Knee-Mounted Exoskeleton Battery Layout for Cable-Free Power
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing exoskeleton technologies face issues with battery placement, leading to snag hazards, increased mass, and power losses due to long cables, which affect user comfort and performance.
Innovation Solution
A local battery system is integrated into the exoskeleton, located near the knee, eliminating the need for external cables and reducing mass, while a battery management system ensures efficient power delivery and safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a local battery system is integrated into the exoskeleton near the knee, then snag hazards are eliminated and power losses are reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the battery system directly into the exoskeleton structure at the knee location, merging previously separate components (external battery pack, long cables, power management unit) into a unified integrated system. This eliminates snag hazards from external cables and reduces power losses while managing the increased complexity through systematic integration.
2Weight of moving object
If a local battery system is integrated into the exoskeleton near the knee, then mass is reduced by eliminating long cables, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the unnecessary long cables from the system by integrating the battery directly at the knee location. This removal of redundant components reduces overall system mass while the integrated design manages the complexity of the remaining components through efficient spatial arrangement and unified architecture.
3Loss of energy
If a local battery system is integrated into the exoskeleton near the knee, then power losses are reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a power management unit that proactively manages power distribution from the locally integrated battery before power losses can occur. This preliminary power management action optimizes energy delivery and prevents power losses that would otherwise occur through long cables, while the integrated design manages complexity through unified system architecture.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If a local battery system is integrated into the exoskeleton near the knee, then radio interference is minimized, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the exoskeleton system into distinct functional modules with the battery system as a separate integrated unit at the knee. This spatial segmentation isolates the battery and its power management electronics from other electronic components that may be susceptible to radio interference, reducing harmful electromagnetic effects while managing overall system complexity through modular integration.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Systems and methods for providing a customized configuration for a controller of an exoskeleton device. A device can receive, via a user interface, feedback from a user indicative of a performance of the user during a movement event. The device can determine characteristics of the user for performing the movement event using a first exoskeleton boot and a second exoskeleton boot and identify properties of a route for the movement event. The device can determine using the characteristics of the user, the feedback and the properties of the route, control parameters for the first exoskeleton boot and the second exoskeleton boot to execute the movement event. The device can apply the control parameters to the first exoskeleton boot and the second exoskeleton boot for the user to operate the first exoskeleton boot and the second exoskeleton boot during the movement event.