Design of a mechanical knee joint for an exoskeleton

Institute of Vehicles and Construction Machinery Engineering , Faculty of Automotive and Construction Machinery Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology: Poland

^* Corresponding author: jakub.deda@pw.edu.pl

Abstract

The main problem of designing a lower limb exoskeleton for healthy people is allowing unconstrained movement along with providing sufficient load carrying capability. It is not a simple task since most of the human body joints have more than one degree of freedom. A designed mechanical equivalent should imitate these movements being outside the human body. Due to this, the mechanical joints must provide shortening or elongation of the structure during load carrying. Authors present biomechanical analyzes of a knee joint and propose a design of a mechanical equivalent of this joint that can be applied in exoskeletons. Additionally, laboratory trials proved suitability of this solution.