XoR: Hybrid drive exoskeleton robot that can balance

Abstract

We propose a novel exoskeleton robot prototype aimed at a brain-machine interface and rehabilitation for postural control for elderly people, people with spinal cord injury, stroke patients, and others with similar needs. By arranging pneumatic muscles with electric motors in a optimal way, one can achieve both weight-reduction and torque-controllability. Its anthropomorphic design and torque-controllability enable users to implement and test various rehabilitation/compensation programs consistent with human motor control and learning mechanism. Hybrid drive itself is not new, but its specialized application to lightweight exoskeleton is novel. This paper reports the design and development of the robot, particularly addressing a hybrid drive for load-bearing tasks such as standing and postural maintenance. The experimental data as well as the attached videos demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system.