton device for load-bearing operation

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of bionics, in particular to a load-bearing operation walking assisting exoskeleton device which comprises an exoskeleton upper body assembly, two exoskeleton single leg assemblies and a main control board. A connecting piece is arranged at the bottom of the exoskeleton upper body assembly, and the two exoskeleton single-leg assemblies are symmetrically arranged on the two sides of the connecting piece. The main control board is used for controlling the exoskeleton upper body assembly and the two exoskeleton single leg assemblies; the exoskeleton single-leg assembly comprises a pressure sensing shoe and two groups of elastic drivers; the elastic driver comprises a series elastic structure and a parallel elastic structure. According to the walking assisting exoskeleton device for load-bearing operation, the problems that in the load-bearing operation, the lumbar vertebra load is too large, and the working intensity is large are solved. By designing the wearable exoskeleton device, the body burden of operators is effectively relieved, and the lumbar vertebra injury risk caused by long-term load bearing is reduced.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of bionic exoskeleton, and particularly relates to a walking auxiliary exoskeleton device for heavy-duty operation. BACKGROUND

[0002] Power system, especially power supply company, is identified by the state as a livelihood service industry, but the hard work of front-line power people is usually unknown. In the construction of power facilities and daily operation and repair operations, heavy lifting is a high-intensity physical labor that power people often face. Although many equipment has been designed to assist the human body in carrying for different occasions, these devices have strong limitations due to environmental restrictions and can only work in specific environments. Therefore, there is an urgent need for exoskeleton to effectively alleviate the labor intensity.

[0003] The application field of active exoskeleton devices is continuously expanding, in addition to the military field, it is also widely used in medical rehabilitation, industrial manufacturing and other industries. In the field of medical rehabilitation, exoskeleton devices can help paralyzed patients recover walking ability; in industrial manufacturing, it is used to assist workers in heavy lifting and other operations, improving work efficiency and safety.

[0004] However, in the power heavy-duty operation scene, the adaptability and reliability of the exoskeleton device still need to be further improved. Therefore, it is necessary to design a walking auxiliary exoskeleton device suitable for power heavy-duty operation. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application aims to at least solve one of the problems in the prior art, and provides a walking auxiliary exoskeleton device for heavy-duty operation.

[0006] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the technical scheme adopted by the present application is as follows: a walking auxiliary exoskeleton device for heavy-duty operation, comprising: an exoskeleton upper body assembly, two groups of exoskeleton single leg assemblies, and a main control board; the exoskeleton upper body assembly is provided with a connecting piece at the bottom, and the two groups of exoskeleton single leg assemblies are symmetrically arranged on the two sides of the connecting piece; the main control board is used for controlling the exoskeleton upper body assembly and the two groups of exoskeleton single leg assemblies; The exoskeleton single leg assembly comprises a pressure sensing shoe and two groups of elastic drivers, the upper end of the elastic driver is connected with the connecting piece, and the lower end is connected with the pressure sensing shoe, and the two groups of elastic drivers, the connecting piece and the pressure sensing shoe form a quadrilateral in the shape of a human leg; The elastic driver comprises a series elastic structure and a parallel elastic structure, the series elastic module is arranged on the pressure sensing shoe, and the parallel elastic structure is arranged between the series elastic structure and the connecting piece, and the parallel elastic structure is formed by parallel connection of a synchronous movable electric cylinder and a gas spring.

[0007] Further, the exoskeleton upper body assembly comprises a waist support, a back support, an electric control box, a weight block, and a back information acquisition module, the waist support is arranged on the connecting piece, the back support is arranged on the waist support, the electric control box is arranged on the back support, the weight block is arranged on the electric control box, the main control board is located in the electric control box, the back information acquisition module is used for acquiring back information, and the back information acquisition module is electrically connected with the main control board.

[0008] Further, the connecting piece comprises two connecting strips, the two connecting strips are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the waist support, the waist support is provided with a width adjusting groove and a locking structure, the two connecting strips are relatively movable along the width adjusting groove, and the two connecting strips are mounted on the width adjusting groove through the locking structure.

[0009] Further, the waist support further comprises a waist binding piece, the back support further comprises a back binding piece, and the waist binding piece and the back binding piece are respectively used for binding the waist and the back of the human body.

[0010] Further, a two-degree-of-freedom joint is arranged between the elastic driver and the connecting piece, the two-degree-of-freedom joint is used for enabling the elastic driver to make transverse and longitudinal rotation relative to the connecting piece, a plurality of angle sensors are connected to the two-degree-of-freedom joint, the plurality of angle sensors are used for measuring the transverse rotation angle and the longitudinal rotation angle of the two-degree-of-freedom joint, and the angle sensors are electrically connected with the main control board.

[0011] Further, a motor is connected to the two-degree-of-freedom joint, the motor is used for driving the elastic driver to make longitudinal rotation, the motor is connected with a motor driver, and the motor driver is electrically connected with the main control board.

[0012] Further, the series elastic structure comprises a spring module and a ball bearing, the ball bearing is arranged on the pressure sensing shoe, and the spring module is arranged between the ball bearing and the parallel elastic structure.

[0013] Further, a foot bottom information acquisition module is arranged on the pressure sensing shoe, the foot bottom information acquisition module is used for acquiring foot bottom information, and the foot bottom information acquisition module is electrically connected with the main control board.

[0014] Further, a power supply box is further included, a power supply is arranged in the power supply box, and the power supply is electrically connected with the main control board.

[0015] As can be known from the above description of the present application, compared with the prior art, the load operation walking auxiliary exoskeleton device of the present application solves the problems of excessive lumbar load and high work intensity faced by electric power operation personnel in load operation. By designing the wearable exoskeleton device, the project effectively reduces the physical burden of the operation personnel, and reduces the risk of lumbar injury caused by long-term load. In addition, the intelligent control system composed of the main control board and each information acquisition module enables the exoskeleton to automatically adjust the assistance according to the operation environment and personnel state, thereby improving the operation safety and efficiency, and finally realizing the comprehensive protection of the health of the operation personnel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of a load operation walking auxiliary exoskeleton device according to a preferred embodiment of the present application; Figure 2 Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the exploded structure of an upper body assembly of an exoskeleton according to a preferred embodiment of the present application; Figure 3 Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the exploded structure of an upper body assembly of an exoskeleton according to a preferred embodiment of the present application; Figure 4 Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the structural change of an elastic driver when the human body is doing knee bending according to a preferred embodiment of the present application; Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of a load operation walking auxiliary exoskeleton device according to a preferred embodiment of the present application; DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0018] In the description of the present application, it should be noted that the terms “upper”, “lower”, “inner”, “outer”, “top / bottom end” and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application. In addition, the terms “first” and “second” are only for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0019] In the description of the present application, it should be noted that unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "mounting", "provided with", "sleeved / connected", "connected" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, "connected" can be fixedly connected, or detachably connected, or integrally connected; can be mechanically connected, or electrically connected; can be directly connected, or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or can be connected inside two elements. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0020] Referring to Figures 1-3 As shown in the preferred embodiment of the present application, a load operation walking auxiliary exoskeleton device comprises an exoskeleton upper body assembly, two groups of exoskeleton single leg assemblies, and a main control board; the exoskeleton upper body assembly is provided with a connecting piece at the bottom, and the two groups of exoskeleton single leg assemblies are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the connecting piece; the main control board is used for controlling the exoskeleton upper body assembly and the two groups of exoskeleton single leg assemblies; The exoskeleton single leg assembly comprises a pressure sensing shoe 1 and two groups of elastic drivers, the upper end of the elastic driver is connected with the connecting piece, and the lower end is connected with the pressure sensing shoe 1, and the two groups of elastic drivers, the connecting piece and the pressure sensing shoe 1 form a quadrilateral in the shape of a human leg; The elastic driver comprises a series elastic structure and a parallel elastic structure, the series elastic module is arranged on the pressure sensing shoe 1, and the parallel elastic structure is arranged between the series elastic structure and the connecting piece, and the parallel elastic structure is formed by parallel connection of the synchronously movable electric cylinder 2 and the gas spring 3.

[0021] The elastic driver simulates the skeletal muscle of the human body, the skeletal muscle is an excellent driver, has good performance and flexibility and is light in quality. In the process of human joint movement, a large number of elastic fibers in the skeletal muscle play an important role. The elastic driver replaces the skeletal muscle with a three-element model, in which the skeletal muscle is composed of an electric cylinder 2, a gas spring 3 and a series elastic structure, the electric cylinder 2 is connected in parallel with the gas spring 3, and then connected in series with the series elastic structure, so that the skeletal muscle can be regarded as a series-parallel elastic driver. The structural change of the elastic driver in the exoskeleton single leg assembly when the human body is doing knee bending is shown in Figure 4 When the knee is not bent, the two groups of elastic drivers, the connecting piece and the pressure sensing shoe 1 form a quadrilateral in the shape of a human leg, and when the human body is doing knee bending, the electric cylinder 2 and the gas spring 3 contract.

[0022] As a preferred embodiment of the present application, it can also have the following additional technical features: In the embodiment, the exoskeleton upper body assembly comprises a waist support 4, a back support 5, an electric control box 6, a weight block 7, a back information acquisition module, the waist support 4 is arranged on the connecting piece, the back support 5 is arranged on the waist support 4, the electric control box 6 is arranged on the back support 5, the weight block 7 is arranged on the electric control box 6, the main control board is located in the electric control box 6, the back information acquisition module is used for acquiring back information, and the back information acquisition module is electrically connected with the main control board. The waist support 4 further comprises a waist binding piece 8, the back support 5 further comprises a back binding piece 9, and the waist binding piece 8 and the back binding piece 9 are respectively used for being bound on the waist and the back of the human body.

[0023] The exoskeleton upper body assembly and the human body are bound and fixed through two positions of the back and the waist, and considering the comfort of the user, a flexible material is selected as the binding piece between the human body and the robot. Two three-dimensional force sensors are respectively arranged between the waist binding piece 8, the back binding piece 9 and the back support 5, so as to measure the human-machine interaction force between the upper body of the human body and the exoskeleton. The position of the back binding piece 9 can be adjusted up and down to adapt to users of different heights. The main control board is located in the electric control box 6, and the electric control box is made of nylon material and is 3D printed for light weight. There are positions and threaded holes for mounting the weight block 7 on the electric control box 6, and there are long bolts for fixing other weights on the weight block 7.

[0024] In the embodiment, the connecting piece comprises two connecting strips 10, the two connecting strips 10 are symmetrically arranged on the two sides of the waist support 4, the waist support 4 is provided with a width adjusting groove 11 and a locking structure 12, the two connecting strips 10 are relatively movable along the width adjusting groove 11, and the two connecting strips 10 are installed on the width adjusting groove 11 through the locking structure 12.

[0025] The exoskeleton upper body assembly and the connecting piece are connected at the waist through the waist support 4, the waist support 4 is provided with a width adjusting groove 11, the two connecting strips 10 are relatively movable along the width adjusting groove 11, and the two connecting strips 10 can be fixed at different positions through the locking structure 12 to adjust the width of the exoskeleton to adapt to wearers of different body shapes. The waist support 4 comprises a rear waist joint along the upper body sagittal axis, and in order to protect the safety of the waist joint of the human body, the angle of the joint is set in a smaller range through a mechanical limiting structure.

[0026] In the embodiment, a two-degree-of-freedom joint 13 is arranged between the elastic driver and the connecting piece, the two-degree-of-freedom joint 13 is used for enabling the elastic driver to make transverse and longitudinal rotation relative to the connecting piece, a plurality of angle sensors are connected with the two-degree-of-freedom joint 13, the plurality of angle sensors are used for measuring the transverse rotation angle and the longitudinal rotation angle of the two-degree-of-freedom joint 13, and the angle sensors are electrically connected with the main control board.

[0027] The two-degree-of-freedom joint 13 is equivalent to the hip joint of the human body, and can rotate in the transverse direction and the longitudinal direction, and the rotation in the transverse direction is equivalent to the rotation of the hip joint when the human body is bent, and since there is a small degree of freedom of rotation inwards and outwards when the human body is bent, the two-degree-of-freedom joint 13 can rotate in the longitudinal direction to adapt to the degree of freedom of rotation inwards and outwards. The two-degree-of-freedom joint 13 adopts a Hooke joint.

[0028] In the embodiment, the two-degree-of-freedom joint 13 is connected with a motor 14, the motor 14 is used to drive the elastic driver to rotate in the longitudinal direction, the motor 14 is connected with a motor driver, and the motor driver is electrically connected with the main control board. The motor driver is controlled by the main control board, and the motor 14 is driven by the motor driver to work, so that the rotation of the two-degree-of-freedom joint 13 in the longitudinal direction is intelligently controlled.

[0029] In the embodiment, the series elastic structure includes a spring module 15 and a ball bearing 16, the ball bearing 16 is arranged on the pressure sensing shoe 1, and the spring module 15 is arranged between the ball bearing 16 and the parallel elastic structure.

[0030] In the embodiment, the pressure sensing shoe 1 is provided with a sole information acquisition module, the sole information acquisition module is used to acquire sole information, and the sole information acquisition module is electrically connected with the main control board.

[0031] In the embodiment, a power supply box 17 is further included, the power supply box 17 is internally provided with a power supply, and the power supply is electrically connected with the main control board.

[0032] The electrical control system of the main control board is designed as follows: The electrical system of the exoskeleton robot includes a main controller, a motor driving part and a sensing acquisition part. The sensing acquisition part is responsible for collecting the original signals of the sensors and sending them to the main control board after processing. The main control board is responsible for summarizing all the sensing information and performing algorithm operation, calculating the target output of the active drive, and sending the command to the motor driving part. The motor driving part is composed of a motor driver and a motor 14, and the motor driver controls the operation of the motor 14 after receiving the command from the main control board. Due to the large amount of information to be collected, considering the stability of information transmission and the simplicity of wiring, the overall electrical system adopts CAN bus communication to realize data acquisition of the main control board to each node sensor and sending of control instructions to the motor driver. In addition to the main control board as the master station of the CAN bus, the electrical system also has 16 slave stations, including: 4 motor drivers, 1 back information acquisition module, 8 linear Hall angle sensors and 2 foot information acquisition modules. The selection of each element adopts the form of mutual matching of commercial products and self-developed products, the motor 14 and the motor driver select mature commercial products, and other main controllers and slave information acquisition nodes are customized and designed in the form of self-development according to the use demand and installation space.

[0033] The back information acquisition module is mainly responsible for collecting the information of the back three-dimensional force sensor and the attitude information of the back. The back information acquisition circuit board is mainly composed of a power supply unit, a calculation and communication unit, a differential amplification circuit and an attitude sensing circuit. The calculation and communication unit takes STM32 as the core processor, responsible for collecting and processing information and sending it to the CAN bus. The differential amplification circuit is responsible for amplifying the differential signal of the three-dimensional force sensor and collecting it by the ADC module of STM32. The attitude sensor adopts MPU9250 nine-axis attitude sensing chip, which can measure 3-axis angular velocity, 3-axis linear acceleration and 3-axis geomagnetic information.

[0034] The angle sensor is responsible for collecting the angle information of the two-degree-of-freedom joint 13, embedding the radial magnet into the shaft, and then using the linear Hall chip to obtain the absolute angle of the shaft. Taking STM32 as the core of information processing and communication, it can communicate with the linear Hall chip to obtain angle information, and then send the angle information to the CAN bus. The linear Hall chip adopts MLX90316 angle sensing chip, the joint angle sensing board has a diameter of 22mm, can measure the absolute angle information of a single circle, the angle resolution is 14bit, and the angle update period is 350us.

[0035] The sole information acquisition module is mainly responsible for collecting information of the sole strain type one-dimensional force sensor and the film pressure sensor, the information of the series elastic module sliding rheostat and the foot posture information, and sending the processed information to the main control board. The sole information acquisition module mainly consists of a power unit, a calculation and communication unit, a differential amplifier circuit, a film pressure acquisition circuit and a posture sensing circuit. The calculation and communication unit uses STM32 as the processor, processes the collected information and sends it to the CAN bus. The film pressure acquisition circuit is mainly used for collecting information of the film pressure sensor. Since the resistance value of the film pressure sensor is inversely proportional to the pressure, it is not conducive to subsequent pressure calibration. Therefore, a pre-processing circuit composed of an amplifier is used to convert the output voltage of the film pressure acquisition circuit into a voltage proportional to the pressure before transmitting it to the main control board.

[0036] The above is only the preferred specific embodiment of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited to this. Any skilled person in the art can make equivalent replacement or change according to the technical scheme and the improvement concept of the present application within the technical range disclosed by the present application, which should be covered in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A load operation walking assistance exoskeleton device characterized by comprising: The application relates to an exoskeleton upper body assembly, two groups of exoskeleton single-leg assemblies and a main control board. The exoskeleton single-leg assembly comprises a pressure sensing shoe and two groups of elastic drivers, the upper end of the elastic driver is connected with the connecting piece, the lower end of the elastic driver is connected with the pressure sensing shoe, and the two groups of elastic drivers, the connecting piece and the pressure sensing shoe form a quadrangle in the shape of a human leg. The elastic driver comprises a series elastic structure and a parallel elastic structure, the series elastic module is arranged on the pressure sensing shoe, the parallel elastic structure is arranged between the series elastic structure and the connecting piece, and the parallel elastic structure is formed by parallel connection of synchronous movable electric cylinders and gas springs. The exoskeleton upper body assembly comprises a waist supporting piece, a back supporting piece, an electric control box, a weight block and a back information acquisition module, the waist supporting piece is arranged on the connecting piece, the back supporting piece is arranged on the waist supporting piece, the electric control box is arranged on the back supporting piece, the weight block is arranged on the electric control box, the main control board is arranged in the electric control box, the back information acquisition module is arranged for collecting back information, and the back information acquisition module is electrically connected with the main control board.

2. The walking assistive exoskeleton device for weight-bearing operation according to claim 1, characterized by, The connecting piece comprises two connecting strips which are symmetrically arranged on the two sides of the waist supporting piece, the waist supporting piece is provided with a width adjusting groove and a locking structure, the two connecting strips can be relatively moved along the width adjusting groove, and the two connecting strips are arranged on the width adjusting groove through the locking structure.

3. The walking assistive exoskeleton device for weight-bearing work according to claim 2, characterized by The waist supporting piece further comprises a waist binding piece, the back supporting piece further comprises a back binding piece, and the waist binding piece and the back binding piece are arranged for being bound on the waist and the back of a human body respectively.

4. The walking assistive exoskeleton device for weight-bearing operation according to claim 2, characterized by A two-degree-of-freedom joint is arranged between the elastic driver and the connecting piece, the two-degree-of-freedom joint is arranged for enabling the elastic driver to make transverse and longitudinal rotation relative to the connecting piece, a plurality of angle sensors are connected with the two-degree-of-freedom joint, the plurality of angle sensors are arranged for measuring the transverse rotation angle and the longitudinal rotation angle of the two-degree-of-freedom joint, and the angle sensors are electrically connected with the main control board.

5. The walking assistive exoskeleton device of claim 1, wherein, A motor is connected with the two-degree-of-freedom joint, the motor is arranged for driving the elastic driver to make longitudinal rotation, a motor driver is connected with the motor, and the motor driver is electrically connected with the main control board.

6. The walking assistive exoskeleton device for weight-bearing operation according to claim 5, wherein The series elastic structure comprises a spring module and a ball bearing, the ball bearing is arranged on the pressure sensing shoe, and the spring module is arranged between the ball bearing and the parallel elastic structure.

7. The walking assistive exoskeleton device of claim 1, wherein, A sole information acquisition module is arranged on the pressure sensing shoe, the sole information acquisition module is arranged for collecting sole information, and the sole information acquisition module is electrically connected with the main control board.

8. The walking assistive exoskeleton device of claim 1, wherein, A power supply box is further arranged, a power supply is arranged in the power supply box, and the power supply is electrically connected with the main control board.

9. The walking assistive exoskeleton device of claim 1, wherein, ​

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